Satyajit Ray

Creative Career

In 1949, before he decided to make films, Ray met the great French director Jean Renoir who visited Calcutta to scout locations for his film The River (1950). Renoir encouraged Ray to make films and this was part of the motivation that led to the making of Pather Panchali.

Related Topics:
Jean Renoir - The River - Pather Panchali

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Partway through filming he ran out of funds; the Government of West Bengal loaned him the rest, allowing him to finish the film. The film was successful both artistically and commercially, winning kudos at the 1955 Cannes film festival and heralded a new era in the Indian film industry. After a Cannes screening, François Truffaut, is reported to have said: ?I don?t want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands.?

Related Topics:
West Bengal - Cannes film festival - François Truffaut

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Most of Ray's work {especially his early work including the Apu Trilogy or the three films entitled Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1957) and The World of Apu / Apur Sansar (1959)} seems to have been influenced by the Italian Neorealist movement in Italian post-war cinema. In fact, the one film which moved Ray the most before he started scripting Pather Panchali was Italian Neorealist film-maker Vittorio De Sica?s Bicycle Thief, which he reportedly saw 55 times. Two of the actors from the Apu Trilogy, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore (the great-grandaughter of Rabindranath Tagore) would appear in a number of his other films.

Related Topics:
Apu Trilogy - Pather Panchali - Aparajito - The World of Apu - Bicycle Thief - Soumitra Chatterjee - Sharmila Tagore - Rabindranath Tagore

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Ray's work tends to be both realistic and subdued; his early work is compassionate and touching; his later work, while more political, is also at times cynical, but still infused with his typical humour. Ray's first film outside of the Apu trilogy was the comic Paras Pathar/The Philosopher's Stone, in 1958. It was soon followed by Jalsaghar/The Music Room, which generated critical praise in the U.S. and Europe.

Related Topics:
Apu trilogy - Paras Pathar - Jalsaghar

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As the Apu trilogy was completed, it was followed by a creative period that won Ray continued acclaim at home and internationally - several of his most popular films (Charulata, Mahanagar/The Big City, Devi, and Teen Kanya/Three Daughters) were made at this time. In 1962, Ray directed Kanchenjungha, which was his first original screenplay and colour film. Kanchenjungha is notable as one of the few films to be shot in real time. Beginning with Kanchenjungha, Ray also took over responsibility for musical composition within his films.

Related Topics:
Apu trilogy - Charulata - Mahanagar - Devi - Teen Kanya - 1962 - Kanchenjungha

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