2nd May is the birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th Century. He was also a fiction writer, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer, publisher, and music composer. His work is remembered as an inseparable part of not just Indian but world cinema as well.
The list of achievements in Ray’s career is quite long and worth mentioning. On the occasion of the birth anniversary of such an amazing, legendary artist, here are some highlights from his life that every Indian must know:
• He started his career as a commercial artist and decided to enter into filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir in London.
• Satyajit Ray directed 36 films that included feature films, documentaries, and short films. His characters named Feluda and Professor Shonku that he developed for Science fiction stories are one of his most popular works.
• It’s believed that he gave a new direction to music by merging two genres of music- the Indian classical and the western tunes.
• His first film Pather Panchali (1955) won the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. In total, the film had won 11 international prizes.
A still from Pather Panchali (theHindu.com)
• In most of his works, he developed characters with a humble background and promoted simple living through art.
• Throughout his career, Raj received 32 National Film Awards and was also honored with Bharat Ratna (the highest civilian award) in 1992 by the Indian government.
• He became the first Indian filmmaker to have received the Academy Honorary Award (Oscar) in 1992. Besides, he bagged many other prizes at international platforms including 1 Golden Lion, 1 Golden Bear, and 2 Silver Bears.
• He used his talent of filmmaking to influence minds of the young generation and pursued them to use literature as a non-violent form of expression.
