Today is the death anniversary of Satyajit

Entertainment Correspondent

Today is the death anniversary of Satyajit Ray, the legendary film director of the subcontinent. Today in 1992, he went to the land of no return. He is a shining star who gave not only Bengali films but also films of the entire subcontinent a common dimension. In 2004, he was ranked 13th in the BBC poll of the greatest Bengalis of all time.

Satyajit Roy was born on May 2, 1921 in the famous Roy family of Calcutta. Both father Sukumar Roy and grandfather Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury are bright stars of Bengali literature. Their ancestral home was Masuya village of Katiyadi police station in Kishoreganj district of Bangladesh.

Although born in a prosperous Roy family, Satyajit Roy’s childhood was not at all happy. He lost his father when he was only three years old. Mother Suprabha Devi brought him up with great difficulty.

In 1940, he was admitted to Santiniketan on his mother’s wish, but did not complete his education. In 1943, he started working as a ‘junior visualizer’ in the British advertising company DJ Kimer with a salary of only 80 rupees. As illustration or visual design was Satyajit Ray’s favorite subject, he worked there with repute.

In 1947, Satyajit Ray and Chidananda Dasgupta established the Calcutta Film Society. In 1949, Satyajit Roy married his long time girlfriend Vijaya Das. Son Sandeep Roy was born to the Satyajit couple, who himself is now a veteran film director.

In 1952, he started making films based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s famous novel Pather Panchali. The production of the film was completed in 1955 AD and the film was released that year. After its release, the film became a huge hit. Even outside India, the film gained huge popularity. ‘Pather Panchali’ won a total of 11 international awards. One of these was the ‘Best Human Document’ award at the Cannes Film Festival. Later, Satyajit Ray made two more films based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s story-novel named ‘Aparajit’ and ‘Apur Sansar’. These three films together are known as the Apu Trilogy.

Also Satyajit Roy’s humorous film ‘Paraspathar’, ‘Jalsaghar’ on the decline of zamindari system; ‘Devi’ on various social issues; Produced color films called ‘Tin Kanya’ and ‘Abhiyaan’ and ‘Kanchenjunga’.

Satyajit built ‘Charulata’ in 1964 AD. It was the successful film of his career. Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s short story ‘Nashtneed’, the film depicts the story of a lonely 19th century Bengali bride Charu and her feelings for Thakurpo Amal in real life. The films ‘Nayak’, ‘Ratudihi’, ‘Simabadhad’ and ‘Jan Aranya’ are also prominent among his notable works.

Apart from Bengali films, Satyajit Roy produced a film based on Hindi and Urdu dialogues named ‘Shataranj Ki Khiladi’ in 1977. This was Satyajit Ray’s first film made in a language other than Bengali. Later, Satyajit made a one-hour film in Hindi called ‘Sadgatti’ based on Premchand’s story.

In 1983, he suffered a heart attack. Then his work slowed down. Satyajit Roy completed the production of ‘Ghare Byre’ in 1984 with the help of his son Sandeep Roy due to health deterioration. In 1987 Satyajit made a documentary on his father Sukumar Roy.

His last three films were much more dialogue oriented than his earlier films. The films are ‘Ganashatru’, ‘Khakhaprashakha’ and ‘Agantuk’. Satyajit Ray’s immortal creation popular detective character ‘Feluda’ or ‘Professor Shanku’ is still equally popular.

Sarabangla/AZS