Remembering The Legendary Filmmaker Satyajit Ray on His Death Anniversary

What comes to mind is the Lifetime Achievement Oscar, which he received in 1992, at his hospital bed in Kolkata, when he was ill and almost breathing his last. He didn’t lose his wit even then, as seen in his acceptance speech, “Well, it’s an extraordinary experience for me to be here tonight to receive this magnificent award.When I was a small, small school boy, I was terribly interested in cinema. Became a film fan, wrote to Deanna Durbin. Got a reply, was delighted. Wrote to Ginger Rogers, didn’t get a reply. Then of course, I got interested in cinema as an art form, and I wrote a twelve-page letter to Billy Wilder after seeing Double Indemnity. He didn’t reply either. Well, there you are,…I’ve been watching American films very carefully over the years and I loved them for what they entertain, and then later loved them for what they taught.”

Apart from his numerous films like Pather Panchali, Apu Trilogy, Devi, Charulata, Mahanagar, Nayak and many more gems, which taught us about life and about hope and about many facets of truth – his other contribution is introducing a great set of actors. People like Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, like Jaya Bhaduri, like Aparna Sen… and so many known and unknown actors who scaled new heights because they worked in a Ray film. He wasn’t just a noted filmmaker but was a poet, novelist – his Feluda novels are still read today – a composer, editor, painter, illustrator he’s designed the covers of many books, including Jim Corbett’s Maneaters of Kumaon, and Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India. In short, he was a true Renaissance Man, the likes of him we sorely miss today.”