All about Satyajit Ray - biography, filmography, photos

Satyajit Ray the Godfather of Indian Cinema, was born on 2nd May, 1921 in Kolkata. He was the son of Sukumar Ray, who was a writer and a illustrator of classic children's literature. His 'Abol Tabol' is one of the famous composition for the children.

Ray's nickname was 'Manik'. The name by which Ray's family, friends and co-workers use to know him. Ray started his schooling at the age of eight and half. He studied at 'Ballygunge Government School' which was considered to be one of best Bengali medium institutions. Ray had been taught mainly by his mother, Suprabha Devi, who was also a good teacher in both English and Bengali. Finally Ray graduated from Presidency College in the year 1939 and the left the crowded city in the mid 40s' to study Fine Arts at Shantiniketan. ...By Joy» read full biography

Satyajit Ray was inspired by 1948 Italian film “The Bicycle Thieves”, directed by Vittorio De Sica which was shot completely around Rome in original locations. Hence while making his first feature film “Pather Panchali” Satyajit Ray also shot the entire film on location. “Pather Panchali” introduced Indian Cinema to the World.By Shiraj Dakshy

Satyajit Ray and Soumitra came together in fourteen films. Soumitra's centrality to Ray's work is akin to other key collaborations in the history of cinema - Mifune & Kurosawa, Mastroianni & Fellini, De Niro & Scorsese, Dicaprio & Scorsese, Max von Sydow and Ingmar Bergman, Jerzy Stuhr and Kieslowski.By Amitava Sengupta