Ray, Satyajit
(1921–1992), Indian filmmaker. One of the most prominent figures in the history of cultural production in India, Satyajit Ray is best known in international circles for his films. A cursory glance at his oeuvre, however, shows that he was not only a filmmaker but also a designer, illustrator, music composer, and creative writer. Born on 2 May 1921 in Calcutta, Ray was raised in a distinguished family of artists and intellectuals. In 1955, he gained worldwide acclaim for his debut film, Pather Panchali (The Song of the Little Road). Soon after, he made a sequel, Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1957), and, in 1959, he produced Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), completing the Apu trilogy. Ray sought to carve a new space for cinema in India, one that was attentive to the specificity of film as an artistic medium, and one that eschewed the song-and-dance routines and formulaic stories found in the dominant commercial cinema. Ray, with his peers Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, is credited with the development of "art cinema" in India. In 1992, Ray received both the Bharat-Ratna, the highest honor given by the Indian state, and an Academy Award for lifetime achievement in filmmaking. He died on 23 April 1992.
Further Reading
Banerjee, Surabhi. (1986) Satyajit Ray: Beyond the Frame. New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
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