Today, May 2nd, marks the 101st birth anniversary of the world-famous film director Satyajit Ray, who gave many great films to Indian cinema. Born on May 2, 1921, Satyajit Ray is included in the list of the great directors of the country. Apart from being a successful director, he was also a great writer, artist, painter, film producer, lyricist and costume designer.
On this occasion, let us drive through some lesser known facts about the acclaimed film maker…
– Ray used to design book covers for Signet Press. Some of his notable covers include the ones for Jim Corbett’s classic Man-Eaters of Kumaon and Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India.
– Ray has two fonts named after him. He combined Indian motifs and calligraphy and created four Roman fonts, two of which are Ray Roman and Ray Bizarre.
– Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neorealist film ‘Bicycle Thieves’ (1948) during a visit to London.
– Ray was the first person to use a teaser advertising campaign ahead of the release of his first film ‘Pather Panchali’.
– The West Bengal government, which was funding ‘Pather Panchali’, wanted the ending to be changed to make it more positive. The film could make it to the Cannes Film Festival only due to the intervention of the then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
– In 1992, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences conferred the Honorary Oscar Award on Ray, which he could not collect in person due to ill health.
– Ray composed the music for all his films after 1961 and also designed their publicity posters.
– ‘Kanchenjungha’ (1962) was the first film based on his own story. It was also his first film in colour.
– Ray made a documentary on his father Sukumar Ray for the West Bengal government in 1987.
– Ray was the music director of the Merchant Ivory film Shakespeare Wallah.
The legendary director has given many memorable films to the film industry such as Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apursansar and Charulata. He had made a total of 37 films in his life that brought him international recognition. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 36 Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, 2 Silver Bears, many additional awards at international film festivals and ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in 1992.
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