Contribution of Satyajit Ray to Indian Cinema

(photo credit www.aajtak.in/entertainment/story)

 True India resides in its states and villages. Today's Hindi films have everything but India is nowhere. Our films are actually made in regional languages

The location of regional films is very important. Our films are actually made in regional languages. Not only Satyajit Ray but also Hrithik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Basu Chatterjee are memorable names in cinema. Of these, Bimal Roy was associated with New Theatres. Hrishikesh Mukherjee was his assistant. Bimal Roy made his debut in artistic cinema in India. And 'Do Bigha Zamin' won awards at many film festivals across the world. Apart from Bimal Roy, originally from Mumbai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee were all friends.

Once after seeing Akira Kurosawa's film 'Rasoman' in Japan, everyone's mind came to mind that why don't we also make such a film? This gave rise to classics such as 'Do Bigha Zamin', which also featured a model for Victoria de Coin's 'Bicycle Chor'. The film was made at a very low cost with a story and music by Salil Chowdhury.

Satyajit Ray, like Shyam Benegal working in an advertising company, once went to Calcutta to watch the shooting of a world-famous director Jaya Renwani's film and decided that we too would make such films. Interestingly, he hired a steel photographer from a company as a photographer and said that he had never photographed a film. "I say don't worry, there is the best film in the world named 'Pather Panchali', 'Pather Panchali' means road song," he said.

It was a novel by Vibhuti Bhushan Bandyopadhyay. In this, Satyajit Ray had brought a roommate in the role of Doshi. The film was a box office success, winning several awards at film festivals such as Carlo Vivori, Renés, and Borla. became the currency of the world.

This is the reason why 'Pather Panchali' is full of portraiture. People have not forgotten the train and signal scenes on the banks of the river and the scenes where Appu and Durga, as teenagers, get drenched in rain and have fun with friends. Along with this, the characters of both mother Sarvjay and father have also become memorable.

Durga suddenly dies of fever. Father works for Mehtaji in Calcutta. Finally, after Durga's death, the whole family moves in a chariot. There the film ends and then moves on to 'Apur Sansar' and Aparajito. Satyajit Ray was a painter as well as a musician. He has composed music for many of his films. Apart from this, the music of Pandit Ravi Shankar can also be heard in some films.

Satyajit Ray made films based on five of Tagore's works. The most notable of which was the film 'Charulata'. Some critics consider it the best film of all time. Madhavi Mukherjee's acting is memorable. In addition to making a film of the same name based on Tagore's 'Ghare Bahire', he also watched three of Tagore's novels and gave him a silver body. Known as these three stories, these three stories tell the sour things of the life of our common citizen.

Many wonders why such a great director doesn't make films in Hindi. The truth was that he and Akira Kurosawa thought that true India lived in its states and villages. Today's Hindi films have everything but India is nowhere. He proved that regional films can reach the international level as well. In "Pather Panchali", the foreign critics actually felt that it was a true picture of India. But still, some so-called patriots did not like the current 'Slum Dog Millionaire' movie.

Nargis Dutt in Rajya Sabha accused Satyajit Ray of selling India's poverty but it is not true. Even though we have to admit that poverty and unemployment are still our reality, Satyajit Ray produced 'Chessranj Ke Khiladi' to break the impasse and cast 'Chart Attenborough' in the role of 'Gandhi'. Amjad gave commentary as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and also cast Sanjeev Kumar and Shaad Jafri and cast Amjad Khan as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. The film is based on the story of Munshi Premchand.

He made another telefilm from the same story of Premchand called 'Sadgati'. The film had a heart-wrenching story of how the laborers of UP are exploited by the landlords. The film starred Ompuri, Smita Patil, Mohan Agasse, and Geeta Siddhartha. Screenplays are made in Mumbai. did not write. Still, there were fans of Rai, Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Chetan Anand, Guru Dutt, and Shyam Benegal. Satyajit Ray also played the role of Waheeda Rehman in 'Abhijaan'. According to him, Satyajit may know the art of acting himself, but he never imposes his will on actors.

Tagore's Nobel laureate Gitanjali is also there. Bengali 'Gitanjali' was composed in 1910

Tagore's entire family was known in the field of literature, art, and music. She is the niece of Devikarni, a renowned film actress and director of Bombay Talkies. Actress Sharmila Tagore also comes from his family.

Mrinalsen, popularly known as Tagore and Rai, had a birthday on 14 May. He has also made several Bengali classic films starting with 'Badger Shravan'. He made the first picture of Utpal Dutt in Mahuva, Gujarat. He also made a Hindi film titled 'Khandahar' which was screened at the film festival in Cannes.

But it is our misfortune that we do not try to save the prints of the films of such great filmmakers. Prints of many of Satyajit Ray's films got damaged. Had to resubmit it. Similarly, news came that master prints of four films of Phalke Award winner Tapan Sinha were missing.

He is also a famous Bengali producer-director and father of famous director Arpana Sen. In 1999, he made an amazing film called 'Ek Doctor Ki Mot'. He also had another great film. 'Sagina Mahto' is about the laborers working in the tea garden. The film was in Bengali. Then there was the Hindi version of 'Sangeena' starring Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu. The Hindi film 'Bawarchi' was the Hindi version of Tapan Sinha's Bengali film. Tapan Sinha has also made many films on Naxalism. Hrishikesh Mukherjee made 'Arjun Pandit' in Hindi from one of his Bengali films 'Aarohi'.

He also made a film based on Tagore's story 'Kabuliwala' in Bimal Roy's 'Kabuliwala' in 1961 but in Tapan Sinha's 'Kabuliwala' 3. The Berlin Film Festival has been called a very unfortunate event. But we are careless from the very beginning towards preserving such great works of art. However, now that the birth anniversary of three Bengali writers and filmmakers is being celebrated, we must wake up at the earliest.

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