Page 3 - Seniors Today - April Issue

Publisher’s Note
Satyajit Ray – 1921-2021
Satyajit Ray is amongst India’s foremost
cultural icons. He made a total of 36 movies
including documentaries. Awarded an honorary
degree by Oxford University, he was a writer,
publisher, calligrapher, graphic designer and
music composer. He wrote several short stories
and novels for children. This is the year of his
birth centenary and we are privileged to have
his son Sandip speak with Seniors Today on the
life, times and memories of his father. Satyajit
Ray’s father and grandfather were also men of
intellect. His grandfather was an illustrator,
philosopher, publisher and amateur astronomer.
And his father, Sukumar Ray: an illustrator,
writer, critic, social worker, and publisher and
author of children’s books.
He is amongst India’s most credible filmmakers
and till date, the Apu Trilogy remains amongst
the hundred best films ever made in the world.
His struggle to finance Pather Panchali could
be a movie by itself. Ray was a man of ideas
and not influenced by any market-driven
world. He wrote his own scripts, designed his
own credit titles and publicity material, and
did his own casting and editing. Shatranj ke
Khilari, one would imagine, is a film about
chess. Every single frame is like a painting, the
colours deliberately muted to make this story
of a bygone era extremely riveting. Ray’s skilful
tackling of the subject and adaptation of Munshi
Premchand’s story into a full-fledged politico-
historical film on the systematic atrocities of the
British in India is a tale that future generations
will remember for times to come.
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #22 | APRIL 2021
Satyajit Ray made films about how people in
India negotiate their life. His distinct perspective
and poetic style made Pather Panchali a timeless
classic set in a crumbling village in Bengal. It’s
a story of a young boy called Apu who dreams
of a better life. Ray depicts the hardship of
the village, rural lifestyle and a household
drowned in extreme poverty. At the time when
the movie was made, his critics accused him
of romancing India‘s poverty. This is how the
famous American critic Roger Ebert describes
the Apu Trilogy: “It is about a time, place and
culture far removed from our own, and yet it
connects directly and deeply with our human
feelings. It is like a prayer, affirming that this is
what the cinema can be, no matter how far in our
cynicism we may stray.”
A train passes through the landscape, smoke
and sound leaving a trail in Apu’s heart. Like
so many other village boys, Apu and his sister
Durga hope to board this train some day, to
prosperity, adventure and a limitless world that
seems far away – very far away. It is a scene that
remains with the viewer for a long time – this is
the story of India. Ray won many awards and
a lot of acclaim from critics, film-makers and
museum curators from all over the world. It’s
impossible to list them here. India was fortunate
to have a creative juggernaut like Satyajit Ray.
God bless his soul.
Vickram Sethi
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
3