Satyajit Ray
Director · Writer
Known for
Satyajit Ray was an Indian director born in Calcutta, widely regarded as the filmmaker who established Indian cinema as a serious presence on the world stage. His debut, Pather Panchali, followed by Aparajito and The World of Apu, together known as the Apu Trilogy, traced a poor Bengali family across generations with a humanism and visual lyricism that drew comparisons to Renoir, who Ray had assisted early in his career. The Music Room and Charulata extended his interest in the decline of Bengali aristocracy and the inner lives of women confined by social convention. Working largely outside the commercial Bollywood system, Ray built a body of work admired by Kurosawa and Renoir alike, and received an honorary Academy Award shortly before his death for a lifetime's contribution to world cinema.
Satyajit Ray
Director · Writer
Satyajit Ray was an Indian director born in Calcutta, widely regarded as the filmmaker who established Indian cinema as a serious presence on the world stage. His debut, Pather Panchali, followed by Aparajito and The World of Apu, together known as the Apu Trilogy, traced a poor Bengali family across generations with a humanism and visual lyricism that drew comparisons to Renoir, who Ray had assisted early in his career. The Music Room and Charulata extended his interest in the decline of Bengali aristocracy and the inner lives of women confined by social convention. Working largely outside the commercial Bollywood system, Ray built a body of work admired by Kurosawa and Renoir alike, and received an honorary Academy Award shortly before his death for a lifetime's contribution to world cinema.
Movies (44 titles)
Director
Pather Panchali
1955
Director
Aparajito
1956
Director
The Expedition
1962
Director
The Music Room
1958
Director
The World of Apu
1959
Director
An Enemy of the People
1990
Director
The Coward
1965
Director
Charulata
1964
Director
The Branches of the Tree
1990
Director
The Stranger
1991
Director
Devi
1960
Director
The Chess Players
1977
Director
The Elephant God
1979
Director
The Home and the World
1985
Director
Three Daughters
1961
Director
The Adversary
1970
Director
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
1969
Director
The Big City
1963
Director
Days and Nights in the Forest
1970
Director
The Holy Man
1965
Director
The Hero
1966
Director
Distant Thunder
1973
Director
The Zoo
1967
Director
The Golden Fortress
1974
Director
The Middleman
1976
Director
Kanchenjungha
1962
Director
Company Limited
1971
Director
The Philosopher's Stone
1958
Director
The Kingdom of Diamonds
1980
Director
Two
1965
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Satyajit Ray still alive?
Satyajit Ray passed away on April 23, 1992 at age 70.
What are the most famous roles of Satyajit Ray?
Satyajit Ray is best known for directing Pather Panchali, Aparajito, The World of Apu.
How many movies has Satyajit Ray directed?
Over a 37-year career (since 1955), Satyajit Ray has directed or written 44 films and worked on 1 TV shows.
What was Satyajit Ray's first movie?
The career of Satyajit Ray began with The Criminals of Kathmandu ().
What is Satyajit Ray's most recent movie or series?
Satyajit Ray's most recent release is Puroskar - The Prize, which premiered on January 21, 2023.
What TV shows has Satyajit Ray created or directed?
On television, Satyajit Ray has appeared in Feluda 30.
Satyajit Ray
1921-05-02 · Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India [now India]
Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was a Bengali Indian filmmaker, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Ray was born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature. 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 directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, music composer, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents. Feluda, the sleuth, and Professor Shonku, the scientist in his science fiction stories, are popular fictional characters created by him. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University.
Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honored him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.