When Satyajit Ray could not travel to the Oscar ceremony due to his illness, the chairman of the committee flew down to India to give the prestigious award to the Indian filmmaker.
May 2 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. He 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.
A major contributor to Indian cinema, Satyajit Ray's fascination for films came after one of his visits to England. It is in April 1950, when Ray went on a trip to England with his wife. During that time Ray used to work for a foreign advertising company. The company sent Ray to the London head office for six months to learn more about his work.
In London, he saw the film ‘Bicycle Thieves’, after which he was so impressed by the film that he wanted to become a director. While in London, he watched about 100 films. Satyajit Ray made his first film Pather Panchali, fulfilling this desire. His film made it to the Cannes Film Festival where it was highly appreciated.
Throughout his career, Satyajit Ray delivered exceptional films that continue to act as an inspiration to Indian filmmakers, especially the younger breed of directors. Ray made most of the films in Bengali.
His first film 'Pather Panchali' won many awards. After this, he made the film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' in Hindi. It is included in the memorable films of Hindi cinema. The director of the Hollywood film 'The Godfather', Francis Ford Coppola, was also a fan of Satyajit Ray. While Ray's first film was praised worldwide, the film faced criticism in India.
In his debut film, Satyajit Ray had shown poverty in India, which was highly appreciated abroad but not in India. Ray was honoured with 32 National Awards by the Government of India for his significant contribution to Indian cinema. Not only this, he was also given a special Oscar honour for his significant contribution to cinema. At that time the chairman of the committee himself came to India to give this honour to Ray, who was unable to travel due to illness.