Satyajit Ray's 92nd birth anniversary: 15 classics by the director that you should watch
One of India's greatest filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, would have been 92 today. On his birth anniversary, we list 15 films by the director that you should watch.
Pather Panchali (1955): The film is perhaps Ray's best known work to date and is the first part of his Apu Trilogy. He sees the world through the eyes of his protagonist Apu and weaves his brand of lyrical realism in the film. It has won honours at the Cannes Film Festival and is counted amongst the best films in World Cinema.
Apur Sansar (1959): This is the third part of Ray's Apu Trilogy and charts the adulthood of Apu, his marriage to Aparna and tearing of his roots to feed the wanderlust in him.
Aranyer Din Ratri (1969): Four friends explore the untapped wild charm of tribal Palamau in Bihar to get away from civilization. The lines blur when the so-called civilized and the uncivilized find themselves in company of women and wilderness.
Goopi Gayen Bagha Bayen (1969): One of the greatest children's film ever made, Goopi and Bagha are exiled from their village. They seek shelter in a forest and come in contact with a cluster of ghosts living there. They grant the duo three wishes.
Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980): A children's film, it is also a powerful social commentary. Ray tackles with grave subjects such as corruption and exploitation through a lyrical and amusing tale.
Charulata (1964): One of Ray's finest films, Charulata tells the story of a lonely housewife whose husband runs a newspaper in colonial Calcutta. Ray explores relationships with Madhavi Mukherjee in the lead role.
Jalshaghar (1958): The film narrates the story of a zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy (Chhabi Biswas), is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by floods and the abolition of zamindari system by the Indian government.
Ghare Baire (1984): Based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore, the film is a tale of conflicting ideals, the duel between realism and idealism
Joi Baba Felunath (1979): Part of the popular Feluda series, the action in this film shifts to Benaras where detective Feluda along with his assistant Topshe try to unravel the identity of a thief who burgled at a Bengali household in the city.
Sonar Kella (1974): Sonar Kella is part of series on his self-created detective Pradosh Chandra Mitra. Feluda goes to Rajasthan to investigate the truth behind a boy's claims of re-incarnation and bust a gang that kidnaps him.
Devi (1960): Set in the late 1800s in rural Bengal. Sharmila Tagore plays Dayamayee whose father-in-law considers her an incarnation of goddess Kali.
Aparajito (1956): Aparajito is the second film in 'The Apu Trilogy'. The Bengali film charts the growing up years of Apu, the death of his father Harihar and his gradual drifting apart from Sarbajaya as emotional distance creeps in between him and his mother who was his anchor as a child.
Aparajito (1956): Aparajito is the second film in 'The Apu Trilogy'. The Bengali film charts the growing up years of Apu, the death of his father Harihar and his gradual drifting apart from Sarbajaya as emotional distance creeps in between him and his mother who was his anchor as a child.
Ashani Sanket (1973): The film is set in a village in the Indian province of Bengal during World War II, and examines the effect of the Great Famine of 1943.
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