Satyajit Ray’s 34th death anniversary:Made first film with loan, refused Nehru’s documentary, gave Oscar speech from deathbed

A filmmaker thought of making a film, since it had no action, no romance, no songs, no producer agreed to invest money. Then he mortgaged his savings, LIC policy and even his wife’s jewellery for the film and somehow started shooting. But the film stopped midway due to running out of money, then the government gave money to make the film considering it as a loan. Due to which the film was somehow completed. When the film was released, the response was lukewarm for the first two weeks, but from the third week onwards it started becoming housefull every day and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was also very impressed by this film. This film won 11 awards at the international level and gave Indian cinema a new identity. This film was Pather Panchali and the filmmaker was Satyajit Ray. Story-1 Decided on filmmaking after watching an Italian film Satyajit Ray was born on May 2, 1921, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His family was connected to literature and art. His father Sukumar Ray was a famous writer and illustrator. Ray’s father passed away when he was very young. This suddenly weakened his family’s financial condition. After his father’s death, all the responsibility of the household fell on his mother. His mother managed the entire household, handled expenses, and also worked. Ray completed his studies at Presidency College in Calcutta and then studied art at Shantiniketan. Satyajit Ray began his career as a graphic designer at an advertising agency. He also worked as a book cover designer. He designed covers for several books including Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India. During this time, his interest in films began to grow. In 1947, he formed a film society with his companions, where foreign films were shown. In 1949, he met French director Jean Renoir, who inspired him to make films. In 1950, he went to London for work. There he watched many films, but Bicycle Thieves had the deepest impact on him. After watching this film, he decided that he would become a film director. Story-2 Even pawned wife’s jewellery for the film Ray’s film career began in 1955 with his first film Pather Panchali. This film was based on a novel by Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. Satyajit Ray was so impressed by this novel that he decided to make his first film on it. However, making the film was not easy. Ray formed a new and inexperienced team for the film. Most of the actors were also new. The film had no big stars, songs, or action, so no producer was willing to invest money. He continued his job to raise money, mortgaged his insurance policy. Even his wife pawned her jewellery. In this way, after collecting about 17,000 rupees, he started shooting the film in 1952. During the shooting, he faced many technical problems. Initially, he tried shooting with a 16mm camera and converting it to 35mm to reduce costs, but the experiment failed. The footage didn’t come out right and he had to start again. Another major problem was location. Once he had chosen a village where he had to shoot a train scene among kash flowers, but when he returned, cows and buffaloes had eaten all the flowers. The entire scene was ruined. Then the money ran out during shooting and the shooting stopped for almost a year. Story-3 An Owl Settled in the House; Got a Loan from the Government During Satyajit Ray’s struggle to make Pather Panchali, a very interesting and mysterious incident occurred, which is mentioned in his book. As you were told, the money had run out and Satyajit Ray’s shooting had stopped. One morning when Ray woke up, he saw a strange scene at his room’s window. A white-brown owl was sitting outside the window and was continuously staring at him. This was not a normal thing, because such scenes are rarely seen in the city. Gradually this news reached the people around. Neighbours started peeping from their homes to see that owl. Some people were trying to shoo it away, some were making sounds to call it, but the most surprising thing was that the owl did not move at all, it kept sitting there and its eyes remained fixed on Ray. According to Indian beliefs, the owl is considered the vehicle of Goddess Lakshmi. Therefore, people believe that if an owl appears near the house, it is a sign of wealth and good fortune. This was the reason there was curiosity and a bit of jealousy among the neighbors. Ray observed this incident very carefully. The most surprising thing was that the owl remained sitting there continuously for two weeks. Every morning when Ray woke up, it would be found sitting in the same place, in the same manner, as if it had come especially for him. Then one day suddenly the owl disappeared. No one knows when and how it left, but shortly after its departure, Ray received very important news – he received a call to meet the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. B.C. Roy. Then the government, understanding this film to be related to village development, gave a loan, which enabled the shooting to be completed. Thus, after considerable difficulties, 3 years after the shooting began, it was released in 1955. Story-4 Jawaharlal Nehru watched the film and was impressed The shooting of the film was completed, but initially people were not very enthusiastic about releasing the film. The film remained unreleased for almost three months. When it was released, its performance in the first two weeks was not special, but from the third week onwards it started becoming housefull every day. India’s then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru watched the film and was very impressed. The film initially got a theater for only six weeks, as that was all the time available. After these six weeks, the film was moved to another theater, where it ran for seven more weeks. That is, in a total of 13 weeks, the government recovered its entire cost, and whatever earnings came after that were profit. Later, the film earned a profit of approximately 1500 percent. Additionally, the film won eleven awards at the international level and gave them recognition in world cinema. This film was the first part of the Apu Trilogy, whose other two parts were Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959).
Story-5 Secretly Married His Cousin Satyajit Ray’s love story was also quite interesting. He married his first cousin Bijoya Das. Bijoya’s father was the step-elder brother of Satyajit Ray’s mother. Bijoya was an actress. She had worked in films like ‘Raksha’, ‘Mashal’ and ‘Rajini’. Bijoya’s childhood was spent in Patna but in 1931, when she was thirteen years old, her father died and she, her mother and sisters had to come to their maternal uncle Prashant Das’s house in Calcutta. This is where she and Satyajit first met. Then gradually a good friendship developed. Living in the same house, this friendship turned into love. But both kept their relationship secret for a long time. Ray first thought of getting married at the registry office but Bijoya’s mother was not ready for this. Finally, without informing their families, both quietly got married at Bijoya’s sister’s house on October 20, 1949.
Story-6 The President of France Came Himself to Honour Him
Satyajit Ray received many awards for his contribution to cinema. He won 37 National Film Awards, which is a record in itself. He was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Bharat Ratna, and the Academy Honorary Award (Oscar) in 1992. He is the only Indian filmmaker to have received the highest honours at the world’s three major film festivals – Cannes, Venice, and Berlin. The President of France broke protocol and came to India to present the great filmmaker Satyajit Ray with his country’s highest civilian honour. On February 2, 1989, Ray was awarded France’s prestigious Legion of Honour. At that time, the President of France, Franois Mitterrand, himself came to Kolkata and presented him with this honour at a ceremony held at the National Library. This was a very special occasion, because usually such awards are given abroad, but Mitterrand came to India to present this honour. This award, which was started by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, is considered France’s highest honour. Ray received this honour for his special contribution to world cinema. Story-7 Refused to make a documentary on Nehru Satyajit Ray had refused to make a documentary film on Jawaharlal Nehru. Actually, it was the Emergency period and the then Indira Gandhi government wanted to make a documentary on Nehru’s life and social work. The government decided to give this responsibility to Satyajit Ray because he was one of the country’s renowned filmmakers. However, Ray flatly refused. When he was asked why he did so, his straightforward answer was, ‘No, because I have no interest in it.’ Story-8 Gave Oscar speech on deathbed Satyajit Ray was announced to receive the Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, but at that time he was hospitalized due to a serious heart condition. In this situation, a unique decision was made. The Oscar team itself came to his home in Kolkata and honored him by presenting the trophy at his hospital bed. His acceptance speech was recorded there in the hospital, which was shown to the entire world during the Oscar ceremony on March 30, 1992. The great actress Audrey Hepburn had announced his name. About a month after this honor, he passed away on April 23, 1992, due to a heart attack.