Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

(; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian filmmaker who worked prominently in Bengali cinema. Ray received numerous awards and honours, including India's highest award in cinema, the

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadca ...

(1984) and India's highest

civilian award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...

, the

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...

(1992). He was also awarded the Commander of the

National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, the highest decoration in France (1987) and an Honorary Award at the

64th Academy Awards The 64th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1991 in the United States and took place on March 30, 1992, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...

(1991). Often regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of

world cinema World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

, Ray made his directorial debut in 1955 with ''

Pather Panchali ''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali (language), Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Ba ...

''. The film earned critical acclaim and was awarded under the Best Film category at various award ceremonies and film festivals, including the

3rd National Film Awards The 3rd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1955. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi ...

(1955),

7th Berlin International Film Festival The 7th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1957. The International Federation of Film Critics awarded FIPRESCI Award for the first time this year. The Golden Bear was awarded to the American film '' 12 Angr ...

(1957), and 1st

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

(1957). ''Pather Panchali'' was also awarded the "Prix du document humain" prize at the 9th Cannes Film Festival (1956). Ray won thirty-five

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

s during his four-decade career. Six of his films''Pather Panchali'', ''

Apur Sansar ''Apur Sansar'' ( bn, অপুর সংসার), also known as ''The World of Apu'', is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film produced, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's ...

'' (1959), ''

Charulata ''Charulata'' (Spelt as ''Cārulatā''; ) is a 1964 Indian drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Based upon the novel ''Nastanirh'' by Rabindranath Tagore, it stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Sailen Mukherjee. The ...

'' (1964), ''

Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne ''Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'' (Bengali: গুপী গাইন বাঘা বাইন ''Gupi Gain Bagha Bain'') is a 1969 Indian fantasy adventure comedy film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and based on a story by his grandfather Upend ...

'' (1968), ''

Seemabaddha ''Seemabaddha'' ( bn, সীমাবদ্ধ ''Shimabôddho''; English title: ''Company Limited'') is a 1971 social drama Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the novel ''Seemabaddha'' by Mani Shankar Mukherjee. It stars Baru ...

'' (1971), and ''

Agantuk ''Agantuk'' () is a 1991 Bengali language, Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Notable for being Ray's last film, it was based on one of his own short stories, ''Atithi''. A joint Indo-F ...

'' (1991)won the

Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

. Three films''

Jalsaghar ''Jalsaghar'' ( bn, জলসাঘর ''Jalsāghar'', "The Music Room") is a 1958 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a popular short story by Bengali writer Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, and starring Chhabi Bis ...

'' (1958), ''

Abhijan Abhijan may refer to: * Abhijan (1962 film), a Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray * Abhijan (1984 film), a Bangladeshi film directed by Abdur Razzak * Abhijaan (2022 film) ''Abhijaan'' () is a 2022 Indian Bengali biographical film directed ...

'' (1962), and ''

Pratidwandi ''Pratidwandi'' ( en, The Adversary, Siddharta and the City, italic=yes) is a 1970 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray based on the novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It is the first part of the Calcutta Trilogy. ''Pratid ...

'' (1970)were awarded with Second Best Feature Film and ''

Mahanagar ''Mahanagar'' () is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Starring Madhabi Mukherjee in the leading role and based on the short story ''Abataranika'' by Narendranath Mitra, it tells the story of a hous ...

'' (1963) was adjudged the Third Best Feature Film. Ray's 1961 documentary on

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

received awards at the Locarno and Montevideo film festivals as well as the

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards ...

. His

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film ''

Shatranj Ke Khilari ''Shatranj Ke Khilari'', also subtitled and later internationally released with the translated title ''The Chess Players'', is a 1977 Indian film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name ...

'' (1977) won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several a ...

, and the

Filmfare Award for Best Director The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the r ...

. Ray's ''

Apu Trilogy ''The Apu Trilogy'' comprises three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: ''Pather Panchali'' (1955), ''Aparajito'' (1956) and ''The World of Apu'' (1959). The original music for the films was composed by Ravi Shankar. ...

'' (1955–59), comprising ''Pather Panchali'', ''

Aparajito ''Aparajito'' ( bn, অপরাজিত ''Ôporajito''; ''The Unvanquished'') is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray (1921–1992), and is the second part of ''The Apu Trilogy''. It is adapted from ...

'' (1956) and ''Apur Sansar'' (1959), appeared in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' All-Time 100 Movies in 2005. Ray won 21 awards for his direction, including seven Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, six Indian National Film Awards, two Silver Bear awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, and two Golden Gate Awards at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In addition to directing, Ray was a music composer and also wrote the screenplay, lyrics, and dialogues for several films. He won twelve awards for his screenplay writing, including one posthumous award in 1994, one award for his original story idea, seven awards for his dialogues, five awards for his music compositions, and two awards for lyric-writing. Ray also received various awards and honours at international film festivals and universities. These include awards at the 9th Chicago International Film Festival (1973),

28th Berlin International Film Festival The 28th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 22 February to 5 March 1978. Director Wolf Donner successfully managed to shift the festival's date from June to February, a change which has remained ever since. This was the firs ...

(1978),

11th Moscow International Film Festival The 11th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 14 to 28 August 1979. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian-French film '' Christ Stopped at Eboli'' directed by Francesco Rosi, the Spanish film '' Siete días de enero'' directed ...

(1979), 35th Cannes Film Festival (1982),

39th Venice International Film Festival The 39th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 2 September 1982. Jury The following people comprised the 1982 jury: * Marcel Carné (France) (head of jury) * Luis García Berlanga (Spain) * Mario Monicelli (Italy ...

(1982), 4th Tokyo International Film Festival (1991), and 35th San Francisco International Film Festival (1992). He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

(1974), a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(1978), the

British Film Institute Fellowship The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established in 1933, based in the United Kingdom. It has awarded its Fellowship title to individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television culture" and ...

(1983), and two

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

awards (1959, 1986).

Honorary awards

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

The

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

, commonly referred as BFJA Awards, are awarded annually by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association founded in 1937. Ray won thirty-nine awards for sixteen of his films and three awards for two films by other directors; Nityananda Dutta and

Sandip Ray Sandip Ray (born 8 September 1953) is an Indian film director and music director who mainly works in Bengali cinema. He is the only child of the famous Bengali director Satyajit Ray and Bijoya Ray. Life and education Sandip Ray was born in C ...

Bodil Awards

Established in 1948, the

Bodil Awards The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by the Danish Film Critics Association. The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe. The awards are given ...

are presented annually at a ceremony in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Danish Film Critics Association Danish Film Critics Association ( da, Danske Filmkritikere, until 2013 ''Filmmedarbejderforeningen'') is a film critics association that annually since 1948 have handed out the Bodil Awards The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given ...

. Ray received two awards.

British Academy Film Awards

The

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

is an annual event organised by the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BAFTA). Ray received three nominations.

Filmfare Awards

The

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

are presented annually by

The Times Group Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group), is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a majority ...

for the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films. Ray received two awards.

National Board of Review

Established in 1909, the National Board of Review awards are awarded annually by The

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

. Ray received four awards.

National Film Awards

The Indian

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

are presented by

Directorate of Film Festivals The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and presented the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helped appoint members of the jur ...

during its annual ceremony to honour the best films of the

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

in the given year. Ray won thirty-five awards for twenty-five of his films and one posthumous award for the film directed by his son

. He won maximum number of awards (six) for the Best Director.

Other annual film awards

Major film festival awards

Berlin International Film Festival

Founded in 1951, the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, also called the Berlinale, is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Ray won nine awards and three nominations for seven of his films. He is one of the four directors to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and received maximum number of nominations (seven) for the Golden Bear for Best Film.

Cannes Film Festival

Originally set to be held in 1939 but subsequently held in 1946, the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France. Ray won two awards and four nominations for four of his films.

San Francisco International Film Festival

Organized by the

San Francisco Film Society SFFILM, formerly known as The San Francisco Film Society, is a nonprofit arts organization located in San Francisco, California, that presents year-round programs and events in film exhibition, media education, and filmmaker services. The Execut ...

and founded in 1957, the

is billed as "the longest-running film festival in the Americas". Ray won four awards for two of his films.

Venice Film Festival

Initially named as "Esposizione d'Arte Cinematografica", the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

was founded in 1932 as part of the 18th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. Ray won five awards and one nomination for four of his films.

Other international film festival awards

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
SatyajitRay.org

Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center: University of California – Santa Cruz

Satyajit Ray society
{{featured list Satyajit Ray Ray, Satyajit