Satyajit Ray Research Articles

A Window to Feminine Agency: Primary Research and Analysis of Feminist and Digital Humanities Perspectives of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata

A Window to Feminine Agency: Primary Research and Analysis of Feminist and Digital Humanities Perspectives of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata

Mapping the Trajectory of Adolescent Sexuality: The Portrait of Durga in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali

Mapping the Trajectory of Adolescent Sexuality: The Portrait of Durga in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali

SATYAJIT RAY AS A DOCUMENTARIAN: A STUDY ON RABINDRANATH TAGORE AND SUKUMAR RAY

Satyajit Ray, renowned globally for his cinematic brilliance, also left an indelible mark as a documentary filmmaker. It is to be mentioned here that the literatures and writings on Ray’s documentary are very less in number. Ray's documentaries on Rabindranath Tagore encapsulate the multifaceted persona of the Nobel laureate, exploring his literary contributions, artistic vision, and philosophical ideologies. Through meticulous research and visual finesse, Ray elucidates Tagore's timeless relevance, weaving together archival footage and dramatic reenactments to present a holistic portrayal of the poet's life and legacy. In his exploration of Sukumar Ray, Satyajit Ray ventures into the whimsical world of children's literature and satire to commemorate the centenary birth anniversary.This paper tries to discuss on documentaries made by Ray with special emphasis on Rabindranath Tagore and Sukumar Ray. Besides reviewing relevant literatures, the researchers have tried to describe two documentaries vividly. In addition to this, they also have taken insightful interviews of three literary and film scholars to understand Ray as documentarian. The interviews were analysed and conclusion have been drawn on the basis of that. The paper shows, beyond mere biographical documentation, Satyajit Ray's documentaries serve as nuanced reflections on the socio-cultural milieu of their respective times, offering profound insights into the artistic legacies of Rabindranath Tagore and Sukumar Ray. The paper serves to highlight the intricate nature of Ray's documentary legacy and its ongoing significance in influencing conversations within Indian cinema.

Speaking Crows and Alien Fish: Nonhuman Cosmopolitanisms in Satyajit Ray's Speculative Fiction

Speaking Crows and Alien Fish: Nonhuman Cosmopolitanisms in Satyajit Ray's Speculative Fiction

THE IMPACT OF MOVIE COLORIZATION BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON CINEMATIC SYMBOLISM: A CASE STUDY OF SATYAJIT RAY’S ‘PATHER PANCHALI’

The objective of image colorization is to add color to a monochrome input picture to generate a colorful outcome, which is a classic and essential issue in visual effects. In cinema, color has a significant role in on various levels. But it was not the fundamental component of cinema. Although color was added in film later, but for a long time people were used to watching movies on their black and white television set.This study depends on the effort of a Bengali professor based in the United States who used artificial intelligence to colorize Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ as a quarantine experiment. This research analyzes the use of colorization in ‘Pather Panchali’ to determine whether the colors work well to emphasize the film's symbolic meaning. It also examines whether there is still a place for sentimentality after colorization and how well AI works at coloring in black and white movies.The research objectives include evaluating the role that colorization plays in bringing the film's meaning to light with regard to certain situations, examining among specialists the nostalgia/emotions linked with classic black and white films, and gauging experts reaction to the practice of using AI to colorize previously black-and-white movies. This study uses in-depth interviews as a qualitative research approach for gathering expert opinions.This study concludes that the cinematic symbolism of the black and white version of ‘Pather Panchali’ is lost in the colorized version. Expert interviews revealed the complex connection between colorization and the film's visual style. The findings emphasize the need for careful consideration and preservation of the original black-and-white format, while also recognizing the advancements and limitations of artificial intelligence in the colorization process.

Postcolonial ecocritical reading of Satyajit Ray’s Sikkim and Goutam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi

This article aims to offer an interpretive analysis of two seminal cinematic works: Satyajit Ray’s Sikkim (1971) and Goutam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1993). It posits these films as modes of inquiry, elucidating the ecological issues that have spurred a transformative reconsideration of humanity’s relationship with the nonhuman world. Moreover, this study underscores the intricate comprehension of the interdependence between human and natural realms, portraying it as a foundational facet of postcolonial discourse. Postcolonialism has long recognized the inseparable linkage between the ideological constructs of nature and the exploitation of marginalized populations and their respective environments. The psychological ramifications of colonial rule have wrought an indelible impact upon the ecological landscape and the hallowed rapport shared between indigenous communities and their natural surroundings. The indigenous populace’s allure towards Western cultural paradigms, preconceptions, and institutions has often induced a forfeiture of their own cultural heritage in favor of the ex-colonizers’ ideologies. Both of these venerable cinematographers, through their cinematic oeuvre, have meticulously documented the enduring significance of nature within the tapestry of Indian culture, especially in the context of contemporary, globalized milieu.

Passive to Progressive Representation of Three Female Characters in the Movies of Satyajit Ray

Passive to Progressive Representation of Three Female Characters in the Movies of Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray: A Film Director and Filmmaker.

Satyajit Ray is well known as one of the greatest film directors or filmmakers in the world. He directed thirty-six movies, of which there are twenty-nine feature films, five documentary films, and two short films. He was inspired by a Hollywood film named ’Bicycle Thieves', also known as ‘The Bicycle Thief', directed by Italian film director Vittorio de Cica during his trip to London. Returning to India, Ray made his ultimate decision to make his first film, ‘Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) (1995). He became famous for his three films, ‘Pather Panchali(1995), ‘ 'Aparajito' (1956), ‘Apur pur Sangsar' ( also known as the Apu Trilogy. The Apu Trilogy is one of his masterpieces. This paper aims to bring up Satyajit Ray’s contribution and his reflections on the Indian film industry.

Satyajit Ray’s Versatile Creativity in Children's Literature and His Persistent Impact on Young Minds

"Pather Panchali" and "Charulata" are two of the most significant contributions that the creative genius Satyajit Ray has made to the film industry. On the other hand, he has not restricted his creative abilities to the area of film; rather, he has been a prolific writer and a storyteller in the realm of published works for children. Through the creation of a fictional and engaging character, Ray eventually became a well-liked figure among young minds. Readers of all ages were kept interested by the numerous mysteries and the smart plot throughout the entire book. The brilliant author introduced the thrill of solving crimes, the beauty of travel, and a brilliant scientist with an unquenchable curiosity about the universe through the adventures of Feluda and the beloved character Professor Shonku. These adventures have not only ignited his young readers' interest in scientific exploration, but they have also entertained them. It is clear that Ray is a skilled writer since he is able to take young minds to a magical world that is filled with wonder, creativity, and fantasy. It is via his narratives that a rich tapestry is created, one that resonates with people of all ages and that leads to a realm of magic. The study underlines Ray's tremendous impact on Indian children's literature, which has kindled young minds with inspiration and love for reading and storytelling. Ray's work has been credited with a number of remarkable accomplishments. In addition, the paper discusses Ray's unique dual position as an author and illustrator, which provides a powerful visual representation of his story and leaves an impression on the minds of the readers. His literary prowess is a talent that will never go out of style for any reader, and it will continue to motivate future generations to invent stories and discover new worlds.

Lawrence in India: Reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover through the Films of Satyajit Ray

Lawrence in India: Reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover through the Films of Satyajit Ray

Tomar naam, amar naam, Vietnam Vietnam! Folk styles and solidarity in the Bengali new wave cinema

ABSTRACT The Bengali new wave cinema of the 1960s and 1970s addressed historically important world events through an aesthetic inspired by Marxism and long-standing anti-colonial traditions dating to the middle nineteenth century. At the same time, an aesthetic derived from folk and artistic traditions was embraced as a cultural style in the middle twentieth century by local Marxist progressive theatre and writers’ associations. In 1968, the Bengali film director Ritwik Ghatak published a short speculation for the Bengal Youth Festival explaining the scenario for “A Film I want to make about Vietnam.” The film was not made, but the imagined detail is very much in the style of the Bengali new wave. Also important—and made, so we can see it—is Satyajit Ray’s short film “on” Vietnam, Two: A Film Fable (1964). The two films express, in different ways, the enthusiasm among Bengali intellectuals for Vietnam at the time when revolutionary youth solidarity with the anti-imperialist struggle was strong. What were Ghatak and Ray thinking with these films “on” Vietnam? Can they tell us anything of the times, the engaged role of film, the director as intellectual agitator, the politics of solidarity from afar? By evaluating the reception of historically focussed film from the perspective of the Bengali New Wave, I show how that cinema’s fascination with Vietnam evokes both much older folk traditions, yet now leads to a more worrying contemporary coda with the adaptation in 2019 of the old slogan by the Hindutva right to include Jai Ram.

The Home and the World: Queering Diaspora and Recasting the Nation in Ananda Devi’s Indian Tango

This article attends to the legacies of Indian Ocean migrations in the construction of women as integral to the territorial sense of Indian nationhood. Specifically, it examines Mauritian writer Ananda Devi’s novel Indian Tango (2007), which rewrites Satyajit Ray’s cinematic adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Ghare-Baire (1916) from a transnational queer feminist perspective. Tracing the novel’s historical intertexts in Indian nationalist and anti-indenture discourses, the article argues that Devi reorients feminine desire towards an erotic autonomy that reimagines diasporic affiliation through queer kinship, challenging the control of female sexuality within the heterosexual family as the basis of the nation.

Through Agnostic Eyes: Representations of Hinduism in the Cinema of Satyajit Ray

Examining the filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s engagements with religious questions with reference to his films Devi (The Goddess), Mahapurush (The Holy Man), Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder), Sadgati (Deliverance) and Ganashatru (A Public Enemy), this essay assesses the influence of Ray’s Brahmo inheritance, his personal atheism/agnosticism and his cultural fascination with Hinduism in his representations of women’s status and caste discrimination. It concludes that although Ray’s approach to Hinduism was far from one-dimensional or sectarian, its negative social consequences were emphasized more in his work than any positive role it might play in society and culture.

The ‘Translated’ Cityscape: A Study of Select Satyajit Ray Films

The present paper attempts to examine the ‘translated’ nature of the cityscapes in Satyajit Ray’s films. With a select reading of films like ‘Mahanagar’ (lit. The Big City, 1963) and ‘Pratidwandi’ (The Adversary also called Siddhartha and the City, 1970), I argue for the ways in which the city becomes a space of contestation, debate, negotiation and translation between clashing ideologies of the old and the new, the rural and the urban, the ancient and the modern. Ray’s films have been studied from several perspectives, in terms of thematic, stylistic and ideological development. However, it seems to me that the city and its ‘translational’ aspect have not received enough attention. The present paper proposes to understand the role the city plays in Ray’s cinema. As an avant garde film maker, Ray’s cinema is replete with moments of conflicting ideologies, transitions and crossovers. It seems to me that the city provides the base for several such negotiations and intersections in Ray. Using certain recent developments in Translation Studies, I propose to read episodes in select Ray films as indicative of a larger ideological and cultural shift necessitated and made possible by/in the new space of the city. As a translating and translated space, the city’s agency enables other changes and transformations which would not have been possible in the absence of this primary actor – the city. The present paper is an attempt to look at several such moments of intersections and translations that Ray’s films make available to us. 1 An earlier version of this article was presented at the17th International MELOW Conference on ‘Space, Place and Language in Literatures of the World’, Dharamshala, 9-11th, March, 2018. I am grateful to the questions and discussion from the audience and conference participants which helped me rethink some ideas presented here.

The Representation of Class Conflict in Cinema and Violation of the Fundamental Rights: A Study in the Context of Satyajit Ray’s “Sadgati”


 
 
 This study focuses on the representation of the cast system in Satyajit Ray’s cinema (Sadgati) and the violation of Fundamental Rights. In this study, the researcher has used visual analysis (mise-en-scene) and three-dimensional critical discourse analysis to examine the text, tone and expression, and socio- cultural background of the different characters and the violation of the Fundamental Rights of a man who is suffering from untouchability and exploitation. Dr Ambedkar devoted his life to the welfare and empowerment of the marginalized class. He desired to bring equality within the social structure, where no space for discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender, and place of birth. This study attempts to identify the reflection of Ambedkar’s ideology in the film “Sadgati.”
 
 

Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures: Film and History in the Postcolony by Rochona Majumdar

Reviewed by: Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures: Film and History in the Postcolony by Rochona Majumdar Lakshmi Padmanabhan (bio) Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures: Film and History in the Postcolony by Rochona Majumdar. Columbia University Press. 2021. 320 pages. $140.00 hardcover; $35.00 paperback; also available in e-book. Rochona Majumdar's Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures: Film and History in the Postcolony is a history of the art cinema movement in India in the immediate aftermath of decolonization and an argument for reading Indian art cinema, particularly the work of Bengali filmmakers Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, and Satyajit Ray, as forms of historiographic thinking, which provide conceptual insights into the postcolonial present. Art Cinema and India's Forgotten Futures charts the cultural history of the art cinema movement in India, focusing on the 1950s to the 1980s, a period that saw the rise of state support for independent filmmaking fueled by an optimistic vision of the newly formed nation-state's role in cultural life and the subsequent decline of these institutions and the disillusionment that followed the intense political upheavals of the 1970s. The book, which is divided into two parts, is structured by the historical break between the optimistic political atmosphere of the early decades following Indian independence and the political disillusionment of the 1970s and after. Majumdar opens by connecting the rise of art cinema or "good films" with the pedagogical project of the newly formed nation-state to produce "good citizens."1 It is worth noting here that throughout the text, Majumdar [End Page 213] highlights the difficulty of limiting the boundary or unifying characteristics of art cinema as a category, precisely because of the ongoing disagreements about what constituted "good films" and "good citizens." Across the first section of the text, she utilizes the term interchangeably with quality films (chapter 1), new cinema (chapter 2), radical cinema (chapter 3), and several other terms emerging from the archival sources, including parallel cinema and the Indian New Wave. Rather than providing art cinema with a specific aesthetic or political approach, Majumdar isolates the aspirational quality of the category. In Majumdar's narration, art cinema emerged through the productive intersection of elite interests in advocating for cinema as a medium of art (in contrast to the commercial cinema emerging from the well-funded studios in Mumbai and Chennai, for example) and the pedagogical aim of the national bureaucracy to transcend social divisions and educate a universal Indian citizen.2 Majumdar locates the rise of the film society movement, and the investment by educated elites in fostering a popular film culture, as intellectually aligned with the broader task of educating the newly postcolonial citizen-subject, who was understood to be inexperienced in the practice of democracy. Art cinema was viewed as a pedagogical tool, one that utilized an industrial medium (which aligned it with the broader Nehruvian economic development model centered on industrialization and investment in modern technology) to foster popular sovereignty, educating the masses about their role in a secular democratic society. Between 1959 and 1964, several of the most important institutions of film education and preservation were inaugurated, including the Federation of Film Societies of India (1959), Film Finance Corporation (1960), the Film Institute of India (1960), and the National Film Archive of India (1964).3 The first section provides us with a cultural history of these institutions and examines the role of key figures such as Marie Seton, a British film critic and evangelist for independent film and art cinema. Through this section, Majumdar tracks the underlying faith that these institutions and figures cultivated in the pedagogical possibilities of art cinema as a form of aesthetic education in a country where the sheer plurality of linguistic communities and rates of illiteracy made developing a shared public sphere through written text an ongoing concern for the political elite and artists alike. Their aspiration for cinema to transcend regional and linguistic boundaries and speak in a universal humanist language was also a measure of its aesthetic value and sociological importance. As Majumdar explains, the idealistic view of art cinema's pedagogical function crumbles in the 1970s with the increasingly authoritarian...

Study of Social realism in the cinema of Shyam Benegal, Satyajeet Ray, Deepa Mehta, Anubhav Sinha

This paper delves into the cinematic works of renowned Indian filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Deepa Mehta, and Anubhav Sinha, with a specific focus on their use of social realism as a narrative and aesthetic tool. Social realism, as a genre, seeks to portray the realities of society, addressing social issues and reflecting the lives of ordinary individuals. These filmmakers have made significant contributions to Indian cinema by highlighting pertinent socio-political themes, questioning prevailing societal norms, and shedding light on marginalized communities. By examining their notable films, such as Shyam Benegal's "Ankur" and "Mandi," Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" and "Aparajito," Deepa Mehta's "Fire" and "Water," and Anubhav Sinha's "Article 15" and "Thappad," this paper aims to analyze their unique approaches to social realism, their impact on Indian cinema, and their collective contribution to addressing social issues through the medium of film. The study draws on critical analysis, theoretical frameworks, and relevant scholarly works to provide a comprehensive understanding of the filmmakers' narratives, techniques, and thematic concerns within the context of social realism.

Satyajit ray’s detective fiction and its socio-cultural impact in 19th century Bengal

Satyajit Ray invented the fictional Kolkata-based private investigator known as Bengali Sleuth Feluda, whose real name is Pradosh Chandra Mitter. He frequently has two sidekicks by his side: Lalmohan Ganguly, a clumsy crime fiction author who goes by the pen name Jatayu, and Topshe, his cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitra. There is no readily documented legendary genesis story for Satyajit Ray's private eye Feluda, yet it is also not a case of accidental artistic whim. The prehistory of Ray's favourite detective character may be determined by carefully examining his intellectual and cultural milieu. Ray has given Feluda some characteristics that make him different from the stereotypes. In addition to taking down smugglers in Bombay, Feluda exposes a conspiracy and pursues a criminal who is trying to desecrate Indian temples across the country. The study explores the sociocultural imprint Satyajit Ray left in Bengal in the nineteenth century through his detective fiction, Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson’s Ruby) Hatyapuri (The House of the Death). It reframes writings and the repeating ideas and motifs they include within a larger social and historical framework. This essay also makes an effort to highlight Ray's singularity in terms of his background, methods of detection, and narrative tactics. By borrowing Bengal's rich cultural heritage, Ray localised the genre and used his protagonist to try to solve the unanswered mysteries.

The Unintended Repercussions of Technological Breakthrough in Satyajit Ray’s The Diary of a Space Traveller and its Implication on the Status Quo of Artificial Intelligence: A Case Study Through the Lens of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

The paper explains the application of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to Professor Shonku’s The Diary of a Space Traveller (2004) to analyze the implications of the principle on the behaviour of the characters and the plot and deploy that theoretical framework to address the current situation of burgeoning AI models and provide suggestions on how to mitigate its unintended consequences. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the position and momentum of a particle with complete precision. The Diary of a Space Traveller tells the story of Professor Shonku, a brilliant scientist who builds a spacecraft capable of travelling through space to discover unknown planets, encountering manifold and diverse alien species, and a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence-induced robot who irregularly exhibits unprecedented behaviour. The application of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to The Diary of a Space Traveller can be seen in the following ways: Professor Shonku’s scientific incapability to predict the unintended ramifications of his scientific inventions, his interaction with the alien species he encounters with expectations opposite to reality, the inability of other characters to make sense of unprecedented events, and the necessity of controlling the possibility of the unintended repercussions under voluntary human control. The results of this study will add to the larger conversation on responsible innovation and ways to mitigate the possibility of the adverse effects of uni

The Posthuman in Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri and Agantuk- Embracing the Redefined Self

Posthumanism is one of the emerging fields of study in recent times. It deals with a redefined perspective toward man. It advocates that man has always been in existence, which is a concoction of that which man considered to be the Other. The Self and the Other exist in a natural rhythm in the Universe. The theory delves deep into the nature of Man and attempts to travel away from the Humanistic idea that Man is at the centre of all the functioning of Nature and views Man as apart from Nature. Posthumanism suggests man to be a part of nature. A discussion of human nature cannot be completed without the mention of the Renaissance Man Satyajit Ray. The paper attempts to locate hints of a Posthumanist discourse in Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri and Agantuk.