Showing results by author "Satyajit Ray" in All Categories

The absorbing story of how one of the greatest directors of our time began his filmmaking career.

Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) was one of the greatest filmmakers of his time, renowned for films like Pather Panchali, Charulata, Aranyer Din Ratri and Ghare Baire. He was awarded the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in 1992, and in the same year, was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna. Ray was also a writer of repute, and his short stories, novellas, poems and articles, written in Bengali, have been immensely popular ever since they first began to appear in the children’s magazine Sandesh in 1961.

Exactly 50 years ago, in 1955, the release of Pather Panchali heralded the arrival of a master in the world of cinema. Over the next 40 years, Satyajit Ray came to be regarded as one of the world’s finest filmmakers ever. Today, more than a decade after his death, he continues to be India’s most respected name in international film circles. Apart from his achievements as a director, Ray was also a prolific writer of novels, short stories, and essays on cinema. Speaking of Films brings together some of Ray’s most memorable writings on film and filmmaking.

Feluda, Topshe, and Jatayu are in Bombay where Jatayu's latest book is being filmed under the title Jet Bahadur. Soon after Jatayu hands over a package to a man in a red shirt, a murder takes place in the high-rise where the producer lives. Feluda and his companions find themselves in the midst of one of their most thrilling adventures ever, with a hair-raising climax aboard a train during location shooting.

Visiting the famous hunter and wildlife writer Mahitosh Sinha-Roy in his Jalpaiguri palace, Feluda is presented with a riddle that holds the clue to ancestral treasure. But before he can begin unraveling the puzzle, Mr Sinha-Roy's secretary is found dead in the forest, his body savaged by a big cat. Feluda's investigations lead him deeper and deeper into a scandalous family secret, and bring him face to face with a bloodthirsty royal Bengal tiger in a final confrontation.

Frank and funny, these stories, written originally for the Bengali children's magazine Sandesh, are an essential listen for all Ray enthusiasts as well as those who want to know Ray, the writer and filmmaker, better. In this volume, Ray also shares some of his experiences while shooting Pather Panchali - his epic debut, and subsequent films, particularly for children.

The search for a valuable scroll leads Feluda and his friends to a strange cast of characters, and perhaps the most chilling case Feluda has ever been faced with. For among D.G. Sen, the collector of scrolls, his son Mahim, his secretary Nishith, the wildlife photographer Bilas Majumdar, and the astrologer Laxman Bhattacharya, there is a cold-blooded criminal, and he must be stopped before it is too late.

An incident near the desolate Chhinnamasta temple on the rocky riverbank of Rajrappa leads to the death of Mahesh Chowdhury, the head of a Hazaribagh family. Adding to the mystery are a set of coded diaries, a valuable stamp collection that is missing, and a tiger that is roaming the streets of Hazaribagh. One of Feluda’s most intriguing adventures, this shows the master sleuth at his best.