COVER STORY
Briefing
Economic Perspectives
Allegations of manipulation in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business ranking suggest institutional problems
The difference in the responses to the allegations against Chile and China regarding manipulation of the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings in 2018 suggests that the institution itself is prone to such violations, not any one individual.
Ray's modernity
How Satyajit Ray foregrounded modernity and enlightenment throughout his career
Satyajit Ray’s cinema, like Mrinal Sen’s and Ritwik Ghatak’s, is a major contribution to cultural modernity in India. Cinema comes of age in their hands.
Interview: Adoor Gopalakrishnan
‘He lived life cinema’: Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Satyajit Ray
Interview with Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Ray's vision of Bengal
Vision of a land: Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay's Bengal in Satyajit Ray's cinema
Nature’s abundance is closely related to want and privation in Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay. Satyajit Ray wanted to return to that vision of Bengal in his films based on his novels.
Conversations with Ray
‘I am not conscious of being a humanist’
An interview strung together from conversations Andrew Robinson had with Satyajit Ray over several years.
Ray's Century
A Century of Satyajit Ray
A truly singular and multi-faceted personality, Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) was not only a ‘jewel’ of Bengal, and the Koh-i-Noor of independent India, but also one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. A tribute in the maestro’s centenary year.
INTERVIEW: BARUN CHANDA
‘That exact face in his mind’: Barun Chanda remembers Satyajit Ray
Interview with the actor Barun Chanda.
Parallels with contemporary film-makers
Subterranean parallels: Common threads between Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak
In the decade that marks the birth centenaries of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, it is time to move beyond the apparent dissimilarities between the legends and appreciate the commonalities connecting their work and the common influences that shaped them.
Editor's Note
Celebrating Satyajit Ray
About three months ago, when this Special Issue dedicated to Satyajit Ray was just an idea, in an unRayesque coincidence as it were, an email landed ...
Ray's political films
Unstated politics: The political statements in Satyajit Ray's films
Though Satyajit Ray never wore his politics on his sleeve, he never shied away from making strong statements in his films that left no confusion as to his own personal political stand.
Interview: Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore on working with Satyajit Ray
Interview with the veteran actor Sharmila Tagore.
Nemai Ghosh's photographs
Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray’s Boswell
Nemai Ghosh (1934-2020) photographed Satyajit Ray at work and scenes from his films from 1968 to 1992.
Ray's craft
Cinema, for Satyajit Ray, was all about salvation
‘Shatranj ke Khilari’ was as neatly planned as a game of chess. The knight wanted even the tiniest pawn to be perfect.
Ray & Renoir
Satyajit Ray’s French connection
Meeting Jean Renoir undoubtedly changed Ray’s life, not in an abrupt manner, which would have been uncharacteristic of his response to people, but because Renoir’s attitudes to both life and film-making appealed to him in their wholeness.
INTERVIEW: Sandip Ray
Film time, family time: Sandip Ray on Satyajit Ray
The film-maker Sandip Ray reminisces about his father in a free-wheeling interview.
COVER STORY
A letter from Satyajit Ray
Despite his astonishing success, Ray did not forget the little reader.
Interview: Dhritiman Chaterji
‘We need criticism, not hagiography’: Dhritiman Chaterji on Satyajit Ray's relevance in today's world
Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay talks to Dhritiman Chaterji.
Extract
Working with Ravi Shankar: The Music of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy
An extract from The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray and The Making of an Epic.
Interview: Saswati Sen
‘I was like a daughter to him’: Saswati Sen on Satyajit Ray
Interview with Kathak exponent Saswati Sen.
INTERVIEW: APARNA SEN
‘Apu’ in a changing India: Aparna Sen on Satyajit Ray
“Ray was famously accused by Nargis of selling India’s poverty, whereas he gave a face to rural poverty. He made us identify with the characters; he invested them with dignity.”
Ray and Gaston
Unlikely colleagues: Satyajit Ray and Gaston Roberge
The friendship between a French-Canadian Jesuit and a Bengali film-maker led to path-breaking work in film studies.
Interview: Shyam Benegal
‘Films are pre-Satyajit or post-Satyajit’: Shyam Benegal remembers Satyajit Ray
Interview with the film-maker Shyam Benegal.
Interview: Goutam Ghose
‘A man who knew too much’: Goutam Ghose on Satyajit Ray
Interview with Goutam Ghose, film-maker.
Ray's trilogies
Critical insider: Satyajit Ray's cinematic trilogies
The three trilogies that mark the beginning, middle and end of Satyajit Ray’s film-making career reflect his changing perception of the idea of India.
Interview: Girish Kasaravalli
‘Ray’s vision is universal’: Girish Kasaravalli on Satyajit Ray
Interview with Girish Kasaravalli, eminent Kannada film director.