[Our Films Their Films Satyajit Ray Pdf Download
Julieann Rohde
Structurally the book is a collection of 25 essays divided among various topics covering Indian and Western movies and a few notable personalities related to movies. There is an extremely insightful introduction that sets stage for the rest of the book. Running in parallel to the treatment of the topics, Ray also unobstrusively manages to sketch a history of his own development as a film maker and hints at the various influences and episodes that enriched his perspectives as he grew along. Throughout the book the reader cannot but notice a serene, gentlemanly, unagitated and refined voice of an accomplished scholar of cinema holding forte
Satyajit Ray is one of those talented persons of this century who dominated the Cinema from 1955 till he won Oscar in 1992. He at the same time created ideas and put them into actions, reflected upon his work, critically analyzed his scenarios as well as that of foreign film makers and their work.
When you read the book Our Films Their Films you come to realize that
Satyajit is very versatile person involved in many tasks. He not only wrote stories for children but produced films and documentaries, he wrote about his experiences and reflected upon his work. He won every major award in the film world. He is such a renowned personality that if you talk about film making and you do not mention his work you are not doing justice to your work.
That his was a life completely dedicated to the profession of movie making is evident from the breadth and depth of issues he touches in this book. The breezy style of analysis, insights, admonishment, references, and views garnished with a dash of humour (Posted by mangalapalliv on December 15, 2007)
After reading the book I discovered that the book is not only meant for the students of film making but it carries information worth reading by any subject students or a person trying to perceive success. The things that appealed to me in the book lets discuss them one by one.
As you proceed through the book you realize that the author is in the habit of writing a daily diary. Many extracts have been recorded from his day to day working, learning, experiences, feelings, interactions, impact from the environment, movements, moods etc.
The selection of words to describe events, moods, weather, climate, effect on environment are so well chosen and effective that for a moment I realized as if I am visualizing the scenes as he writes. I got so involved that many a time while reading I just want to go on and on and not to stop. But I had to stop in between to jot down important notes for my book review assignment. I have suggested some dozen people to read the book as I found it so interesting. Ones also realize how important it is to document your day to day proceedings. I myself realize it is important to note your journey because history helps you to improve your present and plan your future carefully. This is what I find Satyajit is doing.
Satyajit admits that film making is the toughest activity when you talk about creativity. A film making comprises three components as writing, filming and editing and all three are creative. The whole process is pain staking, physically demanding, mentally torturing, and yet who passes all three stages relish the rewards which cannot be compared to any other offerings.
As I read through the book I realize that Satyajit is among those people who believe in writing as the most powerful instrument. He is learning at every step and he is busy documenting every lesson he receives. He is recording every incident of his daily life, learning to use words carefully and effectively, making sure that his writings also leave impact on readers. From screen play he is moving to write articles, from there he decides to write films stories and so on and so forth.
One whole chapter in the book deals with the problem of making Bengali film. This chapter gives readers an insight into issues one need to consider when one is involved in making a regional film limited to small portion of audience. There are so many constraints as limited investment, limited audience as the movie is made in a language understood and spoken in that region. The scope is limited; hence it is convenient and advisable to the film maker to follow the genuine formula of film making.
Ray was born in Calcutta to Suprabha Ray and author Sukumar Ray. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent film-making after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London.
Ray received many major awards in his career, including a record thirty-six Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, two Silver Bears, many additional awards at international film festivals and ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. In 1978, he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award in 1992. On the occasion of the birth centenary of Ray, the International Film Festival of India, in recognition of the auteur's legacy, rechristened in 2021 its annual Lifetime Achievement award to "Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award".
Satyajit Ray's ancestry can be traced back for at least ten generations.[13] His family had acquired the name 'Ray. Although they were Bengali Kayasthas, the Rays were 'Vaishnavas' (worshippers of Vishnu),[13] as opposed to the majority of Bengali Kayasthas who were 'Shaktos' (worshippers of the Shakti or Shiva).[14]
The earliest-recorded ancestor of Ray family was Ramsunder Deo (Deb), born in the middle of the sixteenth century.[13][15] He was a native of Chakdah village in Nadia district of present-day West Bengal, India and migrated to Sherpur in East Bengal. He became son-in-law of the ruler of Jashodal and was granted a jagir (a feudal land grant) at Jashodal (in present day Kishoreganj District of Bangladesh).[16] His descendants migrated to the village Masua in Katiadi Upazila of Kishoreganj in the first half of eighteenth century.[16][17] Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrakishore Ray was born in Masua village, Kishorganj in 1863.[15] Upendrakishore's elder brother Saradaranjan Ray was one of the pioneers of Indian cricket who was called the W.G. Grace of India.
Upendrakishore Ray was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer, and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in 19th-century Bengal. He set up a printing press named U. Ray and Sons.[18]
Sukumar Ray who also born in Kishorganj, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was an illustrator, critic, and a pioneering Bengali writer of nonsense rhyme (Abol Tabol) and children's literature.[18] Social worker and children's book author Shukhalata Rao was his aunt.[19]
Satyajit Ray was born to Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray (nee Das Gupta) in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Sukumar Ray died when Satyajit was two years old.[20] Ray grew up in the house of his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, and of his printing press. He was attracted by the machines and process of printing from an early age, and took particular interest in the production process of Sandesh, a children's magazine started by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury.[21] Ray studied at Ballygunge Government High School in Calcutta, and completed his BA in economics at Presidency College, Calcutta (then affiliated with the University of Calcutta). During his school days, he saw a number of Hollywood productions in cinema.[22] The works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Ernst Lubitsch and movies such as The Thief of Baghdad and Uncle Tom's Cabin made lasting impression on his mind.[22] He developed keen interest in Western classical music.[23]
In 1940, his mother insisted that he study at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore. Ray was reluctant to go, due to his fondness for Calcutta and the low regard for the intellectual life at Santiniketan.[24] His mother's persuasiveness and his respect for Tagore finally convinced him to get admitted there for higher studies in Fine Art. In Santiniketan, Ray came to appreciate Oriental art. He later admitted that he learned much from the famous painters Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee.[25] He later produced a documentary, The Inner Eye, about Mukherjee. His visits to Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta stimulated his admiration for Indian art.[26] Three books that he read in the university influenced him to become a serious student of film-making: Paul Rotha's The Film Till Now, and two books on theory by Rudolf Arnheim and Raymond Spottiswoode.[27] Ray dropped out of the art course in 1942 as he could not feel inspired to become a painter.[27]
In 1943, Ray started working at D.J. Keymer, a British advertising agency, as a junior visualiser. Here he was trained in Indian commercial art under artist Annada Munshi, the then Art Director of D.J. Keymer.[28] Although he liked visual design (graphic design) and he was mostly treated well, there was tension between the British and Indian employees of the firm. The British were better paid, and Ray felt that "the clients were generally stupid."[29] In 1943, Ray started a second job for the Signet Press, a new publishing house started by D.K. Gupta.[30] Gupta asked Ray to create book cover designs for the company and gave him complete artistic freedom. Ray established himself as a commercial illustrator, becoming a leading Indian typographer and book-jacket designer.[31]
Ray designed covers for many books, including Jibanananda Das's Banalata Sen and Rupasi Bangla, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's Chander Pahar, Jim Corbett's Maneaters of Kumaon, and Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India.[30] He worked on a children's version of Pather Panchali, a classic Bengali novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, renamed Aam Antir Bhepu (The mango-seed whistle). Ray designed the cover and illustrated the book, and was deeply influenced by the work. He used it as the subject of his first film and featured his illustrations as shots in his ground-breaking film.[32]
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