Satyajit Ray, standing 6′-4″ tall, was literally a towering figure in the world of cinema. He was the only Indian to have an honorary Oscar in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world.
However, what remains camouflaged under his excellence on the celluloid is his deep understanding of governance and strong political ideas for the betterment of the Indian civil society in general. His cinemas and novellas represented sheer perfection and brilliance in the successful portrayal of not only the social and political problems, which were gnawing the existence of the Indian democracy but also caused the renaissance of a new Bengali middle class. A class that was now fully aware of the social circumstances in its vicinity but also desperate to change it.
His Feluda series was his master creation. A perfect blend of adventure, suspense and thrill, as he himself called it rohosya romancho. In stories such as Joi Baba Felunath(1975), Sheyal Debotar Rahasya(1970), Gorosthaney Sabdhan(1977), Chhinnamastar Abhishap(1978), Golokdham Rahasya(1980), Ray condemned blind faiths and superstitions, which adorned the Indian society at that time, proving that beliefs in curses, faith healers etc to be worthless and duty to be the only virtue of life. He also criticized racism in Londone Feluda(1989) and Robertsoner Ruby(1992).
His cinematic magic spread on the screen through the Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne(1969) which was far beyond just pure fantasy and delight. Through, the stories originally composed his grandfather Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury; Ray describes various administrative maladies, which are so evident even in the contemporary era. Hirak Rajar Deshe(1980) depicts that only Unity and Education can fight tyranny, hence Ray encourages the Indians to pursue education and break out the circle of Government monopoly. In fact, many critics have considered it an allusion to India during Indira Gandhi’s emergency period.
He teaches that corruption never pays through films like Pratidwandi(1970), Seemabaddha(1971), and Jana Aranya(1975). Through the film Shatranj ke khiladi, he despises special privileges being conferred to any class on basis of birth and shows that effort not a special lineage brings the ultimate power in life.
Many critics may complain about the portrayal of mostly men as protagonists in Rays work as chauvinist but Ray was one of the pioneers of coming of age representation of women on screen. Charulata(1964) speaks for a Womens right to seek her peace of mind and the satisfaction of liaison in life, a situation that would be looked down upon in the Indian Society of the 1960s. The tasteful portrayal of the protagonists fantasies brought Ray many praises. In 1965, The Times of London remarked upon the film depicting of values that seemed influenced by the English, stating, “This stratum of Indian life was more English than England.” Another masterpiece of Ray, Mahanagar(1963) narrates the story of an independent working woman who is the sole breadwinner of the family. In Ghare Baire(1984), through the characters Nikhilesh and Bimala, Ray not only manages to successfully portray the reaction and take of the Bengali middle class towards the partition of Bengal, but an understanding and unconventional husband for that period who allows his wife to have her way in life.
Since the children do not still form a Vote Bank in India, the attention towards them and teaching them the perfect political culture and values has not been in the prerogative of the governments agenda, but Rays family magazine Sandesh, an edu-recreational publication acquainted Indian children with the scenario in their country. The year 2013 is the centenary year of the founding of the magazine.
Ray’s work has been described as full of humanism and universality, and of a deceptive simplicity with deep underlying complexity. Rays creations reflect his understanding of the relations between various cultures while his ideas remain relevant to the great cultural debates in the contemporary world, not only in India. Ray retains the real cultural features of India and his view of Bengal. He recognizes a complex reality, with immense heterogeneity at every level. It is not the picture of a stylized East meeting a stereotypical West, which has been the stock-in-trade of so many recent writings critical of “Westernization” and “modernity.”-as once remarked by Amartya Sen. The human relations and political ideas in his films were presented in a style differing little from the script-writing of American and British films of that period.
Advocates of socialism often argued that Ray was not committed to the cause of the nation’s downtrodden classes; some critics accused him of glorifying poverty in Pather Panchali through lyricism and aesthetics. However, a careful view of the film would show that Pather Panchali comes very near to the concept of neorealism, as there are many passages in the film during which there is no dramatic development, even though the usual realities of life, such as the changing of seasons, passing of a day, are concretely filmed. This placed Indias deplorable condition in front of the world attracting enormous helping hands.
Though Rays films and other literary works still form a major influence in the Indian cinema, there unfortunately have not been a lot of contemporary film makers who have been as soothing on screen and managed to inform, persuade, educate and imbibe the facades of Indian Politics, except of course the likes of Prakash Jha and Dibakar Banerjee.
Abhismita Sen: A postgraduate student of the Jadavpur University-Department of International Relations, Kolkata, West Bengal. Has interned with the Alexis Centre for Public Policy and International Relations on the project- media and (mis) representation of minority groups. Speaks German and French in addition to English, Hindi and Bengali. Won the Winter Spring Writing Competition organized by the Centre for International Relations, International Affairs Forum for authoring the essay China Getting Ahead or Losing Ground? which was published in the summer 2012 issue of the same.