best ten films by ray

1. Sathyajith Ray and His Films
Afeef.M
S3 MCJ
Dept of Journalism & Mass Communication
UoC

2. Sathyajith Ray (1921-1992)
He studied at the university in Calcutta and
later joined Shantiniketan, Rabindranath
Tagore's university to study art. He began
his career as a commercial artist (1943-56).
He founded Calcutta's first film society in
1947 and made his first film, Pather
Panchali (1955) while working at an
advertising agency.

3. Pather Panchali (Song of the Little
Road) – 1955
The movie that made Satyajit Ray the iconic
filmmaker is this. This movie is centered on a
Brahmin family based in a remote village in
Bengal. The family has a priest, his aged cousin,
wife, son, and a daughter. Satyajit Ray
portrayed the poverty of the family masterfully
in this movie. The film has many interesting
scenes picturized around the daughter Durga
and her brother Apu. The movie ends with the
family leaving for Banaras, hoping to live a
better life. The Apu Trilogy has been listed
among the 100 best films of all time.

4. Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) – 1959
In this third part of the Apu Trilogy, the protagonist is shown as an unemployed graduate living
in then Calcutta tirelessly searching for a job. One day, his friend invites him to his village to
attend a marriage. During the wedding preparations, the father of the bride learns that the
groom is mentally challenged and cancels off the marriage. Apu marries the cousin of his friend
out of moral sympathy and moves with her to a new city to find a good job. Few months later,
his wife loses her life while giving birth to their child. He wanders around in foreign places for
five long years in grief. At last, he reunites with his son and both live happily ever after.

5. Charulata (The Lonely Wife) – 1964
• The movie is based on Nastanirh, a story written by Nobel Laureate
Rabindranath Tagore. The main protagonist, Charulata, is a beautiful,
childless and intelligent wife of Bhupati who is to be an intellectual
running a political newspaper in British India. He remains very busy and
has no time for his wife. One day, his younger brother Amal comes to live
with them. With time, Charulata starts harbouring feelings for Amal.
Realizing this Amal leaves the family. Charulata’s husband gets to know
about the whole issue but chooses to forgive his wife.

6. Aparajito (The Unvanquished) – 1956
The second of the Apu Trilogy, Aparajito
is about Apu when he is just 10. He lives
with his family at Banaras on the banks
of the holy River Ganga. Harihar, his
father, is a poor priest and the family
struggles to make their ends meet.
He gets sick and his soul departs; leaving Apu and his mother awestruck, and without
any financial backing. Apu’s mother thereon shifts to a different place. With time, Apu
grows to be a charming young man and completes his studies to find a job in Calcutta
City, away from his mother

7. Devi (The Goddess) -1960
Kalikinkar Roy, an aging widower, is an ardent devotee
of Goddess Kali. He dreams one night that his daughter-
in-law, Doyamoyee is an incarnation of Goddess Kali.
The news spreads like jungle fire around and devotees
of Goddess Kali throng their house. Doyomoyee is
dumbstruck looking at such a rush. Then, after some
days, her husband Umaprasad, who worked away from
the city, returns home and registers opposition with his
father. While his father is unmoved, his wife
Doyomoyee is unconcerned too and absorbed in the
theory laid by her father-in-law.

8. Mahanagar (The Big City) -1963
The film is dedicated to a typical
Bengali family. Subrata Mazumdar
is the lone earning member of this
family and his wife Arati takes care
of the family including her father,
mother in law and sister in-law.
Arati takes up a job to make some extra money for her family amidst opposition
from her husband and father-in-law. One day, her husband loses his job and
Arati is left as the sole earning member. Towards the end of the story, Arati also
leaves her job due to unavoidable tensions with her boss.

9. Abhijan (The Expedition) -1962
The movie revolves around a taxi
driver named Narsingh. He learns
one day that his permit has been
taken away after his taxi collides
with the car of a powerful
policeman in the city. He takes
refuge in the nearby border area.
Thereafter, a beautiful woman named Gulabi, a prostitute, enters his life after his
wife Neeli, a reserved school teacher, elopes with her crippled lover. Narsingh
experiences numerous downturns in his life. Finally, he is united with Gulabi, a
woman who truly loved him and supported him in times of need.

10. Nayak (The Hero) – 1966
This timeless classic is a beautifully crafted movie
centered on the life of a famous Bengali film star.
The film star is invited to Delhi to receive a
prestigious award. He travels by train to his
destination due to unavailability of plane tickets
and meets a young female journalist on-board. The
journalist secretly plans to interview him for her
magazine. As the movie proceeds, he churns out his
life history and instances that affected his career.
The actor even confesses his guilt on many issues.
Later on, as the movie advances, the girl realizes
that the story in her magazine could tarnish the
public image of this famous actor. It won the Special
Jury Award at the Berlin International Film Festival
and was nominated for the Golden Bear.

11. Agantuk (The Stranger) – 1992
Anila, the lead character in the movie, receives a
letter from a man claiming to be her uncle one fine
morning. The stranger was almost given up for dead
as he was out of touch with anyone in the family for
35 long years. One day, he arrives home and boasts
of his anthropologic ways of life and his journeys
around the world. Anila’s husband suspects him from
the very start. Though, he proves to be harmless in
the end, spreading joy in the family, he leaves home
and all others one day. It won three National Film
Awards.

12. Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) –
1973
The film is set in famine struck Bengal of British India.
The British Army takes up control of all food reserves and
the Indian masses starve. The story revolves around
Gangacharan, a priest, and his wife Ananga. Suddenly,
World War II breaks out and the situation of Indians
worsens further. People are forced to live like animals in
order to satiate their hunger. Thousands die mercilessly
for want of a piece of bread. The movie portrays the
situation with utmost precision and unmatched
craftsmanship. It won the Golden Bear for best film at
Berlin and three Indian National Awards among others