Music and Story in 33 Satyajit Ray Films Music and Story in 33 Satyajit Ray Films Here are 33 Satyajit Ray films with loglines and notes on the music. While Ray is celebrated for his humanism, storytelling and visual craft, another powerful element quietly runs through his cinema — music. Is there a relation between his stories and his music? Let's find out. From Ravi Shankar’s sitar in Pather Panchali , to the classical performances of Jalsaghar , to the unforgettable songs of Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne , Ray used music not merely as background but as narrative force. Sometimes music expresses character. Sometimes it creates irony. Sometimes it quietly reveals emotion that the characters themselves cannot speak. 1. Pather Panchali (1955) Logline: A poor rural family struggles against poverty while young Apu and Durga discover wonder and hardship in the world around them. Based on: Novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay Main actors: Kanu Banerjee,...
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33 Films of Satyajit Ray: My Notes After Watching Them All | Sachit Murthy “The only solutions that are ever worth anything are the solutions that come from within.” — Satyajit Ray Over the past several months, I set myself a simple goal: to watch every film directed by Satyajit Ray . That journey has now come to an end. If you want to read my views, notes and analysis of every Satyajit Ray film, click here . (and come back!) What began as a viewing exercise gradually became something deeper. Watching Ray’s films in sequence allows you to see the evolution of a filmmaker, but more importantly, it reveals the remarkable consistency of his worldview. Ray’s cinema is rooted in humanism. His characters struggle, dream, fail, and endure — and through them he quietly examines the moral and emotional dilemmas of modern life. Across thirty-three films made between 1955 and 1991, Ray explored rural Bengal, the Bengali middle class, the tensions of mod...
Agantuk (1991) – The End of Innocence | Sachit Murthy Agantuk (1991) – The End of Innocence When I began watching the films of Satyajit Ray in chronological order, I knew that the final stop would be Agantuk . What I did not expect was how cruelly devastating it would be. We live in a suspicious world and Agantuk affirms this sad deniability of innocence. An unknown uncle ( Utpal Dutt ) arrives at the home of his only surviving niece. Even as the audience (we are part of this world too), we refuse to believe that this man is not an impostor. All along, the uncle provides ample proof that he is a well-read and well-travelled man. His stories are rich with experience. His worldview is expansive. Yet no one believes him. The only ones who do are the niece and her young son. They accept him instinctively. But even this trust is ridiculed. They are told they are being naïve. The situation escalates into what can only be described as a polite interrogat...
Rajesh Khanna's Four Aces: How He Made Failure Fashionable Rajesh Khanna's Four Aces: How He Made Failure Fashionable Hindi cinema has always trusted the winning hero. He gets the girl. He survives the climax. He restores order. And then arriveth Rajesh Khanna — who built superstardom on losing . Not once. Not accidentally. But repeatedly. Look closely at four of his most enduring films, all beginning with the letter A , and a pattern emerges. In each of them, he fails. And yet, audiences returned in droves. Even wrote in blood. Let’s call them his Four Aces: Aradhana (1969) Anand (1971) Amar Prem (1972) Aap Ki Kasam (1974) Different plots. Same emotional aftertaste: loss. Ace One (Aradhana): A Promise Unkept In Aradhana , love is intense and sincere — and cut short. A promise is made. Fate intervenes. The promise lingers in memory. He doesn’t betray love. Life betrays him. Audiences didn’t blame him. They mourned him. Ace T...
Shakha Proshakha (1990) – Probably Satyajit Ray’s Worst? | Honest Review by Sachit Murthy Shakha Proshakha (1990) – Probably Ray’s Worst? As I inch closer to the end of Satyajit Ray ’s filmography, there’s a strange brooding feeling that sets in. Only three more films (out of thirty five). That’s all. After that, no first-time Ray experience ever again. Having gone through the psychological introspection of Nayak (1966) , the moral collapse of Jana Aranya (1975) , and the enduring magic of Sonar Kella (1974) , I approached this late Ray film with both affection and expectation. Instead, I was left in hapless despair. And I say this with a heavy heart. This is probably Ray’s weakest film. Even the premise is bleak on paper. A dying, honest, successful patriarch. Four sons. Each positioned somewhere on the dishonesty scale. Two are “honest”, but one is mentally unstable, and the other is quietly depressed. The rest have comfortably adjusted t...
31/35: Ganashatru (1989): When Satyajit Ray Confronts Religion Head-On 31/35: Ganashatru (1989): When Satyajit Ray Confronts Religion Head-On Satyajit Ray was, at heart, a rational man. This is not something one concludes merely after watching Ganashatru ; it becomes evident when one traces the arc of his filmography. Time and again, Ray returned to the idea that religion—when left unquestioned—misleads. He explored this skepticism obliquely in earlier works such as Devi , Mahapurush , Sonar Kella , and Joi Baba Felunath . In these films, Ray wrapped his rational thinking around characters and situations, letting irony, genre, and humour do the work. Ganashatru marks a decisive shift. Ray abandons allegory and subtlety. This is a direct confrontation between religion and science, staged openly and without disguise. Holy Water vs Public Health The central conflict of Ganashatru is disturbingly ...
Ghare Baire (1984) — Feminism and Nationalism Unite To Destroy Ghare Baire (1984) — Feminism and Nationalism Unite To Destroy Ghare Baire is an ambitious film. Because Satyajit Ray attempts something extremely difficult here: he stitches together multiple emotional and political fault lines into one narrative. And in my view, he succeeds brilliantly. On the surface, Ghare Baire is about a marriage disrupted by a charismatic outsider. But beneath that, Ray is working on several battlefields at once. A Woman’s Desire Bimala is not simply a political pawn. She is a woman who has been adored, respected, even worshipped, but not fully understood. Ray does not sensationalise her attraction toward Sandip. Desire, curiosity, validation — these are not sins. They are suppressed energies finally finding an outlet. Freedom — But Curated Nikhilesh believes he is progressive. He wants Bimala to step out o...