Ray's 101 birth anniversary observed with great enthusiasm
kolkata: The 101 birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray was observed with great enthusiasm. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "I pay my centenary tribute to the great film- maker and writer Satyajit Ray on his birthday today. He is being remembered and respected by our Government through different programmes. May his legacy flourish!"
As part of the centenary celebration, his family is contemplating to hold a festival of his films, and some of the restored classics of the maestro could be among the selections, his son Sandip Ray said. A life size bronze statue of Ray was unveiled at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute ( SRFTI) on Monday. Ray Renaissance Art Gallery was inaugurated on the occasion.
A two-day Satyajit ray film festival is being held at Asutosh Birth Centenary auditorium of Indian Museum.
The films that will be screened include Aguntuk, Sonar Kella, Rabindranath Tagore, a documentary made by Ray, Jalsaghar, Ghare Baire, Hirak Rajar Deshe, Ganashatru, Shimaddha, Pather Panchali and Inner Eye.
A Ray of Light, a documentary made on Ray by Anirban Mitra and Tirtha Dasgupta will also be screened.
Meamwhile, Serum Thalassemia Prevention Federation, has taken a unique plan to create awareness on the disease. The characters in Satyajit Ray's films are being used to raise awareness about thalassemia across the city. Some of these include Sharmila Tagore in Devi, Jalsaghar's Chhabi Biswas, Mahanagar's Madhabi Mukherjee, Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen's Robi-Tapesh, Sonar Kella's Soumitra, Agantuk's Utpal Dutt and many more. In the campaign, these characters are talking about awareness about thalassemia.
Poster exhibition on Ray was held at Nandan and Nazrul Rirtha.
The monthly bulletin of Asiatic Society in May contains articles on artist Satyajit Ray. Lobby cards and booklets on films were quite popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
They were distributed free among the cinema goers. Ray used to design the posters, lobby cards and booklets on his films. Well known scholar and researcher Debashis Mukhopadhyay has uploaded a documentary on this subject in the social media.
