DATE OF BIRTH: 2 May 1921 BIRTHPLACE : Calcutta, British India EDUCATION: Presidency College Visva-Bharati University SPOUSE: Bijoya Ray (m. 1949) CHILDREN: Sandip Ray (son)
Satyajit Ray worked at a British-run advertising agency as a “junior visualizer” from 1943 until the success of his first movie, Pather Panchali.
He was born on May 2, 1921 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. He was an only child whose father died in 1923.
He founded Calcutta’s first film club in 1947. On a trip to London in 1950, he watched about 100 films.
A screening of Vittorio DeSica’s Bicycle Thieves proved to be the push he needed to dive into filmmaking.
Everything about Pather Panchali was a leap of faith for Ray and the entire team involved. He won six National Awards for Best Director.
He directed 36 films in his lifetime, which included feature films, documentaries, and shorts.
Ray published many short stories and novels in Bengali, in addition to newspaper articles. His work was mostly for teenagers.
National Film Awards -- 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1994
1958: Padma Shri
1965: Padma Bhushan
1973: The Golden Bear, Berlin International Film Festival
1967: Ramon Magsaysay Award
1978: D. Litt., Oxford University
1982: Golden Lion Honorary Award
1982: Hommage à Satyajit Ray, Cannes Film Festival
1987: Commander of the Legion of Honour
1985: Dadashaheb Phalke Award
1991: Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
1992: Bharat Ratna