The Films Division of the Union information and broadcasting ministry is celebrating the birth centenary year of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray by organizing an online festival called Masterstrokes.
The festival began today on the director's birth anniversary and will continue till 6 May. The festival will showcase rare documentary films and a television film made by the director, along with films on him and his art.
The films will be streamed on the Films Division's official website and YouTube channel for these five days. Among the films that will be streamed are Rabindranath Tagore (1961), The Inner Eye (1972), Bala (1976) and Sadgati (1981), a television film based on a short story by Munshi Premchand, as well as Satyajit Ray (1985) by Shyam Benegal and Ray (1999) by Goutam Ghose.
Speaking about the festival, Smita Vats Sharma, director general, Films Division, said, “It’s a special tribute to legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Earlier this year, Films Division had screened a specially curated commemorative package of documentary films made by and about Satyajit Ray during the Mumbai International Film Festival 2020.”
Ray is among the best known filmmakers not only in India but around the world. He won the National award for Best Director six times, a record, and also became the first Indian to receive an honorary Academy award in 1992.