National Museum of Indian Cinema to host Satyajit Ray film festival from 2 to 4 May

On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a gallery will be dedicated to Satyajit Ray at the National Museum of Indian Cinema and his works, as well as films inspired by the trailblazer, will be screened there — as well as in other cities — from 2 to 4 May. This is an initiative on the part of the ministry of information and broadcasting to commemorate Ray’s birth centenary.

Satyajit Ray, a portrait of the master

The film festival is being held in association with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Films Division, National Film Archives of India (NFAI) and Doordarshan and is supported by the West Bengal government, Aurora Film Corporation and Friends Communication.

Award-winning filmmaker Shyam Benegal will kick things off by inaugurating a semi-permanent gallery on the legendary director at the museum on 2 May at 10 am. This will be followed by the Indian premiere of Anik Dutta’s Aparajito, a fictional film depicting how a character based on Ray made his debut film.

The cinematic musical genius of Satyajit Ray

Ray’s Ghare Baire (1985), Ganashatru (1990) and Agantuk (1991) will also be screened as well as Music of Satyajit Ray (1984) by Utpalendu Chakrabarty, and Anirban Mitra and Tirtha Dasgupta’s documentary Nemai Ghosh – A Ray of Light (2018).

The festival will also showcase Films Divisions documentaries and short films such as Ray's The Inner Eye (1972) and Rabindranath Tagore (1961) and Benegal’s documentary Satyajit Ray (1982), BD Garga’s Creative Artists of India – Satyajit Ray (1964), and NFAI’s newly restored films by Ray, including Seemabaddha (1971), Sonar Kella (1974) and Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980).

Why Feluda remains the ultimate Bengali cultural icon

The West Bengal government’s print of Pather Panchali (1955) from the Academy Film Archive’s landmark restoration of negatives that were nearly lost in a fire, will be screened as well. The screenings will be held in several venues in New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Pune.

On 4 May, there will be a panel discussion after the Pather Panchali screening, involving Benegal, actor Barun Chanda and music director Shantanu Moitra. Moderated by Shankhayan Ghosh, the event will be streamed live on NFDC’s Facebook page.

Mahanagar and its continued pertinence to the gender divide

“On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is a great honour for us to celebrate the birth centenary and roll out a special gallery at the National Museum of Indian Cinema as a tribute to the legendary filmmaker,” said Ravinder Bhakar, managing director, NFDC India. “People have seen Ray's films in some form or the other yet this time we invite Ray lovers for our handpicked package on the big screens in select theatres for free in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune from 2 to 4 May. The newly restored few by NFAI are also a delight to watch,” he added.