Satyajit Ray's houses in city to get blue plaques

The West Bengal Heritage Commission is set to install blue plaques in front of all the houses where Satyajit Ray had lived in Kolkata. Veteran artist Shuvaprasanna, who is chairman of the Commission, said if all goes according to plans, he will start talking to the current owners of the houses so that the plaques can be installed.
Shuvaprasanna said, “Installation of blue plaques was earlier completely under the aegis of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.Now, West Bengal Heritage Commission is taking decisions on installing blue plaques in front of memorable and historic buildings.”
This initiative will begin with the houses where Ray lived. For most Ray followers, it’s the 1/1 Bishop Lefroy Road and the 100 Gorpar Road addresses that have association with the legend. But few who walk past Menoka cinema hall are aware of the historical importance of the imposing buildings on 3 Lake Temple Road and 31Lake Avenue.
The flat at 31, Lake Avenue, where Ray had once lived as a tenant, is now the property of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The flight of stairs which once saw Ray pacing up and down still retain the old-world charm. Only the terrace has been renovated to make way for an Iskcon temple. Ray had lived here when he had directed ‘Pather Panchali’, ‘Parash Pathar’, ‘Aparajito’, ‘Jalsaghar’ and ‘Apur Sansar’.
In 1959, Bijoya Ray had ‘found’ a three-bedroom accommodation on 3, Lake Temple Road. Ray lived here to narrate the lonely wife’s tale in ‘Charulata’ with Soumitra and Madhabi. Films like ‘Kapurush’, ‘Mahapurush’, ‘Nayak’, ‘Chiriakhana’, ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ and ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ were also made when Ray lived here.
Sandip has fond memories of the Lake Temple Road house. “Baba got his first piano in this house. It was here that he started composing music for his films. Professor Shonku and Feluda series were written here. ‘Sandesh’ was revived from here too. ‘Pratidwandi’ was completed when we shifted to 1/1Bishop Lefroy Road in 1970,” he recalled. During his stay at the Lake Temple Road residence, Ray wrote ‘ebar tomae chinechhi maa’ for ‘Devi’. Sandip hails the blue plaque initiative but also cautions that the move shouldn’t evade the privacy of the current residents of the buildings.
Sagnik Chatterjee, who made the documentary titled ‘Feluda: 50 years of Ray’s detective’, “heartily” welcomed the move of the West Bengal Heritage Commission.