Soumendu Roy

Cinematographer Soumendu Roy might call it quits after this project

Ray's trusted cinematographer to be conferred lifetime achievement award by WBFJA Kolkata

Cinematographer of Shatranj Ke Khilari, Soumendu Roy, on working with the legend

Soumendu Ray who had a remarkable career collaborating closely with iconic filmmaker Satyajit Ray has passed away. Soumendu contributed his camera expertise to 21 of Satyajit Ray's films, leaving an indelible mark on cinematic history. He remained unmarried and lived a solitary life, but his influence extended to teaching cinematography. Soumendu Ray's recent passing leaves a void in the film industry. His final rites are scheduled at Kolkata's Keoratola Crematorium. His legacy endures through his cinematic work and his impact on future filmmakers.

Soumendu Roy, the renowned cinematographer known for his work with filmmaker Satyajit Ray, has passed away at the age of 90. Roy began his career as a camera caretaker on Ray's film "Pather Panchali" and went on to work on 21 of Ray's films, including "Sonar Kella" and "Shatranj Ke Khilari". He also worked with other directors such as Tapan Sinha and Tarun Mazumdar. Roy won several National Awards for his cinematography, including for films like "Ashani Sanket" and "Sonar Kella".

Anil Ghosh, Satyajit Ray’s focus puller for his films, from ‘Kapurush-O-Mahapurush’ to ‘Agantuk’, died of pneumonia with respiratory attack at a private nursing home on Sunday. He was 84 and is survived by his wife, Anju.

Not many people know Soumitra who passed away on November 15 after his long battle against COVID-19 once appeared as a rival to Ray, his mentor, on the 22 yards!

In this episode, we take a look at Satyajit Ray’s controversial documentary ‘Sikkim’ which was once banned by the Indian government.

The unpublished diary of Satyajit Ray’s cinematographer Soumendu Roy will be unveiled in a specially designed cine-room, called ‘Soumendu-Sinduk’, at Jibansmriti Archive soon.

For six years, Bangladeshi writer-cultural activist Masud Karim, with no filmmaking experience, chased his cross-border dream of making the first full-fledged documentary on Satyajit Ray's favourite hero Soumitra Chattopadhyay before realising it.

Suman Mukhopadhyay's film 'Putul Nacher Itikatha', starring Jaya Ahsan and prominent Indian actors, has been nominated for the International Film Festival Rotterdam's Big Screen Competition. This achievement marks the first such recognition for an Indian film featuring a Bangladeshi actor since bilateral relations cooled. The nomination signifies hope for cultural exchange amidst political tensions, celebrating the unifying power of cinema.

Some three months back, Sandip Ray had said that he didn't want Lee Road, already renamed OC Ganguly Sarani a few years ago, to be rechristened after his father Satyajit Ray.

Bengal is undoubtedly the culture capital of India and Tollywood will one day take the place of Hollywood, said an upbeat Mamata Banerjee at an awards function organized by the state information and culture department to honour film personalities and technicians.

The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival is set to kick off on December 5 with a star-studded inauguration attended by Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt, Shatrughan Sinha, Sourav Ganguly, and Aditi Rao Hydari. The festival will pay homage to Gina Lollobrigida, Carlos Saura, Derek Malcolm, Soumendu Roy, and Dariush Mehrjui, who passed away this year. Masterclasses will feature Saurabh Sukhla on acting, Saugata Mukherjee on film production, and Manoj Bajpayee and Sudhir Mishra on acting and direction. The festival is known for its wide array of contemporary cinema and will include a competitive Bengali film segment this year.

KOLKATA: The first encyclopaedia on the legendary Satyajit Ray is being compiled by the Satyajit Ray Archive here.

Setting aside the controversies, uncertainties and legal hurdles, Satyajit Ray's Sikkim' is ready for its first ever public screening in India. Nandan, which is hosting a somewhat low-key Kolkata Film Festival, will screen the long canned documentary at 1 pm on Thursday.

Satyajit Ray's music for various projects, from ad jingles to film scores, is being discovered and restored by the Ray Society. The importance of preserving these works for future generations is emphasized, ensuring Ray's legacy endures.

A special screening of Satyajit Ray's 'Abhijaan' was held in Kolkata, featuring a video of Waheeda Rehman's reminiscences about working with Ray. Rehman recounted her casting as Gulaabi and Ray's explanation for not casting her in 'Shatranj Ke Khilari'.

The 80-year-old focus puller of all Satyajit Ray’s movies from ‘Kapurush-O-Mahapurush’ to ‘Agantuk’ is slowly losing his vision. Anil Ghosh, who according to Sandip Ray made sure that Ray’s iconic frames of classics including ‘Sonar Kella’ and ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’ didn’t go out of focus, lost his only son in the Stephen Court fire. On Ray’s centenary year, Ghosh is now finding it tough to make ends meet.

From Manjira Dutta’s ‘The Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya’ (1987) to Ranu Ghosh’s ‘Quarter No: 4/7’ (2012), women with Bengal connection have been quietly doing path-breaking work in the domain of non-fiction film-making.

: Sixty years after it hit the screen in the US and created ripples across the film world, ‘Pather Panchali’ will return to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York next week – the venue where it had its maiden show abroad in 1955, months before its India release.

His photo-documentation of Satyajit Ray at work had already earned Nemai Ghosh the sobriquet of a 'Boswell with a camera.