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On Satyajit Ray’s 100th birthday, a Top 10 list
Posted on May 2, 2021
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Sri Prabhuram
May 2, 2021
Ray will always be known to me as the man who singled out the “backward audience”.
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pessimist
May 2, 2021
The dominance of Apu Trilogy in the west has always overshadowed his great range. I would add the delightful Feluda films (esp Sonar Kella), Goopy and Bagha films as well. Haven’t seen Paresh Pathar, will try it out.
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niranjanmb
May 2, 2021
I almost agree with your entire listing (I too like Apur Sansar more than PP) except with a permutation on the numbering perhap. I would however still put ‘Goopy Gayne Bagha Bayen’ on that list. Another that I would have had is his double-bill: Kapurush-O-Mahapurush maybe instead of Ashani Shanket (well – I haven’t seen Ashani Shanket so that isn’t a fair substitution).
It would be smaller and perhaps a harder task to list those Ray films that didn’t work for you. For me, that list is not very big. I couldn’t get through Sadgati (maybe I saw it still in my undergrad days, so…). Shaka Proshaka was okay-ish – not all that great. And Ganashatru was a little too long and unnecessarily theatrical – didn’t work for me.
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Sundar Gopalakrishnan
May 2, 2021
I wonder why you have left “Pather Panchali” out. Doesn’t it deserve atleast 10th place in your list of Top Ten Ray Films?
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Ruminating Aesthete
May 3, 2021
I love this list, especially the selection of Abhijan. I can never forget that first scene with the reflection of Soumitra on the broken mirror. However, I just couldn’t overlook the absence of Seemabaddha and Kanchenjungha. Both are my personal favourites.
One other film is Devi. I am not sure if this film has been restored. I saw it on a old DVD borrowed from a University library. The film has this interesting premise: the plight of a woman elevated to the status of a holy mother goddess—due to which she loses her agency, as a human being.
These films might not have been realised well technically as his abilities and ambition were always in a constant dissonance with the available finance and infrastructure.
I felt Aranyer din ratri was one of his best film, second only to Charulata. The interactions between the characters played by Shubhendu and Kaberi Bose were really unique. Something that wound never happen in an Indian urban setting in the 70s. The confrontation of the wild side by the Bhadralok personalities forms the heart of the conflicts explored in this film: almost like a sociological experiment. The characters arc in such a way that they discover something of themselves that they never knew, existed.
Other films would be Sadgati, not an easy watch and of course Shatranj ki khilari. Both these films were made when the 70s film movement was in full swing. Though Ray’s approach might resemble some of the other directors’ like Benegal his offerings were visually singular. In all his films, even in those which Criterion calls Late Ray, he manages to capture this mystic resonance between the visual and the narrated.
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Ruminating Aesthete
May 3, 2021
Regarding Pather Panchali and Aparajito: they are these nebulous entities, they never feel fully formed, like a child’s art that is so pure, aimless—yet connected in an obscure manner, poetic, yet so transparent, a telling revelation of the maker’s soul. I would’ve seen Ray’s films at least 3 to 4 times each
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Ruminating Aesthete
May 3, 2021
Kapurush was another psychological investigation of the middle-class male mind that deserves a mention. It informs with charm the plight and predicament of the non- assertive mind and contrasts it gloriously with the assertive female.
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ravenus1
May 3, 2021
These are not in order, but they are my favorite Ray films:
Jalsaghar: A brilliant study of the decadence of the noble class. This has a certain parallel with Shatranj ke Khiladi in that both have a fading ruler class which is dissolute in a modern world, but still claims our sympathy because of their love for art.
Shatranj ke Khiladi: I wonder about the kind of shadow that Sholay cast on Ray because he repeated a fair chunk of the main cast (Sanjeev Kumar & Amjad Khan and Amitabh Bachchan as a voice over). AK’s performance, coming less than a year after his grimy dacoit Gabbar Singh is a tour de force of fine acting. Sanjeev and Saeed Jaffrey play beautifully off each other. With a bigger budget than he normally would have commanded, Ray paints a beautiful canvas of an opulent but also decaying nawab culture.
Aranyer Din Ratri: A wonderfully delicate portrait of man-woman relationships in an isolated “just off civilization” setting. The word game scene is a masterpiece.
Devi – A fabulous tale of a girl who is trapped in beliefs and superstitions. Sharmila Tagore is wonderful here, and the shadowy visuals generate an eerie atmosphere to the scenes of grand tragedy.
Charulata: Of course, this had to be here. Some of Ray’s best visual compositions and editing, and a nuanced performance from Madhabi Mukherjee. I still get a little jolt hearing a Kishore Kumar song in a Ray film.
Kanchenjhunga – A wonderful intimate drama, the film equivalent of an chamber orchestra. I hope to someday see it in a restored quality that does justice to the film’s color cinematography.
Pratidwandi and Jana Aranya – A cheat to include 2 films but both feature Ray in a more angry mode as he wonders about the direction and fate of modern India’s youth.
Mahanagar – Another beautiful collaboration between Ray and Madhabi Mukherjee. Rangan rightly says that this is a feminist film that doesn’t scream feminist. I love the optimistic ending that focuses on the couple pledging to support each other.
Ghare Bhaire – This is possibly my favorite of the late-Ray films. I haven’t read Tagore’s novel, but the film itself is a courageous look at the darker side of the militant freedom movement and the consequences faced by the poor on account of the sacrifices called for.
Sonar Kella – OK, it’s not a Ray classic, but I love these old-school boys’ adventure movies. Ray takes in the opportunity to show off some exotic Rajasthani scenery, and Santosh Dutta’s Jotayu is a hoot.
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Anu Warrier
May 3, 2021
Love the list; love most of the films on the list (haven’t watched Parash Pathar). I’m so glad Jalsaghar is so high on the list, though I would have elevated Aranyer Din Ratri a little. I would have added Agantuk and Joi Baba Felunath as well.
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H. Prasanna
May 6, 2021
Hey, how come no one wrote/made a video about Rajini’s Dadasaheb Phalke at Film Companion South?
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moonraker
May 11, 2021
Have you seen Two, the short film? A true gem.
It’s hard to make a list of top 10 Ray films, to be honest. A few weaker ones maybe, but nothing he made can one call truly ‘bad’. Agantuk was a wonderful end to an unparalleled career. I want to watch Ganashatru and Shakha Proshakha, yet to see those. Some dislike those 2 because of their greater verbosity, so eager to see them.
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