Satyajit Ray is regarded as not only one of the greatest filmmakers in Indian cinema, but as one of the greatest filmmakers in cinema history. We’re going to break down the best Satyajit Ray films by way of three criteria: direction, story, and theme. By the end, you’ll know why Ray’s films are so well-regarded!
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Satyajit Ray Best Movies
10. Jalsaghar (The Music Room) (1958)
Best Satyajit Ray Movies • The Music Room
Satyajit Ray was a renaissance man in the truest sense of the term. He was a filmmaker of course, but he was also a writer, designer, and musician. In fact, Ray composed the music for many of his films!
Ray’s love of music takes the forefront in The Music Room; a story about a wealthy lord desperately trying to retain his prestige amidst a changing cultural landscape. Like many of the best Satyajit Ray films, The Music Room excels on the back of great thematic conflict, particularly in relation to the battle between “classic” and “modern.”
Top Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
The Music Room, which is based on the short story Jalsaghar by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, doesn’t quite work as a feature-length film; but there are still some great elements to Ray’s early outing.
Satyajit Ray BEst films
9. Aparajito (The Unvanquished) (1956)
Best Satyajit Ray Films • Still from Aparajito
Aparajito, the middle film in The Apu Trilogy, suffers from being sandwiched between two all-time greats. Don’t get me wrong, “suffers” may be a bit of a hyperbole; Aparajito features some stunning cinematography, particularly in the scenes set in Varanasi. The narrative contains a great major theme between mothers and sons.
But there’s no denying that the pace of Aparajito shifts rapidly, especially before/after time jumps. Still, the film is a rich treatise on coming of age.
Satyajit Ray Best Movies Ranked
Conclusion
Aparajito may be the weakest film of The Apu Trilogy — but the weakest film of the Trilogy is still masterclass for other directors.
Best Satyajit Ray Films
8. Charulata (The Lonely Wife) (1964)
Best Satyajit Ray Movies • Charulata Trailer
Charulata is perhaps Satyajit Ray’s most haunting picture; if not for its ending, then for the loss it evokes. Charulata, which translates literally to The Lonely Wife, tells the story of a young woman yearning for companionship… whilst also seeking independence. Madhabi Mukherjee’s Charulata is a believably imperfect protagonist, simultaneously struggling to get what she wants while maintaining what she loves.
Critics have praised Charulata through a feminist lens in an effort to explain the film’s aimless themes. But perhaps no lens is needed: Charulata is simply a portrait of a person at an inflection moment in time.
Top Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
Charulata never quite excels as a drama, comedy, or romance – but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. Quite the contrary, Charulata is sure to captivate patient cinema-lovers.
Satyajit Ray Best Films • Nayak Trailer
Satyajit Ray mixes inspiration from some of cinema’s most iconic directors – such as Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Alfred Hitchcock – in Nayak, also known as The Hero. The film follows a famous, yet deeply troubled film star (Fellini) traveling to collect an award (Bergman); who meets and mingles with others while on a long train ride to Delhi (Hitchcock).
But Nayak is more than just the sum of its parts; it’s an original story with style and substance. There’s certainly an argument to be made that the film is overlong – but that shouldn’t dissuade fans of Ray from watching.
List of Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
Nayak concludes with a rich thematic statement on life, fame, and responsibility.
Satyajit Ray Movies List
6. Devi (The Goddess) (1960)
Best Satyajit Ray Movies • Clip from Devi
Satyajit Ray’s Devi is an excellent deconstruction of religious fanaticism. It’s also widely prescient, considering the time it was released. Devi follows the story of a young woman who becomes praised as an avatar of the goddess Kale, due to a fever dream and a miraculous coincidence.
The film has been lauded for its great lead performances from Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee, and its use of irony.
Top Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
Devi is a minor, albeit excellent work in Satyajit Ray’s filmography.
Satyajit Ray Best Movies
5. Agantuk (The Stranger) (1991)
Best Satyajit Ray Films • The Stranger Trailer
Satyajit Ray’s last film, The Stranger, is one of his best. Utpal Dutt stars in the picture as a man claiming to be the long-lost great uncle of a wealthy housewife. Naturally, skepticism ensues, many questions are asked, and few are answered.
The added element of suspense in The Stranger adds an engrossing layer to Ray’s signature filmic goals, such as stark thematic contrast, a portrait of Calcutta, and a depiction of family bonds.List of Satyajit Ray Films
Conclusion
The Stranger, known in India as Agantuk, shares similar thematic similarities to Albert Camus’ novel of the same. However Ray adds an optimistic flourish to the existential themes.
List of films directed by Ray Films
4. Mahanagar (The Big City) (1963)
From the list of films directed by Satyajit Ray • The Big City Trailer
Satyajit Ray paints a beautiful portrait of Calcutta with The Big City: a film that follows a husband and wife on opposite career trajectories. The Big City shows West Bengal at a social crossroads, caught between the conservative values of the old-guard and the liberal ideals of the new.
Ray’s direction doesn’t take a strong stance; but rather captures the political climate from both sides. The Big City is certainly one of Ray’s most engrossing and “watchable” films, for its great lead performances from Madhabi Mukherjee and Anil Chatterjee, its stunning cinematography, and its timely political commentary.
Satyajit Ray Best Movies
Conclusion
The Big City is masterclass filmmaking; but I’d be remiss to say I wish it wasn’t so restrained.
Satyajit Ray Movies List
3. Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959)
Best Satyajit Ray Films • Still from The World of Apu
The World of Apu is a fitting conclusion to Ray’s trilogy on the titular character’s love and life in West Bengal in the 20th-century. The film sees an adult Apu struggle to balance responsibility with autonomy, individuality with selflessness, and financial success with creative expression. The World of Apu is a didactic picture; and although we may not always agree with Apu, we understand why he feels the way he does.
Soumitra Chatterjee, who appeared in many of the best Satyajit Ray films, made his film debut in The World of Apu. Chatterjee’s performance as the wayward young-adult is regarded as one of the greatest in Indian cinema.
Top Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
The World of Apu ties a neat bow on what many consider to be the greatest trilogy of films in cinema history.
Best Satyajit Ray Films
2. Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) (1955)
Best Satyajit Ray Movies • The Apu Trilogy Trailer
Satyajit Ray’s first film, Pather Panchali, is a deeply meditative look at life in rural Bengal at the turn of the 20th-century. The film is quaint in nature – especially when compared to its two sequels – as it follows a family of five vying for survival in the countryside.
Pather Panchali put Ray on the map internationally, drawing considerable comparisons to the great works of Italian Neorealism.
Satyajit Ray Best Movies
Conclusion
The bitter ending of Pather Panchali imparts a crushing sense of tragedy and transience rarely achieved in cinema.
Satyajit Ray Best Movies
1. Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest) (1970)
Best Satyajit Ray Films • Days and Nights in the Forest Review
Satyajit Ray’s Days and Nights in the Forest follows four friends who leave the big city for a trip to a tribal village. There, they grapple with their responsibilities, and the wants that pushed them away.
Days and Nights in the Forest puts the human condition on trial against the cultural conditions of Calcutta, and perhaps the world at large. Is civilization a product of us? Or are we a production of civilization? Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the middle… a question to be answered in the forest.
Top Satyajit Ray Movies
Conclusion
Entertaining and profound in equal measure, Days and Nights in the Forest is among the greats in an oeuvre of Ray’s classics.
Up Next
Best S.S. Rajamouli Films
Satyajit Ray was one of the great auteurs in cinema – but he wasn’t the only one? Want to learn more about indian cinema? Check out our next article on the bett S.S. Rajamouli films, where we break down all twelve of the Indian maestro’s feature films. By the end, you’ll know why Rajamouli is considered just as, if not more influential than Ray.
Up Next: Best Rajamouli Movies →
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