Ray was a genius. Some people try to take the sheen out of his work with the "romanticizing poverty" critique. In the midst of all the criticisms, his movies transcend time.
We should also take the time to acclaim the great writers on whose works Rays movies were based - specially Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay and Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. Without those heart wrenching stories, Ray would not have scales these heights.
which is virtually revered in the west is actually pretty over-rated in my opinion. That is not to say it is a bad trilogy, on the contrary it is one of the finest, but over-rated none the less. For me the de-facto Ray film would be Kanchenjunga. It is one of the greatest films ever made period.
Maybe it is the fact that I am a cinema junkie and most Indians are too busy studying to enjoy films or art, but I believe that Ray and especially Ritwick Ghatak are very under-appreciated in the country, even unheard of in many places. Bollywood has eroded the quality of film-making. If I ever make it big(I am a budding scriptwriter in Ottawa, Canada with dreams of Hollywood) one of my things on the to-do list is to rediscover ALL of Ritwick Ghatak's films on Bluray. Same goes for Ray through criterion might already be on it as we speak. These visions need restoration. There is a world audience hungry for Ghatak's films, but our retarded government couldn't care less!
Re: ApuTrilogy
by pulak taraphdar on May 25, 2011 12:19 PM
I agree that Ritwik Ghatak was a very powerful filmmaker and he was much ahead of his time. But it is of no use to blame Govt for not making Ritwik popular. It should be done by film societies and they should arrange for its distribution worldwide.
