Satyajit Ray Biography

Fast Facts

• His grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowhury was a leader of the Brahmo Samaj rligious and social movement
• Worked for an advertising agency and a publishing house as a young college graduate
• Founded the Calcutta Film Society in 1947 along with Chidananda Dasgupta and others
• Due to a lack of funds, the filming of his first film Pather Panchali (1955) took three years to complete
• Was awarded Indian cinemas highest honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, in 1988
• Received India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1992, shortly before his death
• His films have received a total of 32 National Film Awards, six of those awarded to him in the Best Director category