Eminent director Shoojit Sircar delivered the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture at 27^th Kolkata International Film Festival.

The topic for the lecture was Boundless Ray.

Satyajit Ray had a profound influence on Shoojit Sircar. When he watched Pather Panchali as a young child with his father, he fell asleep. When the film was shown during his school days, many of his friends left the screening after watching the film for some time. It was only when he watched the film in his late twenties, that he found the film to be gripping and wonderful. He was so enamored by the film that he even watched the film twice at a film festival.

For Shoojit Sircar, Ray has inspired him by the emotional quotient that is found in Ray’s films. “It is not the technique that inspires me. Rather it is the human emotions that are portrayed so well in all of his films. I think that the way he shows those emotions are so very easy to understand. Many audiences feel that Ray’s films are hard to understand. But I feel that the films that show cars flying or shirts ripping off from the body of policemen are hard to understand and require more planning. The things that Ray showed in his films are simple to understand and easy to grasp” added the filmmaker.

Despite living out of Bengal, the director has never let the Bangaliana leave him. He has time and again shown elements of Bengali culture in his films. During the shoot of Piku, he had taken to the sets fried Kumro Phul. Deepika Padukone was amazed at the fact that Bengalis eat flowers too, added the director with a smile.

Posters of many of Ray’s films adorn the wall of his office. If any individual mentions that he has no idea of the works of Satyajit Ray, then Shoojit Sircar strictly avoids working with that individual.

According to Shoojit Sircar, many people talk about coming-of-age films. Aparajito is one of the best coming-of-age films. Actor Smaran Ghoshal as Apu when he comes to Kolkata and looks with awe at the sights of Kolkata is worth noticing. It is the simplicity in Ray’s films that hit him more rather than the bigger picture of technique.

The director concluded by saying that Ray is like a Bible to him and he has been much inspired by him.

Video Link of the Event- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clWY2daCGD4

Priyanka Dutta