I was interested in both Western and Indian classical music.
SATYAJIT RAYI was interested in both Western and Indian classical music.
SATYAJIT RAYWell the Bombay film wasn’t always like how it is now. It did have a local industry. There were realistic films made on local scenes. But it gradually changed over the years.
SATYAJIT RAYYou cannot go beyond a certain limit in your expenditure if you want to bring back money from your local market, which is very small after Pakistan.
SATYAJIT RAYThe only solutions that are ever worth anything are the solutions that people find themselves.
SATYAJIT RAYWhat is attempted in these film is of course a synthesis. But it can be seen by someone who has his feet in both cultures. Someone who will bring to bear on the films involvement and detachment in equal measure.
SATYAJIT RAYMy films play only in Bengal, and my audience is the educated middle class in the cities and small towns. They also play in Bombay, Madras and Delhi where there is a Bengali population.
SATYAJIT RAYAt the age when Bengali youth almost inevitably writes poetry, I was listening to European classical music.
SATYAJIT RAYWhen I write an original story I write about people I know first-hand and situations I’m familiar with. I don’t write stories about the nineteenth century.
SATYAJIT RAYParticularly in the final stages I always find that I’m rushed. It’s dangerous when you’re rushed in the editing stage, most of my early films are flawed in the cutting.
SATYAJIT RAYI had developed this habit of writing scenarios as a hobby. I would find out which stories had been sold to be made into films and I would write my own treatment and then compare it.
SATYAJIT RAYSometimes a director is making three films. Perhaps he is shooting a film in Madras and a film in Bombay and he can’t leave Madras as some shooting has to be done, so he directs by telephone. The shooting takes place. On schedule.
SATYAJIT RAYFor a film maker, an Oscar is like a Nobel Prize, you know. So I am very happy… delighted. There is nothing more after this. I cannot hope to get anything more prestigious.
SATYAJIT RAYMost of the top actors and actresses may be working in ten or twelve films at the same time, so they will give one director two hours and maybe shoot in Bombay in the morning and Madras in the evening. It happens.
SATYAJIT RAYThere’s always some room for improvisation.
SATYAJIT RAYEver since Two Daughters I’ve been composing my own music.
SATYAJIT RAYThe director is the only person who knows what the film is about.
SATYAJIT RAY