The biography

I like to surround myself with greatness. Not because I want to follow it or because I want to be it. I have learned the hard way that you can’t lead your life with greatness in mind, it’s too much pressure and it gets too lonely. I think instead of greatness one should just live a life without regrets, and have the wisdom and strength to follow one’s heart. If greatness doesn’t come with it, happiness surely will and being happy is, by far, the most important thing.

It’s impossible to have literal greatness around you all the time. So I try to surround myself with books, music, great articles, movies, art etc.  I like to keep these art forms around so I can always remain humble.  It always cheers me up when I’m feeling low. Every book by Ayn Rand inspires me. Just imagining Howard Roark from the Fountain Head gives me a high. (If he was real he would be the sexiest man alive). Also, books by sport personalities are always a joy to read. Like the autobiography of Kelly Holmes. Holmes won two Olympic golds  when she was 32. That was the only time in her very long career when she was not injured. Stories like these always give me hope.

Satyajit Ray knew he wanted to make movies when he was six. He was not just a movie maker but also an artist, a writer and worked in a advertising agency in his younger times. He grew up in Rabindranath Tagore’s school Shantiniketan to basically become a painter, but with time he realised he could do nothing else but make movies. He was in London for a while for work and thats  when he got exposed to the world of movies. He saw the the classic , ‘Bicycle Thieves’ 56 times, he watched movies across the globe in all the languages and learnt. Ray never had a formal education in filming, he not just directed, but in his later movies was also  the editor, the screen play writer, and the music director. A lot of people consider him to be an institution on film making. I cant agree more. I am especially amazed about the fact that he learnt so much just by watching and reading about things.

One of his many books, this is on his views on world cinema. Its brilliant!

Rabindranath Tagore a sketch by Ray

When Ray came back to India to make movies, it wasn’t easy. He was firm about the fact that he would make all his movies in Bengali as that was the only language in which he could tell a story. At that particular time the Indian movies were mostly about glamour and music and dance. Most of the movies were made to make money and not to tell a good story. Ray differed in this aspect. He believed that movies should depict reality, that they should be made to give a social message.Making a movie is not about glamour but only a reflection of society. It’s worthwhile only if it makes a man think.

Chunibai as Indir the grandmother

What impressed me was Ray’s attention to detail. The house was a set but it seemed extremely real. Ray shows only one diya in the house, and all the house members nights revolve around it. The only one Ganesh idol which is in house is showered with fresh flowers but as the movie progresses and the poverty in the house there are no fresh flowers anymore. The windows of the house all have no curtains and are broken. The fear the children feel even at the slightest sound is very subtly portrayed.

The scene where Durga the daughter dies!

Discovering Satyajit Ray was a great experience. It’s a shame I didn’t know of his existence till a month ago. My favourite hobby is to read about great personalities and pick up things which can help me. From Ray I learnt that no matter what the odds you have to follow your dreams till you attain them. You have to take risks and achieve things on your own terms. You have to love what you do and follow it with belief and passion. Ray always said that once you make a movie for money and not to just tell a good story you will, without doubt, fail. Ray remained true to his craft till he died, and no amount of material gains ever distracted him, and that’s why he is the only Indian Filmmaker to have won the Lifetime Achievement award at the Oscars!

“What we really need is the true film artist,that dominating individual who is not only a master of his craft, but who is aware of its social implication,of his responsibility as a possible influence on a very large and often a very naive mass of impressionable,film hungry individuals,who is also able to inspire and channel a diversity of talents into best interests of work that must in the end bear the impress of his own dominating personality.”