Relevance of Satyajit Ray Movies in the Modern Times

"India has inspired so much painting and music and poetry which shouldn’t fail to move the filmmaker. He has only to keep his eyes open and his ears. Let him do so"

Satyajit Ray has filmed masterpieces of lyrical realism set in India. Throughout his work, Ray focused his eyes on and attuned his ears to the extra ordinary drama of everyday life. Something every individual could relate himself to at one or the other level.

What makes Ray much more than a great film maker is his humanism and relevance even today. He changed the way in which Indian cinema has been perceived and will be seen. Ray's films intimate the sense of a radical future and document the capacity to conceptualize a different world glimpsed in the remnants of a disappearing past. Satyajit ray was truly a cosmopolitan artist who combined elements of his own culture with that of west, creating unique synthesis. The merger of the east and the west gave birth to Bengali Renaissance. Ray shows new forms of identity with an evolving society.

All his tales have been spell bounding, the travails and tribulations of the poor, rural family and celebration of their life. These stories remain relevant even today. The stories hold a universal appeal to this day, cutting across language and geographical barriers, tugging at heart strings across age groups and continents.

Whether is the story of a guy who lost every family member (Apu trilogy), or a woman who chooses to work (Mahanagar), or a Zamindar who loses everything (Jalsaghar) Ray's films have people in the center. People whom one could relate through the emotion they underwent, the love they felt, the jealousness they felt victim too, or the weakness they tried to overcome. Ray's films have shown survival of hope and love in the midst of sorrow.

Ray's work focuses on India as an emerging nation filtered through people who seek to define themselves in relation to the larger forces of change. These forces manifest themselves through conflicts between the feudal and modern, tradition and progress, village and the city, the old and the new. Ray has focused on issues like importance of education, emancipation of women, and rise of new middle class and crisis of identity in post independent India. In all the stories, human spirit was upper most. The ray emotions could be touched and felt by one and all.  All of Ray’s films aren’t about the joys and celebrations of life. There were angry films, stories that spoke of the decline of values, unemployment and the tribulations of youth.

Satyajit Ray's stories are still relevant because emotions, values and feelings are universal and transcend generations. They appeal to those whose sensitivities allow them to probe deeper into society and the human mind. The emotions conveyed by his movies will remain fresh and real.

 Mahanagar was a strong positive realistic statement on the socio economic changes in urban Bengali life through metamorphosis of Aarti. She decides to go out and earn and faces hesitation from the family, women today also face the same situation when they wish to pursue their career after marriage. Aarti proves that a woman has vast resources of inner strength she may not be aware of. Aarti chooses to work to support the meagre income of his husband and the job brings revolutionary change in her. In the present times also both the husband and wife prefer to work to meet both ends meet and the women face reluctance from the in laws regarding letting them pursue their career. The customs and manners shown in Mahanagar are still the characteristics of a typical Indian family. 

There has been situations and issues touched by Satyajit Ray which are still existing in the modern times.  Ray has tried to transform his viewer and their society, to make them think. The male dominance prevailing in the movie Devi still resides in the society. Daya dare not challenge her powerful father in law and she silently accepts the situation. The contrast shown in the movie between the orthodox and modernized generation still prevails. The depiction of the Hinduism and Indian life hasn’t changed much throughout the years.

More than the dignity of characters, it is the indignity of circumstances that threads through many of Ray's movies. Aparajito, the journey of Apu’s life shows the ups and downs faced more or less by youths today. One has to digest the failures and move on. Apu had to choose between being with his mom or going for further studies, today also students have to leave their families for studies or job.  Apu is fascinated by the presence of electric bulbs in the city, even today new technology always fascinates us.

Poverty- the most vital reality of our country has been portrayed in his films. His characters find reasons to smile, laugh and grin. In the movie Pather Panchali, Apu's father is addicted to hooka. Despite the adverse conditions he cannot let go of his addiction of hooka. Even today, people are so much addicted to alcohol that they go up to any extent for the same. The movie Pather Panchali takes us on a journey of human relations and emotions and the slow simple movie lets us digest everything, poverty and tragedies. The male dominance and portrayal of the unfulfilled dreams of a man is like the story of every Middle class household of present.

Ray has always been able to reach people across generations, aesthetic tastes and interests. Jalsaghar takes a pitiable view of a delusional zamindar whose music room is an imagined remnant of a nostalgic past. People today ruin their lives due to the interplay of emotions, and especially to improve their social status. Zamindar cannot stand the idea of his neighbor holding musical salons and his pride is wounded. Such are the human conditions in the present changing world. The emotional impact of the social, economic and political changes in a person’s life transforms them. The deceptively simple movies show deep underlying complexity of human emotions.

There was an idea that women belonged to kitchen but Ray brought them out from there. His films gave an idea about what should be done about the problems they faced in the society.  In the movie Kanchenjungha, girl is asked to marry a guy according to their financial status. The question still stands whether girl should chose the man of her dreams or the decision of her parents. Parents always want a guy for their daughter who is financially stable but girls in today’s time don’t judge their better halves based on their income.

Women are portrayed to have more strength than men. Women in Satyajit Ray's films depict a society where they are silenced and undermined. The marginalization of women such as Charu in Charulata prevails in today's modern times also. Charulatta is intelligent, childless, creative but lonely. Her husband doesn’t give her the time and attention she deserves. House wives today also tend to engaged themselves in kitty parties or mindless gossiping to kill their time in absence of their husbands and this loneliness often leads to extra marital affairs.

The Satyajit Ray movies are relevant even today because of the unchanged mindset of people and society though the perception of Ray's movies on its viewers has modified over the time.