Google today celebrates the 92nd birthday of the veteran film-maker Satyajit Ray with a scene from his very first and most acclaimed movie: Pather Panchali.
Satyajit Ray was an artist right since a young age and he began his career as a commercial artist. His interest in films grew after a visit to London where he was inspired by the movie ‘The Bicycle Thieves’ and the French filmmaker Jean Renoir.

Satyajit Ray began his career in Indian cinema with the path breaking movie Pather Panchali. The Bengali movie won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was the beginning of the Apu Trilogy (formed of Pather Panchali and the sequels Aparajito and Apur Sansar al featuring the lead protagonist Apu) and was released in 1955.

Ray could not gather the funds required for the movie and as a result the movie was shot over a period of 3 years, in breaks, as and when Ray could raise money. He even pawned his wife’s ancestral jewellery and emptied his personal savings for the movie. Ray rejected many offers of money from investors who demanded a change in the script. However, the government intervened and he received a grant which aided in the completion of the movie.
Apart from Pather Panchali, Ray’s movie works incorporate a wide range from inspirations from Tagore to films depicting British India and Ray has even dabbled in science fiction. He directed, scripted and made movies like .