Bloodline Triumphs

Sandip Ray is aware that any film he makes almost inevitably invites comparisons with his father, Satyajit Ray's work. But he does not feel intimidated. This fourth-generation Ray has just finished his ninth film, a Psychological thriller, slated for release in November

Arup K De Kolkata

As it often happens with children of great achievers, Sandip Ray was somewhat eclipsed by the dazzle of his father's name during the latter's lifetime. That was, perhaps, why it took him some time to win unstinted recognition of being a filmmaker in his own right. With the intimidating lineage of Satyajit, Sukumar and Upendra Kishore before him, Sandip has emerged as one of the ace film directors Bengal has today. He crafted a carefully executed style in the unique gharana of his legendary father.

Described in 1971 as the "Fourth Generation Ray, Artist" by Marie Seton in the dedication of her celebrated biography (Portrait of a Director) of Satyajit Ray, Sandip has now become an "artist" for both the big and the small screen. A veteran of eight features and a considerable number of telefilms, he has now finished his ninth big screen venture, Hitlist. A psychological thriller based on an American pulp fiction, it features, among others, Dhritiman Chaterji and Tinnu Anand. Both of them had worked in close association with his father - the former as an actor and the latter an assistant director. Shot partly in Kolkata and partly in Malaysia, Hitlist is slated for release towards the end of November this year.

Sandip developed an avid interest in films quite early in his childhood. He did his own script, complete with shot illustrations, when he was only eight. Around the same time, he began penning rhymes and did an original comic strip for Sandesh, the children's magazine founded by his great grandfather Upendra Kishore and edited subsequently by his grandfather Sukumar (known as the pioneer of nonsense verse in India), father and himself. Being with his father during shooting, editing, drawing and other activities helped him grow as an instinctive filmmaker and artist.

Satyajit was not merely a father to Sandip but a great teacher as well, though he never helped his son with his studies unless told to. "Whatever I learnt about art and filmmaking I learnt from Baba," says Sandip. "As a child, I tried to imitate Baba by producing freehand drawings. He encouraged me. Later on, when I started doing serious artworks, I always showed him the material before sending it to print. He made corrections if there were any errors. Baba designed the covers of his own books, but I had to do the covers of some of his books published posthumously."

It was, again, Satyajit who helped fuel Sandip's interest in films. Father and son watched a lot of films together, light and serious. "Apart from serious films, Baba was fond of James Bond movies. We also saw many Hitchcock movies together. Baba did not like talking while watching a film. Back home, we would discuss different aspects of the movie we had just seen." So, the education went on through seeing and free-flowing discussions, and not in the traditional manner of a stern father teaching his son with a cane in hand.