Satyajit Ray (1921-1991), polymath, polyglot, novelist, short-story writer, illustrator, designer, music composer, was one of the most eminent film directors of world cinema. His Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955) established his position as a major film director, winning numerous awards. Recipient of the Lifetime Academy Award in 1992 'In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world', Ray took Indian cinema to a grand platform hitherto unachieved by any Indian film director. "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means,' said Akira Kurosawa, 'existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.' While Ray's films are fairly well-known, his writings-fiction and non-fiction-written in Bengali and English continue to attract attention. His illustrations, design works, comic strips, science fictions,...

More than seventy rarest essays on filmmaking, screenplay writing, autobiographical pieces and rare photographs and manuscripts of Ray 'Ray is a most singular symbol of what is best and most revered in Indian cinema' - Adoor Gopalakrishnan'Satyajit Ray, I salute you. The greatest of our poets of the cinema'-Ben Kingsley Satyajit Ray (1921-1992), one of the doyens of world cinema, gave a unique aesthetic expression to Indian cinema, music, art and literature. His writings, especially, autobiographical works, thoughts on filmmaking, screenplay writing and eminent personalities from art, literature and music, among others, are considered treasure troves, which largely remained unseen and therefore less known till date. Satyajit Ray Miscellany, the second book in The Penguin Ray Library series, brings to light some of the rarest essays and illustrations of Ray that opens a window to the myriad...

Just at the stroke of the half hour, the floor under our feet shook, and in that very instant, the sphere exploded into a thousand bits and scattered on the floor. Then, from the ruins was heard an eerie, disembodied voice declaiming, 'I know what comes after death!'In this last volume of Professor Shonku's escapades, the brilliant and benevolent scientist travels around the world once more to face near death situations. Each nerve wracking experience is faithfully recorded in his diary. We learn of Shonku being outwitted by his own invention, the Tellus computer; his helplessness when his arch-rival in Rome deliberately misplaces his wonder drug, Miracurall; and the thrilling discovery of a three-and-a-half-thousand-year-old sparkling diamond necklace and a papyrus in an ancient tomb in Cairo. Join the incredible Shonku on his many exhilarating adventures accompanied by his two long-time friends, his feline companion Newton, and his faithful...

Satyajit Ray (1921-1991), polymath, polyglot, novelist, short-story writer, illustrator, designer, music composer, was one of the most eminent film directors of world cinema. His Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955) established his position as a major film director, winning numerous awards. Recipient of the Lifetime Academy Award in 1992 'In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world', Ray took Indian cinema to a grand platform hitherto unachieved by any Indian film director. "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means,' said Akira Kurosawa, 'existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.' While Ray's films are fairly well-known, his writings-fiction and non-fiction-written in Bengali and English continue to attract attention. His illustrations, design works, comic strips, science fictions,...

Celebrating 100 years of Satyajit RayA classic keepsake edition, featuring 12 fascinating stories by a master storyteller Featuring Ray's original artworkAnother Dozen Stories brings to you the magical, bizarre, spooky and sometimes astonishing worlds created by Satyajit Ray, featuring an extraordinary bunch of characters! While 'The McKenzie Fruit' trails a humble man trying to leave his mark in history, 'Worthless' is a moving story about a seemingly hapless character not quite able to win the confidence of his family. Meet Professor Hijibijbij, the eccentric scientist bent on creating living replicas of peculiar creatures and follow Master Angshuman into a nail-biting and unexpected adventure on the sets of his very first film. This collection includes twelve hair-raising stories that will leave you asking for more! Translated for the very first time into English by noted translator Indrani Majumdar, this...

Scintillating stories from storyteller extraodinaire, Satyajit RayJoin Professor Trilokeshwar Shonku, eccentric genius and scientist, on an incredible world tour as he confronts a daring doppelgänger, undertakes an experiment to create gold, unravels the mystery of a scientist's loss of memory and visits an unknown island to look for an amazing fruit, amongst many other escapades.Featuring the indomitable Professor Shonku and a bunch of madcap characters, these brilliantly translated stories bring alive the magic of Satyajit Ray's imaginative world. To add more to the charm of the anthology are some of Ray's unique illustrations. Get ready for some hair-raising fun with the weird and wonderful Professor Shonku, whose exploits have held readers spellbound for over five decades.

Satyajit Ray was a master of science fiction writing. Through his Professor Shonku stories and other fiction and non-fiction pieces, he explored the genre from various angles. In the 1960s, Ray wrote a screenplay for what would have been the first-of-its-kind sci-fi film to be made in India. It was called The Alien and was based on his own short story "Bonkubabur Bandhu". On being prompted by Arthur C. Clarke, who found the screenplay promising, Ray sent the script to Columbia Pictures in Hollywood, who agreed to back it, and Peter Sellers was approached to play a prominent role. Then started the "Ordeals of the Alien" as Ray calls it, as even after a series of trips to the US, UK and France, the film was never made, and more shockingly, some fifteen years later, Ray watched Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind and later E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and realized these bore uncanny resemblances to his script The Alien, including the way the ET...

The best short stories of Satyajit RayBest known for his immensely popular Feluda mysteries and the adventures of Professor Shonku, Satyajit Ray was also one of the most skilful short story writers of his generation. Ray's short stories often explore the macabre and the supernatural, and are marked by the sharp characterization and trademark wit that distinguish his films. This collection brings together Ray's best short stories—including such timeless gems as 'Khagam', 'Indigo', 'Fritz', 'Bhuto', 'The Pterodactyl's Egg', 'Big Bill', 'Patol Babu, Film Star' and 'The Hungry Septopus'—which readers of all ages will enjoy. A collection of forty-nine short stories

'3 Rays is like exploring the Mother Earth, and finding the rare treasures'-Gulzar, poet, lyricist and film-maker 'Satyajit Ray's work is like a beautiful scene from nature, and that's the reason we get lost in his beautiful art' -Shoojit Sircar, film-maker 'Ray's magic, the simple poetry of his images and their emotional impact, will always stay with me'-Martin Scorsese, film director, producer, screenwriter and actor 'Satyajit Ray's artifice and honesty set him apart from other film directors'-The Guardian 'Satyajit Ray's world of restless watchfulness and nuance'-The New York Times 'The quiet but deep observation ... have impressed me greatly'-Akira Kurosawa, film-makerThe most anticipated book on the centenary birth anniversary of Satyajit RayAn amazingly brilliant collection of Satyajit Ray's previously unpublished...