Satyajit Ray, through the looking glass

A retrospective of a journey of over 25 years of filmmaking — that’s how Nemai Ghosh’s photo-exhibition, titled ‘Satyajit Ray: From Script to Screen’, can be best described. The exhibition, which displays 100 photographs of the legendary filmmaker and his work, was unveiled at the National Gallery of Modern Arts by renowned filmmaker and member of Parliament, Shyam Benegal.

Ghosh, who photographed the Academy Award winner for over two decades, said that the exhibition was “just an effort to showcase the growth of Ray as an auteur in every aspect of filmmaking”.

Ghosh remembers the first time he clicked the ace filmmaker. “It was in 1967 and I was an amateur lensman at the shoot of Gupi Gayne, Bagha Bayne,” he says. “When Ray saw the photographs, he said, ‘Only you will click me from now on.’ This was the beginning of an association that lasted 25 years.”

The connection has been so strong that after Ray’s death in 1992, Ghosh refused to work with any other filmmaker as a still photographer. “Working with Ray was an unparalleled experience,” he says.