INFORMATION

Director: Satyajit Ray
Year: 1969
Duration: 129’
Language: VOSC
Genre: Fantasy and adventure, comedy

SYNOPSIS

Two boys, an aspiring singer and another who wants to play the kettledrum dhol, join forces to scare off a tiger. With their (lousy) talent for music, they not only manage to scare the animal, but also summon a group of ghosts fascinated by their melody. After being granted three magical powers, the two boys use them to try to bring harmony to two warring kingdoms. A fascinating children’s fantasy.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY

Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta in 1921. Son of Sukumar Ray, one of the leading figures of the Bengali literary scene, in 1940 he graduated in economics from the University of Calcutta and went to work as an illustrator at Tagore University in Viswa-Bharati. He made his directorial debut in 1955 with the eponymous adaptation of the 1928 novel Pather Panchali (“Song of the Road”), which began his trilogy on the life of the young Apu, followed by Aparajito (“The Invincible”, 1956) and Apur Sansar (“Apu’s World”, 1959). This was the basis for the rise of his reputation as one of the country’s best filmmakers. In addition to being a director, he was a screenwriter, composer of the soundtrack, editor and designer of the credits and publicity material for his films. Throughout his extensive film career, Ray received as many as 36 Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, two Silver Bears, as well as the Bharat Ratna, India’s most prestigious civilian award. Almost a month before his death, he became the first Indian to receive an Honorary Oscar in 1992.