As the Netflix anthology series ‘Ray’ is set to start streaming from tomorrow onwards, we should be thankful to the three filmmakers who adapted Satyajit Ray’s timeless classics for OTT audiences. Before you watch ‘Ray’, we give you a brief cinematic rundown of the three talented directors who helmed it:
1. Abhishek Chaubey
Segment: Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Gajraj Rao
Abhishek Chaubey has created a niche in Indian cinema with his content-oriented films that are blessed with intense performances. The Faizabad born filmmaker made his directorial debut with the dark comedy ‘Ishqiya’ starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vidya Balan, and Arshad Warsi. He followed it up by a sequel called ‘Dedh Ishqiya’. Both these films were critically acclaimed.
His next venture was the hard-hitting multi-starrer ‘Udta Punjab’. The film revolved around the parallel plotlines of a rockstar (Shahid Kapoor), a doctor (Kareena Kapoor), and a cop (Diljit Dosanjh). His latest directorial was the criminally underrated gem ‘Sonchiriya’, which revolved around a gang of dacoits in the Chambal valley and featured Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey, and Bhumi Pednekar.
2. Srijit Mukherji
Segment: Forget Me Not
Cast: Ali Fazal, Bidita Bag
Segment: Bahrupiya
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Bidita Bag, Rajesh Sharma
The National Award-winning filmmaker made his feature film directorial debut with the critically and commercially acclaimed film ‘Autograph’. Subsequently, he went on to helm other Bengali films like ‘Jaatishwar’, ‘Chotushkone’, and ‘Rajkahini’, amongst others. Srijit Mukherji has also directed the web series titles ‘Feluda Pherot’, which was also based on Satyajit Ray’s iconic detective Feluda.
3. Vasan Bala
Segment: Spotlight
Cast: Harshvardhan Kapoor, Radhika Madan, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Chandan Roy Sanyal
Vasan Bala is known for his collaboration with maverick filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in films including Bombay Velvet and Raman Raghav 2.0 (as a screenwriter) besides working as an assistant director in ‘Dev D’ and ‘Gulaal’.
His directorial debut crime thriller ‘Peddlers’ starring Gulshan Devaiah was screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. He reunited with Devaiah in the martial arts action-comedy film ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota’ also starring Abhimanyu Dasani and Radhika Madan in prominent roles.
We have high hopes for the soon to be released Netflix anthology series ‘Ray’ and with these three proficient directors at the helm coupled with a wonderful cast, it seems that Satyajit Ray’s timeless classics will get the respect they deserve by the Indian OTT audience.