New Website on Satyajit Ray soon

Kolkata, Aug 21 (UNI) A new website on Satyajit Ray providing a detailed insight into the diversified and multiferious activities of the icon of Indian cinema, will be launched here by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on August 26.

Created by the Society of Satyajit Ray Films, better known as the Satyajit Ray Society, the launch of the much-awaited website will coincide with the 51st anniversary of the commercial release of "Pather Panchali", the most famous black and white celluloid portrait of a middle class family that changed the notion about Indian cinema before the rest of the world.

The former President of the Society, State Higher Education minister Sudarshan Roychoudhury, also the former President of the Society, will attend the formal release of the website.

The new website - www.worldoray.com - of over 200 web-pages is aimed at giving people a fairly comprehensive idea of the multiferiousness of one of the greatest film makers of the world, according to Mr Roy Chowdhury.

Featuring hundreds of photographs, including some rare ones taken by Mr Ray himself, as well as several write-ups by him and on him, the new website has also devoted a special section to Mr Ray's storyboard on Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar-maestro, Ray's own tale of the'The Alien', his unmade film forms another special section.

Among others the website features innumerable video clips from Ray's films and music.

Incidentally, the Society has been working tirelessly since 1994 to restore and preserve the invaluable legacies left by the film maestro in association with the Los Angeles based Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Archives(AMPASA). So far they have restored 16 Ray classics with several still remaining in the pipeline.

UNI ABA KK RN1902