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It’s Satyajit Ray’s 97th birth anniversary, and in a gesture commemorating the work of one of the most influential Indian filmmakers of the century, Viacom18 is all set to produce a 12 part web series based on his short stories, to be directed by National Award winning Director Srijit Mukherjee.
The announcement comes alongside the launch of Tipping Point, Viacom18 Motion Pictures’ digital content brand - essentially their online vertical that is prepped to cater to a wider audience with a host of short films, documentaries, and web series already lined up. Titled X Ray - Selected Satyajit Shorts, the series will be available for online consumption, upping the brand’s cinematic reach from exclusively the big screen to the highly accessible digital content space.
Ray’s work spans decades and is exceedingly deemed as one of the best pieces of filmmaking in the last century. The recipient of numerous international and national awards, including 32 National Film Awards, and an honorary Academy Award, Ray has an almost incomparable list of achievements that more than distinguish him as a remarkable director, screenwriter, and even music composer, but his fiction writing is, more often than not, dwarfed by comparison to the mammoth success his films enjoy. Speaking to Bombay Times, Srijit Mukherjee said, “One aspect of Satyajit Ray, which probably gets overshadowed by his cinematic genius, is his remarkable treasure trove of short stories, which an entire generation grew up on. These stories appeared in groups of 12, across years, and covered diverse genres like horror, drama, satire etc. It is an honour to get an opportunity to adapt 12 such stories for the web series.”
While this is not the first time one of Satyajit Ray’s short stories will be covered in a short film format (Sujoy Ghosh directed ‘Anukul’, based on Ray’s story of the same name), it is unprecedented for his literary works to receive an online platform for as many as 12 stories. This foray into the digital world will help ensure high visibility and involvement which, if his previous works are anything to go by, can only be a good thing. Bengali filmmaker Mukherjee’s expertise will be put to test, but if he manages to successfully translate the late author’s stories on film, this web series will be one you cannot afford to miss. A generation of Indian kids grew up watching his films, and now an entirely new contingent, previously unfamiliar with his work, is getting the chance to witness stories from the brilliant mind of Satyajit Ray.
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