Best Satyajit Ray Films — Top 10 From a True Cinematic Icon

Aparajito, the middle film in The Apu Trilogy, suffers from being sandwiched between two all-time greats. Don’t get me wrong, “suffers” may be a bit of a hyperbole; Aparajito features some stunning cinematography, particularly in the scenes set in Varanasi. The narrative contains a great major theme between mothers and sons.

But there’s no denying that the pace of Aparajito shifts rapidly, especially before/after time jumps. Still, the film is a rich treatise on coming of age. 

Charulata is perhaps Satyajit Ray’s most haunting picture; if not for its ending, then for the loss it evokes. Charulata, which translates literally to The Lonely Wife, tells the story of a young woman yearning for companionship… whilst also seeking independence. Madhabi Mukherjee’s Charulata is a believably imperfect protagonist, simultaneously struggling to get what she wants while maintaining what she loves. 

Critics have praised Charulata through a feminist lens in an effort to explain the film’s aimless themes. But perhaps no lens is needed: Charulata is simply a portrait of a person at an inflection moment in time.

Satyajit Ray’s Devi is an excellent deconstruction of religious fanaticism. It’s also widely prescient, considering the time it was released. Devi follows the story of a young woman who becomes praised as an avatar of the goddess Kale, due to a fever dream and a miraculous coincidence.

The film has been lauded for its great lead performances from Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee, and its use of irony. 

Satyajit Ray’s last film, The Stranger, is one of his best. Utpal Dutt stars in the picture as a man claiming to be the long-lost great uncle of a wealthy housewife. Naturally, skepticism ensues, many questions are asked, and few are answered.  

Satyajit Ray paints a beautiful portrait of Calcutta with The Big City: a film that follows a husband and wife on opposite career trajectories. The Big City shows West Bengal at a social crossroads, caught between the conservative values of the old-guard and the liberal ideals of the new. 

Ray’s direction doesn’t take a strong stance; but rather captures the political climate from both sides. The Big City is certainly one of Ray’s most engrossing and “watchable” films, for its great lead performances from Madhabi Mukherjee and Anil Chatterjee, its stunning cinematography, and its timely political commentary.

The World of Apu is a fitting conclusion to Ray’s trilogy on the titular character’s love and life in West Bengal in the 20th-century. The film sees an adult Apu struggle to balance responsibility with autonomy, individuality with selflessness, and financial success with creative expression. The World of Apu is a didactic picture; and although we may not always agree with Apu, we understand why he feels the way he does.

Soumitra Chatterjee, who appeared in many of the best Satyajit Ray films, made his film debut in The World of Apu. Chatterjee’s performance as the wayward young-adult is regarded as one of the greatest in Indian cinema.

Satyajit Ray’s Days and Nights in the Forest follows four friends who leave the big city for a trip to a tribal village. There, they grapple with their responsibilities, and the wants that pushed them away.

Days and Nights in the Forest puts the human condition on trial against the cultural conditions of Calcutta, and perhaps the world at large. Is civilization a product of us? Or are we a production of civilization? Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the middle… a question to be answered in the forest.