Private Project

A RAY of Light

The film deals with the world of Master film maker the late Satyajit Ray as seen by his photo-biographer Nemai Ghosh—through his lenses and unique perspective. The subject is the beginning and progress of Ghosh’s journey in photography in the era of classic, analogue medium with all its nuances and beauty. It is a 48-minute black-and-white docu-feature depicting 50 years of creative excellence.

The life of an octogenarian photographer in his dear city, Calcutta, the various elements of photography as an art form, and the world of Satyajit Ray as viewed by a friend and admirer have all been brought together in the film in the form of a touching human narrative.

The black-and-white cinematography is designed to pay tribute to the composition aspects and the light & shade elements of photography though keeping it wholly realistic.

The original soundtrack of the film has been composed with special care, with the theme music on opening credits played on a vintage, acoustic piano for that special timbre in-keeping with the story of the film.

  • Anirban Mitra
    Director
  • Tirtha Dasgupta
    Director
  • Kamalika Mitra
    Writer
  • Anirban Mitra
    Producer
  • Tirtha Dasgupta
    Producer
  • Nemai Ghosh
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Sandip Ray
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Soumendu Ray
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Documentary Narrative, photography
  • Runtime:
    48 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    March 27, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Anirban Mitra, Tirtha Dasgupta

Nemai Ghosh - a RAY of light is the product of its director Anirban Mitra’s deep admiration for Satyajit Ray, whose works have had an indelible influence on his creative outlook and sense of detailing, an appreciation of Nemai Ghosh’s candid photography, and the filmmaker’s own experience of visual storytelling.

Anirban Mitra has been working as a still-photographer since 2003, working extensively in both analogue and digital medium. He believes in the purist way of unobtrusive, natural-light photography. He has photographed 40 stately homes and palaces in Calcutta and most of the erstwhile Vice-regal Palaces and Estates in Bengal. His solo exhibitions have been mounted in premier galleries in Calcutta and London ; He has also published two books. Anirban’s work has been included in the permanent collection of many important institutions and galleries, such as the Victoria Memorial Hall, Government House of Calcutta & The famed National Portrait Gallery, London.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/anirbanmitranow/

Creative partnership:

Anirban shares his first directorial credit with Tirtha Dasgupta, who has worked alongside him as his creative partner and associate producer.

Tirtha has taken up a career in design to create delightful experiences for people around digital interfaces. He has written poems and stories, and translated poetry for online and offline magazines. He has been an active member of a theatre group in Calcutta, his hometown. He has performed as an actor and contributed in other creative capacities within the group.
In 2015, he joined forces with a friend to make a short film, titled The Paper Boy, which was selected for a number of film festivals in India, including the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival and Calcutta International Film Festival. The film won the first prize in the BGHSAA Satyajit Ray Memorial Short Film Festival.

Nemai Ghosh: A Ray of Light is his second film and his first co-production with Anirban Mitra.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

'Nemai Ghosh: A Ray of Light' is a moving story of how an ordinary man came to be associated with a giant of cinema—Satyajit Ray—and became the photo-chronicler of his creative and personal world. It also pays tribute to the elegance of black-and-white films and the nuances of analogue photography. The cinematography has been specifically designed to reflect Chiaroscuro—the blending of light and shade which both Ray and Ghosh admired and followed.
This is the story of an inspiring friendship, of the pursuit of artistic excellence and of a journey that started fifty years ago...