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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Aparna Sen’s respect for Satyajit Ray did not require her to agree with him. She described him as a mentor and a towering filmmaker, while also challenging some of his views and creative choices. For Sen, recognizing Ray as both a genius and a fallible person was not a contradiction; it was a more honest form of respect.
Admiration and disagreement could coexist
Sen rejected the idea that admiration demands uncritical agreement. In a 2021 interview excerpt published by Scroll, she put it plainly: “I do not believe in blind devotion, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is the greatest filmmaker we have had so far.” That judgment, she made clear, left room to question particular opinions and choices.
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Her account is personal: it reflects how she understood their conversations, rather than an independent diagnosis of Ray’s character or a claim that he welcomed every kind of criticism. She recalled discussing differences with him respectfully, and said he could be sensitive to criticism.
How their relationship developed
From family acquaintance to working together
Sen recalled knowing Ray as “Manik Kaka” before she acted in his films. Her father, film critic and director Chidananda Dasgupta, and Ray had been among the founding members of the Calcutta Film Society in the late 1940s, according to the Scroll excerpt.
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Sen began shooting Samapti in 1960, when she was fourteen, and turned fifteen later that year. The segment became part of Ray’s Teen Kanya (1961). She went on to appear in four films directed by him.
A friendship built through conversation
Sen said her friendship with Ray grew after they served together on the International Film Festival of India jury in 1976. She remembered that he sometimes called her to talk through problems in scenes he was writing. That exchange suggests a relationship in which she was not simply a young performer receiving instruction: Ray also treated her as someone whose thoughts could help him work through a creative problem.
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The views and choices Sen questioned
Ray’s claim about women’s morality
Sen’s clearest disagreement concerned Ray’s reported belief that women were morally stronger because they were physically weaker. She said, “I never quite agreed with him on that point, as I think women can be just as immoral.” The objection was to a broad claim about women, not a rejection of Ray’s filmmaking as a whole.
Her position also sits alongside her praise for his portrayals of women. In a 2013 report, NDTV, citing the Indo-Asian News Service, reported Sen’s view that Ray’s female characters displayed moral strength and could be more powerful than men. Her appreciation of those characters does not erase the specific generalization she later said she disputed.
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The absence of girls in the Feluda stories
Sen also recalled questioning why girls were largely absent from Ray’s Feluda stories. In her account, Ray found it difficult to imagine a relationship between a girl of Topshe’s age and Topshe that was not romantic. This is Sen’s recollection of their discussion, not a claim that it exhausts Ray’s reasons for how he wrote the stories.
What Sen says Ray gave her as an artist
Sen’s account includes admiration not only for Ray’s films but for the way he worked. In a 2021 interview with The Indian Express, she described the lesson as “never to imitate Ray but to imbibe the essence of his work and ethics.” She especially remembered his attention to detail and economical scene design: lessons to absorb, not a style to copy.
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She also recalled that Ray listened patiently when she discussed a character choice and was protective of her after her debut feature, 36 Chowringhee Lane, faced criticism. Those memories help explain why her disagreement was not a repudiation of their bond. She could value his generosity and craft while reserving the right to think for herself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why criticism did not mean disrespect
Asked whether Ray was open to criticism, Sen answered, “No, he wasn’t. I didn’t ever criticise him, though.” She immediately qualified the wording: she regarded their exchanges as discussions, and remembered him listening patiently when she spoke about a character. Her distinction matters. She was not describing public denunciations or a sustained campaign against him; she was describing respectful disagreement in conversation.
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Her conclusion captures the balance she sought: “Accepting the fact that he was human and fallible but at the same time a genius is the mark of true respect.” The formulation resists two easy extremes: treating a revered artist as beyond question, or assuming that a disagreement cancels admiration. Sen’s account holds both in view.
Further reading
Scroll’s excerpt is adapted from Bhaskar Chattopadhyay’s The Cinema of Satyajit Ray, a book described in the article as containing interviews with Ray’s collaborators. For further background on Sen’s reflections on Ray, see the BFI’s 2022 interview with Aparna Sen.
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