Satyajit Ray is India’s prodigious filmmaker, his influence has deep, widespread in Bengali cinema and worldwide. Ray is considered as the greatest filmmaker of all time who has helmed numerous masterpiece and blessed the world with several classics. Ray’s first movie Pather Panchali won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
Satyajit Ray in his career has directed 36 films and has received 32 Indian National Awards, an Academy honorary award in 1992 and many major awards at international film festivals. We are all aware of Ray’s phenomenal career as a filmmaker, but little do we know about Satyajit Ray’s love life.
Satyajit Ray was in love with his childhood sweetheart Bijoya Ray. Their love story is no less than a romantic drama movie! Ray and Bijoya knew each other since their teenage days as Bijoya was his cousin sister. In 1940, the duo released they have a romantic bond which was brewing when the duo used to listen to music together almost every day.
The lovebirds were madly in love with each other, but they weren’t sure if they could ever be together or if they could ever marry each other as their families wouldn’t agree. As they were relatives.
However, they initially decided to stay in a live-in relationship and decided to never marry each other. Well, destiny had some other plans for them, the iconic couple dated each other for 8 long years and they decided to continue their lives the way it was going. Bijaya shifted to Bombay for better work opportunities in the film industry. Ray, who was then working in an advertising agency would frequently visit his love and used to write letters.
Satyajit and Bijaya would go out on dates often. Later the duo realised their marriage is inescapable. The duo opted to get registry marriage in Mumbai without informing Ray’s family, though Bijaya informed her mother and she was totally against it. However, they didn’t pay heed to her opinion and they got married at the house of Bijoya’s sister on October 20, 1949.
Later, when Ray rose to fame for his Apu Trilogy, he spilled the beans to his friend Nosho Babu and he came up with a clever plan to convince Ray’s mother about their marriage without letting them know they have already tied the knot. Ray made it very clear he won’t marry anyone apart from Bijoya. The duo later got married on March 3 1950.
