Satyajit Ray has brought innumerable accolades to Indian Cinema, his films will always continue to be an important landmark in Indian Cinema. But have you ever thought about the man for whom we are able to see this legend in the action of the masterpieces he has made? The man who has documented Satyajit Ray over the years – Nemai Ghosh, the man who is seldom talked about.
He started off as an actor with actor-director’s little Theater Group in Kolkata. He had acted in a play, ‘Angar’ about the exploitation of coal miners where there was a sequence of a whole coal mine getting submerged underwater, he was not so interested in photography back then, says, art critic and publisher-editor, Samik Bandhopadhay.
Nemai Ghosh’s interest in photography was sparked when he found an abandoned camera and started playing around with it. He was an ardent lover of cinema and wanted to document the whole process of making it, which is when he met Ray. Satyajit Ray was just tolerant about him in the beginning but eventually started recognizing his talent. Nemai Ghosh started off with ‘GoopiGyneBaghaByne’ (1969) and continued with Ray till his last film ‘Agantuk’ (1991.
The black and white images he captured in natural light has a sense of nostalgia attached to them. “He never missed a moment, and always captured the right moment recalls Satyajit Ray’s son and filmmaker, Sandip Ray. Apart from working with Ray, Nemai Ghosh has also worked for some of Mrinal Sen’s films and was also the still photographer for Mira Nair’s, ‘Namesake’. “I fell at his feet, it was such an honor that he considered our film”, says Sujoy Ghosh remembering him from the sets of Kahaani.
Nemai Ghosh passed away at the age of 85 in Kolkata, last year on 25th March.
Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9
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