Soumendu Roy (7 February 1932 – 27 September 2023) was an Indian cinematographer most known for his work with noted director

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

's films, starting with '' Teen Kanya'' (1961), when Subrata Mitra developed an eye-problem, though he has earlier shot Ray's documentary ''

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

'' (1961) and has been an assistant to Subrata in post ''

Pather Panchali (, ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali Pather Panchali ...

'' films.

Career

Starting as a handler of trolley and lighting in early Ray films, Roy went on to work on 22 of Ray's films including 18 features,

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

winning film, '' Ashani Sanket'' (1973) and '' Aranyer Din Ratri'' (1969). He also worked with directors,

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...

, Tarun Majumdar, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and MS Sathyu. In his long career, Roy won the

National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

for Best Cinematography three times, plus one Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography award for documentary film, ''Suchitra Mitra'' in 1993, directed by

Raja Sen Raja Sen (born 10 November 1955) is an Indian film and television director and the winner of three National Film Awards from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the father of Subhasree Sen and Sreyoshi Sen. Career Raja Sen first received reco ...

. In 2006, a 30-minute documentary on him, "Portrait of a Cinematographer", was screened at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

(IFFI) in Goa, directed by Papia Roy, and subsequently, ''Soumendu Ray'', a 70 min. documentary by Arindam Saha Sardar. Roy was advisor of cinematography department of ''Roopkala Kendro'' an indo Italian film institute under the information and cultural ministry of

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

Death

Soumendu Roy died on 27 September 2023, at the age of 90.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1961) * '' Teen Kanya'' (1961) * '' Abhijaan'' (1962) * '' Palatak'' (1963) * '' Two'' (Short Film) (1964) * '' Alor Pipasha'' (1965) * '' Abhoya O Srikanta'' (1965) * '' Baksabadal'' (1965) * '' Mahapurush'' (1965) * '' Kapurush'' (1965) * '' Ektuku Basa'' (1965) * ''

Chiriyakhana ''Chiriakhana'' or ''Chiriyakhana'' () is a 1967 Indian Bengali-language crime thriller film, based on the story of the same name by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film is directed and co-written by Satyajit Ray, starring Uttam Kumar as Byomke ...

'' (1967) * '' Balika Badhu'' (1967 film) * '' Badhubaran'' (1967 film) * '' Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'' (1969) * '' Aranyer Din Ratri'' (1970) * '' Pratidwandi'' (1970) * ''Kuheli'' (1971) * ''

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

'' (1971) * ''

Seemabaddha ''Seemabaddha'' ( Romanization of Bengali, ''Shimabôddho''; English title: ''Company Limited'') is a 1971 in film, 1971 social drama Bengali language, Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on the novel ''Seemabaddha'' by Mani Shan ...

'' (1971) * '' The Inner Eye'' (1972) * '' Ashani Sanket'' (1973) * '' Sadhu Judhishthirer Karcha'' (1974) * '' Sonar Kella'' (1974) * '' Jana Aranya'' (1976) * '' Nidhiram Sardar'' (1976) * ''

Shatranj Ke Khilari ''Shatranj Ke Khilari'', also subtitled and later internationally released with the translated title ''The Chess Players'', is a List of Bollywood films of 1977, 1977 Indian film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on Munshi Premchand ...

'' (1977) * '' Joybaba Felunath'' (1979) * '' Heerak Rajar Deshe'' (1980) * ''Bala'' (Short Film) * '' Sadgati'' (1981) (Tele Film) * '' Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum'' (1982) * '' Phatik Chand'' (1983) * ''

Piku ''Piku'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by N. P. Singh, Ronnie Lahiri and Sneha Rajani. Released in India on 8 May 2015, the film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan ...

'' (Short Film) (1983) * ''

Islam In India Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...

'' (Documentary) * '' Ghare Baire'' (1985) * '' Sundarban'' (Documentary) (1985) * '' Bhombal Sardar'' (Short Film) (1988) * ''

Agun Khan Asifur Rahman Agoon, known as Agun (born 1971) is a Bangladeshi musician. The son of actor Khan Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman (known as Khan Ata; 11 December 1928 – 1 December 1997) was a Bangladeshi film actor, director, producer, ...

'' (1988) * '' Debata'' (1990) * '' Wiil To Live'' (English) * '' Anokha Moti'' * ''

Ek Doctor Ki Maut ''Ek Doctor Ki Maut'' () is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language drama film by Tapan Sinha, which depicts the ostracism, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult of a doctor and his research, instead of recognition. The film is based on the 1982 R ...

'' (1991) * '' Antardhyan'' (1992) * ''

Potli Baba Ki ''Potli Baba Ki'' (literally ''Baba's Bag'', can be inferred as ''Baba's Tales'') (1991) is an Indian children's puppet television series aired in India in 1991 on Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned ente ...

'' (1991) (TV series) * '' Charachar'' (1993) * ''

Wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

'' (1994) * '' Satabdirkanya''Filmography

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

* '' Ajab Gayer Ajab Katha'' (1998)

Awards

** 1974: Best Cinematography: '' Ashani Sanket'' ** 1975: Best Cinematography: '' Sonar Kella'' ** 1978: Best Cinematography: ''

Shatranj Ke Khiladi Shatranj Ke Khilari () is a 1924 Hindi short-story written by Munshi Premchand. Premchand also made the Urdu version titled "Shatranj ki bazi". Synopsis The story depicts decadent royalty of Central North India. It is set around the life of th ...

'' ** 1993: Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography : ''Sucitra Mitra'' *

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...

** 1982: Best Cinematographer: '' Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Soumendu 1933 births 2023 deaths Bengali film cinematographers Artists from Kolkata Best Cinematography National Film Award winners University of Calcutta alumni Satyajit Ray Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Place of birth missing 20th-century Indian photographers Cinematographers from West Bengal