Soumendu Roy (7 February 1932 – 27 September 2023) was an Indian cinematographer most known for his work with noted director Satyajit Ray's films, starting with Teen Kanya (1961), when Subrata Mitra developed an eye-problem, though he has earlier shot Ray's documentary Rabindranath Tagore (1961) and has been an assistant to Subrata in post Pather Panchali films.

Soumendu Roy
Born(1933-02-07)7 February 1933
Died27 September 2023(2023-09-27) (aged 90)
Other namesSoumendu Ray
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1960–2000

Career

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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 winning film, Ashani Sanket (1973) and Aranyer Din Ratri (1969). He also worked with directors, Tapan Sinha, Tarun Majumdar, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and MS Sathyu.[1]

In his long career, Roy won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography three times, plus one Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography award for documentary film, Suchitra Mitra in 1993, directed by Raja Sen.

In 2006, a 30-minute documentary on him, "Portrait of a Cinematographer", was screened at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, directed by Papia Roy,[1][2] and subsequently, Soumendu Ray, a 70 min. documentary by Arindam Saha Sardar.[3] 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.

Death

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Soumendu Roy died on 27 September 2023, at the age of 90.[4]

Filmography

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Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Shadow Play". Indian Express. 8 January 2006. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
  2. ^ Portrait of a Cinematographer on YouTube
  3. ^ Soumendu Ray documentary on YouTube.
  4. ^ Soumendu Roy, Satyajit Ray’s trusted cinematographer & close associate passes away at 90
  5. ^ Filmography New York Times
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