52 Quotes by Satyajit Ray

[W]hile devices cannot replace imagination, they can certainly influence it and even mould it. Devices are there for the artists to use if they so wish. With them they can say new things in a new way, or even old things in a new way. Or, if they choose, they can ignore the devices and say new things in an old way, or old things in an old way.

If you take some words at random and put them together, it becomes gibberish, and everyone who knows the meaning of words knows it as such. But if you take unrelated moving images and string them together, there will always be some people who will hold that the resultant strip of celluloid aims at some profundity.

Last, but not least -- in fact, this is most important -- you need a happy ending. However, if you can create tragic situations and jerk a few tears before the happy ending, it will work much better.

জানোয়ারের মন মানুষের মত জট পাকানো নয়। মানুষের মধ্যে যে সবচেয়ে বেশি সাদাসিধে, তারও মন একটা বাঘের মনের চেয়ে অনেক বেশি প্যাঁচালো।

When I write an original story I write about people I know first-hand and situations I'm familiar with. I don't write stories about the nineteenth century.

You cannot go beyond a certain limit in your expenditure if you want to bring back money from your local market, which is very small after Pakistan.

The only solutions that are ever worth anything are the solutions that people find themselves.

Most of the top actors and actresses may be working in ten or twelve films at the same time, so they will give one director two hours and maybe shoot in Bombay in the morning and Madras in the evening. It happens.

Sometimes a director is making three films. Perhaps he is shooting a film in Madras and a film in Bombay and he can't leave Madras as some shooting has to be done, so he directs by telephone. The shooting takes place. On schedule.