Satyajit Ray on postage stamp 

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Satyajit Ray is a wonderful embodiment of multifaceted talent. He is not only a filmmaker; He was a storyteller, screenwriter, lyricist, composer, decorator, editor and publisher. The simple yet profound truths of human life are embodied in his films, where the soil of rural Bengal, the tensions of urban life and the inner world of people are woven together. He developed a distinct language in the amalgamation of literature and film, which is still relevant today. Various countries around the world have commemorated this world-renowned Bengali filmmaker through the release of postage stamps.

The Indian Postal Department issued the first stamp featuring Satyajit Ray on 11 January 1994. It was a C-tenant (a continuous scene on multiple stamps) consisting of two stamps. C- Tenant’s first stamp worth Rs 6 features a still from the film Pather Panchali based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s novel and another Rs 11 stamp features a portrait of Satyajit Ray commemorating his 1992 Oscar award. Satyajit Ray appeared on the general ticket (definitive stamp) of India. The ordinary ticket of three rupees with watermark was released on March 1, 2009. 

The Caribbean island nation of Dominica issued six postage stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Berlin International Film Festival on 21 April 2000. Among them, Satyajit Ray was featured in the first two stamps. The first postage stamp mentions the film Ashni Sanket below Satyajit Ray’s portrait. It was built in 1943 against the backdrop of the worst famine in recorded history in Bangladesh. The film starring Bangladeshi actress Babita was released in 1973. It won the ‘Golden Bear’ award for best film at the Berlin Film Festival in the same year of its release. The second stamp features a still from another of his films, Mahanagar. The film features Madhavi Mukherjee as Aarti Majumdar and Prasenjit Sarkar as her infant son Pintu. Mahanagar won the ‘Silver Bear’ award in the Best Director category at the Berlin Film Festival in 1964.

After India and Dominica, Satyajit Ray came up in the postage stamp of Bangladesh. To commemorate his birth centenary, the Bangladesh Postal Department issued a postage stamp worth Tk 10 on 2 May 2021. Perforation distance of multicolored stamps is 12.5. The designer is Sumant Kumar. It was printed in one lakh copies. It is listed as stamp number 1424 of Bangladesh in the Stanley Gibbons World Stamp Catalog published from England.

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Bangladesh was the original home of Satyajit Ray’s ancestors. He was born on May 2, 1921 in Calcutta in the then Bengal Presidency and died on April 23, 1992 in his native Calcutta.

In addition to the publication of postage stamps, opening envelopes, special envelopes, special seals, many more souvenirs and memorabilia have been published about Satyajit Ray by government and private initiatives.