Loved The Trailer Of Ray? Here Are 4 Epic Stories Of Satyajit Ray That Inspired The Web-Series

The fact that Hollywood has often sought inspiration from his works is proof enough that Satyajit Ray was one of the greatest and legendary filmmakers of Indian cinema.

"I'm also a big fan of Satyajit Ray¡¯s body of work. The few interactions I had with Ray are memories I treasure." -- Martin Scorsese

"I've had the pleasure of watching Mr Ray's Pather Panchali recently, which I hadn¡¯t seen before. I think it is one of the best films ever made. It is an extraordinary piece of work. I am interested in learning more about Indian film industry and that is the reason why I came." -- Christopher Nolan

"My only understanding of India (in his younger days) was through the Satyajit Ray films I watched in film festival after film festival. They are incredible. That is how I perceive India ¡ª real, warm and unaffected". -- Keanu Reeves

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Based on his four stories is a forthcoming web series titled Ray, whose trailer starring Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, Ali Fazal and Harshvardhan Kapoor has left the fans bowled over.

Here are the four stories on which the highly awaited show is based. Don't worry, there are no spoilers in here.

The stories are based on four emotions - ego, revenge, envy and betrayal.

1. Barin Bhowmik-er Byaram

Netflix

Barin Bhowmik is a well-known singer and a kleptomaniac. After years, when recovers, he has a change of heart, and he decides to make amends in his life when he meets a man, Pulak Chakraborty, who he once stole from.

He meets Pulak Chakraborty on a train and remembers that he once stole his Swiss clock when he had stepped down at a station earlier to buy something. He recognises him and gets scared as Pulak recognises him. He decides to return it to him after much thought, but Pulak barely recognises him as a thief. He has two choices now to either remind him of his wrongdoing or ignore it. The ending takes on a twisted nature.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey and titled Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa, this one stars Manoj Bajpayee and Gajraj Rao.

2. Bahurupi

Netflix

Nikunja babu is a makeup artist who hasn't been successful at finding a job for himself. He trains in order to adopt this as his profession. Unable to get a job, he starts practicing on himself. He wanted to transform people and make a living out of it, but now he dons a new avatar every day to practice and excel at this art.

His acquaintances are unable to recognize him as he appears in different wigs, mustaches and clothes. He is a man with many faces now. Will he find himself in one of those or will he eventually forget how he looks?

Directed by Srijit Mukherji, Bahrupiya stars Kay Kay Menon in the lead role.

3. Bipin Choudhurir Smritibhram

Netflix

The Satyajit Ray story revolves around the central character Bipin Chowdhary, who excels at his job at work and is a bibliophile. One day at a book store, he meets a man, Parimal Ghose, who leaves in an uncomfortable position. The man says he met him at Ranchi and gives all the correct details about his family and profession, but Bipin doesn't remember him. At first, he believes that the man has confused him for someone else, but later begins to self-doubt. Is he losing his memory?

He is skeptical at first but asks another friend about his trip to Ranchi. The friend confirms he was with him. Another friend, Chunilal, who has been seeking his help to find a job but is being ignored, finally gets to speak to him. Chunilal tells him he dropped him at the station. Bipin is now sure he is losing his memory and consults a doctor. He then discovered an unsettling truth at the end.

In the series, the story has been given a modern-day twist and is titled Forget Me Not. Directed by Srijit Mukherji, Ali Fazal stars in this story. Ali's character Ipsit Nair has the brain of a computer. Things go berserk when he starts forgetting incidents from his past.

4. Spotlight

Netflix

It is a story of a family vacation of Chowdhury who have travelled to Nagpur this year as well to attend and celebrate Durga Puja there. Their vacation is marked by the arrival of a popular film star Angshuman Chatterjee, who claims to be 126 years old. Kali Ghoshal, who claims to have seen Rabindranath Tagore is also in the city. While initially Angshuman catches people's fancy, later Kali steals the thunder from him.

Directed by Vasan Bala, Spotlight stars Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor in the lead role.

Also starring Radhika Madan, Shweta Basu, Anindita Bose and Bidita Bag among others, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, Srijit Mukherji and Vasan Bala, Ray will stream on Netflix on June 25. Watch the trailer below.