Indian film director best remembered for movies such as The Apu Trilogy, Calcutta Trilogy, The Big City, Distant Thunder, Nayak, Days and Nights in the Forest, Charulata, The Music Room and Devi. In a biography about his life, it mentioned he shot up in height and did not stop growing until he reached "Six feet four and a half inches".
juggernaut said on 29/Jun/21
Not very much sure that Satyajit was actually 6'4'1/2, even though he mentioned several times to be 6'4', I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually 6'3' because he never looked more than 4 inches taller than 5'10', 5'11' Soumitra Chatterjee, I think even if he was actually 6'4', he was a weak one.. I'd say 6'3'-6'3'5 for Satyajit at his peak, during his last days he didn't look more than 6'2' to be honest, 6'4'1/2 might just be a little exaggeration cos at times he even looked 6'2' with Soumitra in some pics or with 5'10'5-5'11' Tapen Chatterjee, he did look 6'4' with a 5'10' Utpal Dutt during the late 70's.
Pratick Guha Roy said on 23/Nov/20
During an interview in radio station Korchi sabyasachi told the audience that at the time of casting for feluda he was trying to get the role, when he came across Satyajit Ray. A conversation held between these two. During Which Satyajit Ray asked Sabyasa hi about his hight. He replied that it's 6' 1.5" in reply Satyajit got up to leave the room and replayed that he himself is 6' 4"
Neelasish Send Roy said on 30/Mar/19
You are right Zahid.I have seen Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Amitji together in Khakee. At that time Amit just was in his 60's so he was 6'1" and Sabyaschi was half an inch shorter than him so he was 6'0.5"(184cm) at peak.
Neelasish Send Roy said on 30/Mar/19
I have seen many other actors with Sabyasachi Chakraborty like deepak adhikari who claimed be 6'1" he looks an inch shorter than 6'0.5" Sabyasachi, Abir Chatterjee looks same as Sabyasachi, Jisshu Sengupta looks 1.5 inches shorter than him. Sabyasach looks half an inch shorter than Amitabh Bachchan in Khakee who was 6'1" on that time. So Sabyasachi Chakraborty os 6'0.5"(184cm) at peak so what is the real heights of Deeps Adhikari, Abir Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta. And what would be the peak height of Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee ?
Neelasish Send Roy said on 30/Mar/19
I have seen many other actors with Sabyasachi Chakraborty like deepak adhikari who claimed be 6'1" he looks an inch shorter than 6'0.5" Sabyasachi, Abir Chatterjee looks same as Sabyasachi, Jisshu Sengupta looks 1.5 inches shorter than him. Sabyasach looks half an inch shorter than Amitabh Bachchan in Khakee who was 6'1" on that time. So Sabyasachi Chakraborty os 6'0.5"(184cm) at peak so what is the real heights of Deeps Adhikari, Abir Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta
Zahid said on 21/Mar/19
I had the rare privilege of meeting Sabyasachi Chakraborty in person a few days back. I am 5'11.5" (doctor measurement) and he was about the same height.
Considering his age and posture, his peak height would be 6'0.5". He mentioned during a discussion last week that Satyajit was 2.5" taller than him.
That means Satyajit Ray was 6'3". The same height I had guessed him at judging by his pictures.
Neelasish Send Roy said on 15/Mar/19
With 5'11.5" Akira Kirosawa, 5'11" Soumitra Chatterjee and Uttam Kumar Satyajit Ray does not looks 6'4.5" or 6'4". According to Quota by Beetihotra Basu Satyajit Ray was a legit 6'3"(191cm) tall which may be right. Ray was only 1 inch taller than his fictional character feluda and Amitabh Background who were 6'2".
Neelasish Send Roy said on 14/Mar/19
With 5'11.5" Akira Kirosawa, 5'11" Soumitra Chatterjee and Uttam Kumar Satyajit Ray does not looks 6'4.5" or 6'4". According to Quota by Beetihotra Basu Satyajit Ray was a legit 6'3"(191cm) tall which may be right. Ray was only 1 inch taller than his fictional character feluda and Amitabh Background who were 6'2".
Neelasish Send Roy said on 9/Mar/19
Rob, please add bengali actors. Most famous actors are Ashok Kumar(5'9"), Uttam Kumar (5'10") and most famous actor who work 15 films with Satyajit Ray is Soumitra Chatterjee who was 5'11" at peak but now 5'10". Other famous bengal actors are Sabyasachi Chakraborty (6'0"+), Deeps Adhikari(6'0"), Abir Chatterjee(6'1"), Jisshu Sengupta(6'0"), Jerry(5'10"),etc.
Neelasish Send Roy said on 4/Mar/19
Average height of bengal man is 5'6", if he looks 7-8 inches taller than that he would be 6'1"-6'2". I am a Bengali man I stood 5'7". Ray looks definitely 3 inches taller than 5'11" Soumitra Chatterjee so would be 6'2".
Neelasish Send Roy said on 3/Mar/19
I think his height is not more than 6'2" because he is 3 inches taller than 5'11" Soumitra Chatterjee, 4 inches taller than 5'10" Uttam Kumar, 2 inches taller than 6'0" Shatrughan Sinha. He also towers 6'1" Amitabh Bachchan. He think his height is given to feluda as 6'2".
Arpan said on 26/Jan/19
In Kolkata the average height is around 5'8"... And 6 feet plus guys are common here... I'm 5'10.5" tall and yes looking at him I can say he's over 6'4" easily without shoes... As he looks 7-8 inches taller than the average...
Aryan Bhatt said on 3/Nov/18
I don't get all these stereotypes whenever a South Asian over 6 ft comes along. Oooh he might have been a giant in Lilliput land. What the Hell. 6ft+ height is tall for most of the world including Europe and Americas, statistically speaking, except some Dinaric and North European Nations. Height depends on diet and a major percentage of Indians including well to do people do not take adequate amounts of protein(because of religious issues) not to mention all those street people that Tourists see when they visit India are Below Poverty Line. There was a time when Dutch and other people were quite short. Secondly, in India thanks to endogamy among castes, imposing physique is more associated with the Kshatriyas(Warrior castes). Priests and Merchant castes tend to be shorter. Thirdly, I am 5' 10.25". I was never considered sufficiently tall by my friends and peers.
And @Neelasish Sen Roy, I have stayed all regions of India and very tall people can be found in every region. Some of the tallest individuals I could recall from my college were a Bengali Brahmin, a Jatt Sikh and an Indo-Portuguese from Goa. From my personal experience I can say that Bengalis from Northern Bengal, Delhi tends to be taller than southern Bengalis from where Satyajeet Roy is.
Neelasish Sen Roy said on 1/Nov/18
He listed as 6'4.5" or 6'4".But it is too tall for a bengali. From BBC he is described as " over 6'1". I think Quora is right. His original height was 6'3" at max.
Neelasish Sen Roy said on 5/Sep/18
I think he was never 6'4.5". But he was taller than Amitabh Bachchan. In his biography he was described as 6'4" (193cm) tall,dark,handsome,lanky man with a remarkable Rich Smooth Voice.But I think he was 6'3" at max after watching a photo where, Ray and 5'11" or 5'10" Uttam Kumar was standing. I never think that he had same height as 6'4.5" Sir Christopher Lee, Rob?
Rabindra sankar sen roy said on 7/Jul/18
He never look like tall as john wayne or jeff goldblum.He looks kike Amitabh Bachchan or 6'2.75" Gregory Peck.
Rabindra sankar sen roy said on 15/Jun/18
See Soumitra chatterjeee and satyajit ray/ Amitbh bachchan with shashi kapoor. Both Soumitra Chatterjee and Shashi kapoor was 5'11.5" so bachchan and ray was6'2.5".
Rabindra sankar sen roy said on 15/Jun/18
See uttam kumar and satyajit ray standing together picture.Ray is exact 3 inches taller than uttam kumar.If uttam kumar is 5'10/5'11" tall so ray would be 6'1/6'2" tall. I think ray would be 6'2" at max which is perfect height for a man.I think 6'2.5" at peak.
Tall Sam said on 23/May/18
It couldn't be ruled that Mr. Ray was a smidge over 6'5" for a good part of the day but the 6'4.5" figure is precise enough that it was doubtful he wasn't measured at it at some point.
sach said on 6/Nov/17
I think satyajit ray is more tall than his listed height. In a pic he looked around 6 inches taller than kurosawa who is listed here 5'11.5". I guess ray was 6'5.5"-6'6" tall. Am i right mr.rob?
Rifle said on 22/Nov/16
Quite tall.
Sam said on 9/Jul/15
Here's a link to that biography on Ray from which Rob got the listing of 6'4.5".
Click Here
Arch Stanton said on 3/Jul/15
Spot on Sam yeah. For me it's all about the experience, the surreal like quality or realism of the dialogue, the poetic nature of them, metaphor and emotional dynamic which you don't get in Hollywood, that's what makes them so special. I do think you need to have a certain level of intelligence to really appreciate them, and understand what the filmmakers are trying to achieve as a lot of people are going to the cinema to watch something which looks more like a conventional entertainment film. In a way it's like comparing some of the best classical music/opera with popular rap and hip hip music, the majority aren't going to appreciate it. A lot of people in fact won't pick up on a lot of the qualities in those sorts of films, that's why they think they're boring.
choosmeralauda said on 2/Jul/15
rampage clover, even by german standards lol
Sam said on 2/Jul/15
Not many circumstances where you could get a Russian guy and a Japanese guy and the Japanese guy towers over the Russian...or also not many cases where an Indian guy towers over both of them!
Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 1/Jul/15
By Indian standards he was a giant.
Arch Stanton said on 1/Jul/15
Tarkovsky was about 5 ft 7 I think so yeah that figures.
Sam said on 1/Jul/15
The thing is with these kind of directors is that with the black & white, subtitles and artistic and unflinching approach, that people think of there works as academic, challenging (which they can be), boring even...but directors like Kurosawa, Eisenstein, Miyazaki, or Fellini, couldn't make a boring, non-kinetic or non-entertaining film. Films by Ray, Ozu, Mizoguchi or Renoir are often way more moving and more deeply evocative than any drama made in Hollywood.
Sam said on 30/Jun/15
Also, here's another shot from when Ray and Kurosawa met.
Click Here
I guess a fairly good representation of a 5 inch difference. Kurosawa looked about 4-5 inches taller than Andrei Tarkovsky when he met him and 3-4 inches over his leading man Toshiro Mifune. Kurosawa also looked roughly 4 inches over George Lucas and near 3 inches over Spielberg despite being of quite advantage age when photographed w/ them. Can't find any other shots of Ray next to people of known height.
Sam said on 30/Jun/15
Indeed, makes me wonder how tall Ray's parents were.
Amaze said on 29/Jun/15
@Sam definitely. I'm from Calcutta well same place as ray. Average for men was probably 5'4/5! He was a folt taller than that. People must have legit thought of him as a giant
Arch Stanton said on 29/Jun/15
I see Charulata has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes so obviously others like it too!
Arch Stanton said on 29/Jun/15
One director I have immense respect for is Hayao Miyazaki. I'm generally not a big fan of animated films but what he achieves with his films is sensational, they're a surreal experience, the sort of thing we dream of as kids. Tarkovsky, Kubrick, Miyazaki, Kurosawa, Ray, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Renoir, Godard, Bresson, Bergman, Eisenstein, Fellini, now we're talking!!
Arch Stanton said on 29/Jun/15
@Sam Pathar Panchili I think is technically the best film of his I've seen, but Charulata is a masterpiece too and really quite charming. Zayak was very good too, but not quite so much. I've only a few films of his and Kurosawa's to finish off now and I'll have seen all.
Sam said on 29/Jun/15
I haven't seen Distant Thunder, Nayak and Charulata, I've got a lot of catching up to do!...Ray was super-prolific especially for a guy who wrote, produced, directed, edited and scored all his films. In The Music Room, the main character could have just been pitiful but the amount of sympathy Ray generates for him is remarkable.
Sam said on 29/Jun/15
Yeah, he and Kurosawa were mutual fans almost from the beginning, how cool is that? Ray got started later so I think was more likely influenced than the influencer but I think Kurosawa was a very outspoken Ray fan! When I watched Pather Panchali, the dynamic camerawork and artful use of black & white and shadows reminded me very much of Kurosawa.
Sam said on 29/Jun/15
Amaze, I'd bet in Ray's generation the average male height was less for Hindu Bengali...thanks for adding, Rob!
yenz said on 28/Jun/15
This guy is like Winfield Scott, just an absolute giant for his circumstances. Being 6'5" and born in the 1780s, or being 6'4.5" and born in the 1920s while also being South Asian.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Jun/15
Click Here With Kurosawa, another supreme master of cinema! As casual glance Ray does look like Goldblum there doesn't he.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Jun/15
If you want to use the English titles Charulata is The Lonely Wife and Nayak is The Hero. Admittedly I didn't recognize some of your English titles though and I think a lot of Indian visitors won't either. Even in my 1001 movies book some of the films are given in Bengali names. I think they're better known under those titles. Like if somebody asked me "Have you seen The Hero", it wouldn't ring a bell, but if they said Nayak it would be obvious.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Jun/15
Awesome addition, cheers Rob! Can you shorten Pather Panchali, The World of Apu and Aparajito to The Apu Trilogy, add the Calcutta Trilogy, Charulata (my favourite of his), Distant Thunder and Nayak?
I think 194 is likely accurate as he was described as both 6'4 and 6'5". Also remember he was getting on a bit when a lot of photos were taken and still looked a big guy. Did look the same sort of height as Jeff Goldblum,
Amaze said on 27/Jun/15
Bengali Hindu like me. Hes a very very very tall Hindu Bengali male! We average at 5'6-7 honestly, taller than Muslim Bengali men(5'3-4 average). I'd say at 6'0 you get wows and amazement from other people at how tall that person is. 6'0 is low tall for white men but for a Bengali Hindu its remarkable. A 6'4.5(194cm) Bengali Hindu male??? People must have thought he was a giant. He was very very tall.
He was a good director too. Rip. 1992
6'4.5.