When two worlds collide
Satyajit Ray’s enduring influence on world cinema is no secret. One of his self-proclaimed pupils is popular American filmmaker, Wes Anderson.
At first glance, Ray’s and Anderson’s cinematic universes seem worlds apart, but a closer look reveals many shared elements. Anderson’s films, though highly original, include clear shades of Ray’s influence.
The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson went so far as to dedicate his fifth film, The Darjeeling Limited, to Satyajit Ray. In The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson uses Ray’s ‘Charu’s Theme’ from Charulata as a poignant motif that ties the Whitman brothers’ tragi-comedy together.
The Darjeeling Limited’s music score also includes songs from Ray’s motion pictures Joi Baba Felunath (1979), Teen Kanya (1961) and Jalsaghar (1958).
Set primarily on an Indian train, with interiors blending Parisian and Indian aesthetics, the film reflects Anderson’s signature visual style. The final scene, with the brothers chasing the Bengal Lancer, unmistakably echoes Ray’s Pather Panchali.
A portrait of Satyajit Ray can also be seen above the Whitman brothers while they sit in their cabin aboard the train.
Asteroid City
In Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023), a group of teenagers plays a memory game, identical to the one in Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri (1970). While Anderson’s players are teens, Ray’s are young adults from Calcutta vacationing in the forests of Palamu.
Both films name Cleopatra during the game—Dinah in Asteroid City and Aparna in Ray’s film—signaling a clear homage. The parallel suggests Anderson’s admiration for Ray’s work. Like Aranyer Din Ratri, Asteroid City also serves as a kind of pastoral retreat, blending introspection with a stylized setting and narrative tension.
In an interview for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Anderson said, ‘Ray is one of my favourites. His films feel like novels to me…My favourites are the Calcutta trilogy: The Adversary (1970; Pratidwandi), Company Limited (1971; Seemabaddha), and The Middleman (1976; Jana Aranya), which are very adventurous and inventive stylistically, and Days and Nights in the Forest (1970; Aranyer Din Ratri), which completely captured my attention when I was a teenager, with soulful troublemakers as heroes.’
A fitting tribute to a master
In a grand tribute of sorts, Wes Anderson led a six-year restoration journey for Satyajit Ray’s 1970 masterpiece ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ (‘Days and Nights in the Forest’) culminating in the film being screened in 4K at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classics section.
Wes Anderson’s work continues to reflect elements drawn from his beloved India. His upcoming film, The Phoenician Scheme, features an impressive ensemble cast and we are keen to discover India-inspired easter eggs as always!
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