Heritage centre on Satyajit Ray to come up in Kolkata

Kolkata, June 8 (IANS) Late filmmaker Satyajit Ray's films will be showcased at a heritage centre to be set up here, an official said Sunday.

'The idea is to have a centre that will be totally dedicated to Ray and have everything on him. As per our plan, the centre will have a seminar room, an exhibition hall, an auditorium, an archive for storage, preservation and display of Ray's papers and memorabilia, and a section with digitised version of Ray's films,' said Sandip Ray, the maestro's son and a member of the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray's Films.

Society's chief executive officer Arup De said Sunday: 'We have been collecting, cataloguing and restoring the precious and massive works of Ray over the past decade. These works need to be preserved at a permanent site with appropriate facilities. For example, films are extremely sensitive to temperature and humidity. Hence, we need state-of-the-art vaults to preserve Ray's films.'

To be built at an estimated cost of Rs.50 million, the society is scouting for an appropriate site in the city.

'We will start working on the project as soon as we get an appropriate piece of land,' De added.