The Ray Circle transpired from a simple thirst for intelligent dialogue on Ray. And an unquenchable desire to watch the films we love, over and over again. A desire to create awareness among the uninitiated about the genius of Ray. A desire for stimulating debate.

Soon we had cobbled together an identity and a sense of purpose. And before we knew it, we found ourselves working on a blueprint for an international festival on Ray. We were talking about travelling exhibitions and visiting celebrities. But the essence still remains a thirst for talking about Ray and his incomparable films.

The Ray Circle is an online group. This is our virtual Coffee House where we plan to have our regular addas (that quintessentially Bengali phenomenon) on Ray and his craft. And every once in a while we will meet, in real, to watch a film, meet a personality who has worked with Ray, hear a stimulating talk. And have real coffee.

Screenings, talks, debates apart, we have plans for a book on Ray, a very comprehensive website and ambitious plans of an international festival to celebrate the 90th birth anniversary of Ray in 2011 in Singapore. 

The Ray Circle is also a recognition of the amazing work done by so many individuals and organisations in keeping the legacy of Ray alive – the Ray Society, the Ray family, Dr Dilip Basu and his Film and Study Centre at the University of California Santa Cruz, Charles and Kitty Cooper in London, the Merchant Ivory Foundation, Martin Scorcese, Audrey Hepburn and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to mention just a few. We hope to spread their work to larger tracts of the globe.