Ray
Ray is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language anthology streaming series on Netflix in which four short stories by the Bengali filmmaker and writer Satyajit Ray are adapted for the screen, ranging from a satire to a psychological thriller.1 It was produced by Viacom18 Studios' Tipping Point, created and showrun by Sayantan Mukherjee, written by Niren Bhatt and Siraj Ahmed, and directed by Abhishek Chaubey, Srijit Mukherji, and Vasan Bala, with all four episodes premiering on June 25, 2021.2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | June 25, 2021, exclusively on Netflix; one season of four episodes, each roughly 52 to 65 minutes2 • 1 |
| Source material | Four short stories by Satyajit Ray: Bipin Chowdhuryr Smritibhrom, Bahurupi, Barin Bhowmick er Byaram, and Spotlight3 |
| Directors | Abhishek Chaubey, Srijit Mukherji (two episodes), and Vasan Bala2 |
| Lead cast | Manoj Bajpayee, Gajraj Rao, Ali Fazal, Kay Kay Menon, Harshvarrdhan Kapoor, Radhika Madan, Shweta Basu Prasad, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Bidita Bag, Dibyendu Bhattacharya2 |
| Language and format | Hindi (with English also listed), limited series, drama and thriller genres3 • 1 |
| Critical scores | 78% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and 77% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.1/10 from about 11,000 user votes on IMDb4 • 3 |
| Alternate title | Released in some listings as X-Ray: Selected Satyajit Shorts3 |
Spoilers
Episodes and source stories
Each episode adapts one Satyajit Ray short story, updated to a contemporary setting.5
- Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa, directed by Abhishek Chaubey and written by Niren Bhatt, stars Manoj Bajpayee as Musafir Ali, a popular ghazal singer with a secret past, and Gajraj Rao as Baig, an ex-wrestler turned sports journalist. The two men share a train journey and discover they met on a similar journey ten years earlier, and Ali's past seeks redemption in a satirical tale of intertwined fates.2 It adapts Ray's story Barin Bhowmick er Byaram (Barin Bhowmick's Ailment).3
- Forget Me Not, directed by Srijit Mukherji and written by Siraj Ahmed, stars Ali Fazal as Ipsit, a cut-throat corporate executive who prides himself on his vivid memory until a chance encounter with a woman he cannot recall sends him into a vortex of self-doubt.2 It adapts Bipin Chowdhuryr Smritibhrom (Bipin Chowdhury's Memory Loss).6
- Bahrupiya, also directed by Mukherji and written by Ahmed, stars Kay Kay Menon as Indrashish Shaha, a timid makeup artist stuck in a job he hates. After his grandmother dies and leaves him a book on making prosthetics, he uses his new skills to take revenge on people he feels wronged him, and the masks shift from armor to the cause of his downfall.2 It adapts Bahurupi (The Impersonator).6
- Spotlight, directed by Vasan Bala and written by Bhatt, stars Harshvarrdhan Kapoor as Vik, a young actor famous for a single look who wants to shed the typecast, and Radhika Madan as Divya Didi, a godwoman who captivates everyone around her; the story follows their revelations, commonalities, and plight.2 It adapts Ray's story of the same name.3
Origin and production
The project began around 2017, when Ajit Andhare, COO of Viacom18 Studios, found a collection of Satyajit Ray short stories in his daughter's school library. Expecting heavy material, he was instead struck by how relatable the stories remained, some half a century after they were written, describing them as starting in an accessible world with almost Wodehousian characters before something striking happens; this realization led him to greenlight the anthology.7 Creator Sayantan Mukherjee described the vision as a slick, contemporary, delocalized adaptation of Ray.7
Netflix framed the release as a tribute timed to the centenary of Satyajit Ray's birth (he lived 1921 to 1992), calling him an auteur and the creator of the Feluda series who is also celebrated for his short stories.8 • 2 The adaptations were contemporized for a modern audience; production designer Aditya Kanwar, for example, built the world of Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa amid Islamic culture, down to the Urdu signage.5 The directors acknowledged the adaptations would depart from the originals; Mukherji said he expected the work to ruffle a few feathers because the team took the stories to a darker place and introduced characters not present in the original stories.7
Reception
Critical response was mixed, with reviewers agreeing that the four segments varied in quality. Anupama Chopra of Film Companion wrote that like most anthologies, Ray is a mix of dazzling and mediocre, and named Chaubey's Hungama hai Kyon Barpa the stand-out.9 Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated it 2 out of 5, calling it a mixed bag in which one segment stands out, another has promise, and the other two do not lift off the screen.10 Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3 stars, praising the Manoj Bajpayee and Gajraj Rao duet above all and noting that the three directors reinterpreted the original texts in light of their own sensibilities rather than imitating Ray.6 On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 78% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and a 77% audience score.4
Reviewers also noted what the adaptations changed. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll observed that Ray's fiction, written for a specific place and time (Bengal between the 1960s and the 1990s), is spare enough for filmmakers to add layers but detailed enough to discourage deviation, and that although women feature prominently across the adaptations, the series lacked female directors or writers.11 A Quint comparison of the episodes against the source stories found Chaubey's the most honest adaptation, while noting that Mukherji's Forget Me Not introduced three women absent from Ray's story.12 The series won a Popular Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Web Original Film in 2021 and received nominations for Best Actor and Best Web Original Film.13
References
- Ray, Netflix official site
- Netflix Gives Us A Glimpse of 'Ray', Releasing June 25, 2021, About Netflix
- Ray (TV Series 2021), IMDb
- Ray: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes
- Inside the fascinating sets of the Netflix show, Ray, Architectural Digest India
- Ray Review: Entertaining In Its Own Eccentric, If Erratic, Way, NDTV
- 'We went wild with Satyajit Ray', The New Indian Express (Cinema Express)
- Netflix UK TV review: Ray (2021), VODzilla.co
- Ray, On Netflix, Is An Anthology Too Uneven To Do Satyajit Ray's Stories Justice, Film Companion
- Ray movie review: Manoj Bajpayee, Gajraj Rao, Chandan Roy Sanyal shine in Netflix anthology, The Indian Express
- 'Ray' review: Anthology film on Satyajit Ray's fiction retains the sting in the tales, Scroll
- Netflix's 'Ray' vs Satyajit Ray's Short Stories: A Comparison, The Quint
- Ray, TV Guide
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › South and Southeast Asian serials › South Asian web serials › Premiered 2013 to 2024
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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