[6] His work subsequently had a worldwide impact, with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese,[7] James Ivory,[8] Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut,[9] Carlos Saura,[10] Isao Takahata,[11] Wes Anderson[12] and Danny Boyle[13] being influenced by his cinematic style, and many others such as Akira Kurosawa praising his work.

[14] The "youthful coming-of-age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy".

[16] Ray's 1967 script for a film to be called The Alien, which was eventually cancelled, is widely believed to have been the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's E.T.

Other eminent Bengali filmmakers included the trio of Tapan Sinha, Ajoy Kar and Tarun Majumdar, collectively referred as "TAT".

Ajoy Kar directorial numerous films created many new milestones and broke existing box office records in the Golden Era.

The cinematographer Subrata Mitra, who made his debut with Ray's The Apu Trilogy, also had an important influence on cinematography across the world.

[23] Some of the experimental techniques which Satyajit Ray pioneered include photo-negative flashbacks and X-ray digressions while filming Pratidwandi (1972).

At this time the early heroes of the Bengali film industry like Pramathesh Barua and Debaki Bose were at the peak of their popularity.

Sound recordist Mukul Bose found a solution to the problem of spacing out dialogue and frequency modulation.

The industry was based in Tollygunge, an area of South Kolkata, West Bengal that is more elite and artistically inclined than the usual musical cinema fare in India.

The most popular Bengali male actors were Sisir Bhaduri, Chhabi Biswas, Ahindra Choudhury, Dhiraj Bhattacharya and Pahari Sanyal.

Satyajit Ray is an Academy Honorary Award winner and the recipient of India's and France's greatest civilian honours, the Bharat Ratna and Legion of Honor respectively, and Mrinal Sen is the recipient of the French distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters and the Russian Order of Friendship.

The revival in Bengali Mainstream cinema dates from the rise of directors such as Tarun Majumdar along with Arabinda Mukhopadhyay and Shakti Samanta.

Other prominent filmmakers in the Bengali film industry at the time included Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ajoy Kar.

The Bengali film industry has produced classics such as Nagarik (1952), The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), Kabuliwala (1957), Jalsaghar (1958), Ajantrik (1958), Neel Akasher Neechey (1959), Devi (1960), Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Saptapadi (1961), Jhinder Bondi (1961), Saat Pake Bandha (1963), Jatugriha (1964), Atithi (1965), Hatey Bazarey (1967), Malyadan (1971), Nimantran (1971), Shriman Prithviraj (1973), Calcutta trilogies (1971–1976), Mrigayaa (1976), Ganadevata (1978), etc.

Rabi Ghosh and Anil Chatterjee is a notable actor for his Versatile Acting which impressed the Audience in short time.

[citation needed] In the 1960s, Bengal saw a host of talented actresses like Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore, Madhabi Mukherjee, Sandhya Roy and, Supriya Devi and Jayashree Kabir.

Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Rabi Ghosh, and Anup Kumar were best known for their comic timing, and with their versatile acting talent they stunned the audience and critics.

[citation needed] The pioneers in Bengali film music include Raichand Boral, Pankaj Mullick, and K. C. Dey, all associated with New Theatres Calcutta.

The greatest composers of the golden era included Robin Chatterjee, Sudhin Dasgupta, Nachiketa Ghosh, Hemant Kumar, etc.

[35] The revival in Bengali cinema dates from the rise of directors such as Anjan Choudhury, Aparna Sen, Anjan Dutt along with Rituparno Ghosh, Goutam Ghosh, Prabhat Roy, Sandip Ray, Sudeshna Roy, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Anjan Das, Bappaditya Bandopadhyay, Sekhar Das, and Subrata Sen.[36] Rituparno Ghosh made his first film, Hirer Angti, in 1992 and dominated Bengali cinema until his death in 2013, winning numerous national awards for films like Unishe April, Dahan and Utsab.

Goutam Ghose is Internationally Acclaimed for Cult Classic films as Antarjali Jatra, Padma Nadir Majhi, Moner Manush and many more.

[46][47][48][49] Actress as Debashree Roy, Rituparna Sengupta, Indrani Haldar, Rachna Banerjee, Mahua Roychoudhury, Sreelekha Mitra, Satabdi Roy, Raima Sen, Priyanka Upendra, Srabanti Chatterjee, Koel Mallick, Swastika Mukherjee and June Malia became popular.

Actresses such as Subhashree Ganguly, Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan, Koel Mallick, Madhumita Sarcar, Ishaa Saha, Susmita Chatterjee, Koushani Mukherjee, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Idhika Paul, Sohini Sarkar, Rukmini Maitra, Jaya Ahsan, Ananya Chatterjee, Sauraseni Maitra and Tuhina Das have been active.

[55][56] In the recent years, a younger generation of visual directors has come to the scene, like Suman Ghosh, Sujit Mondal, Sudeshna Roy, Shiboprosad Mukherjee, along with Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Kaushik Ganguly, Raj Chakraborty, Manasi Sinha, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Atanu Ghosh, Atiul Islam, Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Anik Dutta, Anindya Chatterjee, Avijit Sen, Birsa Dasgupta, Ranjan Ghosh, Soukarya Ghosal, Indrasis Acharya, and Mainak Bhaumik.

[59] Successful films by directors from this generation include Dostojee, Mayar Jonjal, Hrid Majharey, Fotema, Baishe Srabon, Bakita Byaktigato, Ahaa Re, Boomerang, Cinemawala, Pradhan, Tekka, Amazon Obhijaan, Yeti Obhijaan, 8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh, Shesh Pata, Cockpit, Praktan, Gumnaami, Aparajito, Chander Pahar, Kolkata Chalantika, Haami 2, Dracula Sir, Nagarkirtan, Once Upon a Time in Calcutta, Mahishasur Marddini, Ballabhpurer Roopkotha, Tonic, Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya, Bohurupi and many others.

[59] Also, Bengali films have in the recent times have turned the cinematic spotlight on Kolkata, introducing the city to a wider national and global audience (Kahaani, Piku, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!).

The movie has brought back the concept of family entertainment with Sandip Ray's gambit of contemporising the plot paying him a rich dividend.

These include inadequate infrastructure, which often compels moviemakers to go outside the State for facilities pushing up costs, poor marketing and distribution, and increasing competition from Bangladeshi films.