"Ray's music is imaginative, not melodramatic, balanced, not exuberant, functional, not decorative. It is music that grows from the film itself",
- Utpalendu Chakraborty, The Music of Satyajit Ray
For someone who believed film music was largely extraneous, "an element that one should be able to do without", Ray's musical body of work would, rather should, inspire even veteran composers to collectively raise the bar rather than blow their own trumpets.
Check his background scores of Teen Kanya, Aranyer Din Ratri, Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha, Jana Aranya, or,
the Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen and Hirak Rajar Deshe numbers like ‘Dekho Re Nayan Mele,’ ‘Ek Je Chilo Raja’ and ‘Mora Dujanae Rajar Jamai.’ or,
kishore's immortal Rabindrasangeet renditions 'Ami Chini Go Chini' from Charulata and 'Bidhir badhon katbe tumi' from Ghare Bhaire, or,
astute innovations like playing Sibelius backwards in line with the filmic demand of Jalsaghar, or,
his command over different instruments including violin, cello, guitar, flute and even the timpani drum, or,
the highly engaging 'Bhalo bashar tumi ki jano' from Chiriakhana,
the music of each film grows from within, just as it should. Else, Ray was indeed capable of producing scores of musical classics, had he chosen to compose music for the sake of music....
Bollywood music director teams of all makes - solo, duo or trio - take your cue from Ray, and if you do, you might want to revisit many of your numbers that you and your listeners cherish as your life work! You never know, they might get a new lease of life.