Who was the first Indian film maker to be honoured by the Academy Awards with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in cinema?

Introduction / Context:
The Academy Awards, commonly called the Oscars, sometimes confer honorary awards for lifetime achievement and exceptional contribution to world cinema. India has a rich film tradition, but only a few Indians have been recognised directly by the Academy. This question asks about the first Indian to receive such an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. Knowing this helps you connect Indian cinema history with international honours, an important theme in many general knowledge exams.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question is about an honorary Oscar given for lifetime achievement.
• The award is connected to contributions to cinema, not to music, mountaineering, or natural science.
• The options include Salim Ali, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Satyajit Ray, and Bachendri Pal.
• You must pick the person whose main fame is as a film director whose work is admired worldwide.

Concept / Approach:
The key idea is to match each name with the field in which that person is famous. Salim Ali was a renowned ornithologist. Pandit Ravi Shankar was a legendary sitar maestro and composer. Bachendri Pal is a famous mountaineer and the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. Satyajit Ray, on the other hand, is a globally acclaimed Indian film director known for films like the Apu Trilogy and many other classics. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured Satyajit Ray with an honorary award for lifetime achievement in cinema in the early 1990s while he was gravely ill. Therefore, he was the first Indian to receive such recognition from the Oscars.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the nature of the award: an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in cinema. Step 2: Associate each option with their main field: Salim Ali with ornithology, Pandit Ravi Shankar with classical music, Satyajit Ray with film direction, and Bachendri Pal with mountaineering. Step 3: Filter out all individuals whose achievements are not in films, because the Academy Awards deal with cinema. Step 4: Recognise that Satyajit Ray is one of Indias greatest film makers, whose work has influenced directors across the world. Step 5: Recall that he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, making him the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick verification is to remember that the Academy Awards typically honour film related contributions and that Satyajit Ray is frequently mentioned in discussions about Indian winners of the Oscars. Other award related questions about Indians and the Oscars almost always name Satyajit Ray first. Since the rest of the options belong to entirely different domains, there is no realistic alternative candidate from this list for an honorary Oscar for cinema.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Salim Ali: A celebrated bird expert and naturalist, but not associated with film direction or Oscars.
Pandit Ravi Shankar: Although he contributed music to international films and collaborated with Western artists, he is primarily honoured in the field of music, not as a film director receiving a lifetime achievement Oscar.
Bachendri Pal: Famous for high altitude mountaineering and Everest, which has nothing to do with the Academy Awards.

Common Pitfalls:
A common error is to confuse international fame in any field with recognition by the Academy Awards. Candidates sometimes mistakenly pick a very famous name like Pandit Ravi Shankar because he had connections with Western music and film scores. However, the question clearly refers to a lifetime achievement recognition in cinema from the Oscars. Only Satyajit Ray fits that exact description. Reading the question carefully and mapping each name to its correct domain helps to avoid such confusion.

Final Answer:
The first Indian to be honoured with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in cinema was Satyajit Ray.