Pather Panchali is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s 1929 Bengali novel of the same name and is Ray’s directorial debut. The film depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu and his elder sister Durga and the harsh village life of their poor family. It won India’s National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955 and the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
About Pather Panchali in brief
Pather Panchali is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s 1929 Bengali novel of the same name and is Ray’s directorial debut. The film depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu and his elder sister Durga and the harsh village life of their poor family. It won India’s National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955, the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, and several other awards. Critics have praised its realism, humanity, and soul-stirring qualities while others have called its slow pace a drawback, and some have condemned it for romanticising poverty. The tale of Apu’s life is continued in the two subsequent installments of Ray’s trilogy: Aparajito and Apur Sansar. It has been described as a turning point in Indian cinema, as it was among the films that pioneered the Parallel Cinema movement, which espoused authenticity and social realism. It was the first film from independent India to attract major international critical attention, and is often featured in lists of the greatest films ever made. The sitar player Ravi Shankar composed the film’s soundtrack and score using classical Indian ragas. The first film in The Apu Trilogy, Pather Pachali depicts the Childhood of the protagonists Apu and his older sister Durgas.
It took nearly three years for the film to be completed and was shot mainly on location, had a limited budget, featured mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew. The second film in the trilogy, Aparjito, was released in 1955 and won several awards, establishing Ray as one of the country’s most distinguished filmmakers. The third and final film, Apu Sansar, came out in 1956 and was released later the same year to an enthusiastic reception. It depicts the simple joys of life: sitting quietly under a tree, viewing pictures in a travelling vendor’s bioscope, running after the candy man who passes through the village, and watching a jatra performed by a troupe of actors. Every evening they are delighted by the sound of a distant train’s whistle. One day, they run away from home to catch a glimpse of the train, only to discover Indir sitting dead on their return. Harihar Roy earns a meagre living as a pujari, but dreams of a better career as a poet and playwright. He promises Sarbajaya that he will return with money to repair their dilapidated house. During the monsoon season, Durga plays in the downpour for too long, catches a cold and develops a high fever, and dies in a night of incessant rain and gusty winds, and cries out in grief as he cries out for her husband. He returns home and starts to show her the merchandise he has brought from the city.
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This page is based on the article Pather Panchali published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
