Pather Panchali is a 1929 film based on the novel Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. This movie has been at the top of its popularity for ages. In 1955, under the skillful direction of Satyajit Ray, this new structure movie was made in Bengali film.
Ray painted the novel of the joy and sorrow of ancient Bengal in a celluloid ribbon.
Nishchintapur is a remote rural area of Bengal. The main character of Pather Panchali is the life of the main character Apu and his family. The financial crisis, poverty, the pain of losing relatives, the extraordinary portrayal of childhood has taken place in this movie. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Pather Panchali’ is a biographical novel of Bengali literature. The novel tells the story of a poor family’s struggle to survive in their own village and the family’s son Apur grows up.
Interestingly, no screenplay was written for Pather Panchali. The film is based on Ray’s paintings and notes. Satyajit wrote in the note, removing some of the characters in the novel as needed for the film, and altering the story a bit.
The main character of this film is Apu. Ray had advertised in newspapers for a five- to seven-year-old child to play the role. But none of those who came did not like him. But Satyajit’s wife Vijaya Roy noticed a boy named Subir Bandyopadhyay near their house and in the end, he was chosen as Apu.
The estimated production cost of the film was INR 80,000. The melody of the film is composed by world-renowned seta player Ravi Shankar. In 1956, Time magazine called Pather Panchali the ‘most beautiful film’ based on folklore.
After Pather Panchali, Satyajit Ray made two more films based on the story of Apu’s life. The other two pictures are Aparajit and Apur Sansar.
The film became the first South Asian film to be acclaimed internationally, and later became one of the best films of all time.
