A spellbinding landmark and emotional powerhouse
Many great movies have been made over the past 100+ years, but relatively few have such power that they become permanently etched in one’s mind after a single viewing. Such is the case with this week’s irrefutable masterpiece, “Pather Panchali” (“Song of the Little Road”). When I first saw it, its inspiring visuals, exotic sounds and music, alien culture, and unbridled emotion not only took my breath away, but made an indelible impact. I’ve since rewatched it many times over the years and can honestly say it has never once lost an iota of its staggering force. It is surely one of the most tender, vital, and exquisite films in the history of movies.
This Bengali-language landmark changed Indian cinema, jumpstarted a movement that became known as parallel cinema, and was the first film from India to gain international recognition and distribution. It won both India’s Best Feature and Best Bengali Feature National Film Awards, and shortly after took home both the Best Human Document and OCIC Special Mention Awards at the Cannes Film Festival and received a Best Film BAFTA Award nomination. It reliably shows up on Greatest Films of All-Time lists, including as the 9th Greatest Foreign-Language Film in BBC Culture's 1992 poll, and the 35th Greatest Film of All-Time by BFI’s Sight and Sound in 2022. “Pather Panchali” is also among my very favorite films.
You’d never know it was made on a shoestring budget by mostly nonprofessionals, including its director Satyajit Ray, who quickly became recognized as one of the greatest and most respected film directors of the 20th century. In a 1975 Moscow interview, legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa commented that "Not to have seen the cinema of [Satyajit] Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon... I can never forget the excitement in my mind after seeing ['Pather Panchali']. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river... People are born, live out their lives, and then accept their deaths. Without the least effort and without any sudden jerks, Ray paints his picture, but its effect on the audience is to stir up deep passions”.
“Pather Panchali” paints a portrait of the life of a young boy named “Apu”, his sister “Durga”, father “Harihar”, mother “Sarboyjaya”, and their old auntie “Indir”, who all live together in “Harihar’s” ancestral house in rural Bengal. “Harihar” is an educated priest who makes little money, and the family often has to fend for food. The film’s basic outline is that “Harihar”, who dreams of a career writing plays and poetry, gets a job offer outside the village for what is supposed to be a week, leaving “Sarboyjaya” to care for and feed the family while he’s away. The film primarily centers on “Apu” and “Durga”, who despite their poverty, find joy in the beauty of life and the nature that surrounds them. It also serves as a coming-of-age story for the young “Apu”.
Part of what makes “Pather Panchali” so special is its unique pace, which feels documentary-like, as if we are watching real people. Unlike mainstream American or European movies, action doesn’t drive this film, instead it’s the poignant details of everyday life that seductively grip the viewer and expose themes of childhood, happiness, family bonds, and the human experience itself. As we watch the family struggle with poverty, loss, and the harsh realities of life in their village, the film makes no judgement about them or their predicament whatsoever. Under the director's fine hand, the movie presents them living their lives in a state of grace.
Under the blanket of “Harihar’s” quest to provide for his family, the film focuses on simple village life – preparing food, playing with friends, the excitement of a candy vendor coming to town, watching a traveling theatre production, doing laundry, and the impact of community. As in real-life, conflicts and joys arise from little things that happen throughout the day, such as fights over stolen fruit from a tree, or the euphoria of dancing in the rain. The action is framed by countless shots of the majestic nature that surrounds them, such as the lush bamboo forest outside their door, running through a field of tall grasses, or insects dancing on a pond. Like “Apu” and “Durga”, we find ourselves eagerly exploring this mixed bag of life. It’s a unique and overwhelmingly emotional film.
"Pather Panchali” was based on a famous beloved 1929 Bengali novel with the same name by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. In 1944, Satyajit Ray was working as a graphic designer for a publishing house and was asked to illustrate an abridged version of the book. A seed was planted that it could make a great film, and being an avid film buff, Ray began toying with the notion of directing a film version of it.
A major fan of American films including those by virtuoso French director Jean Renoir, when Ray discovered Renoir was in Calcutta in 1949 to film his movie “The River”, he went to meet him as a student of cinema. The two hit it off, discussed Renoir’s films, his father’s art (his father was Pierre-Auguste Renoir), and Ray even helped Renoir scout locations for “The River”. He also mentioned his thoughts about possibly turning “Pather Panchali” into a film, and Renoir encouraged him to do so. Ray later said their talks about moviemaking proved very illuminating and that Renoir was his principal mentor.
In 1950, Ray’s job sent him to London, where he saw Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neorealism masterpiece "Bicycle Thieves" (read my post on that classic by clicking on the film's title to open it), which changed the course of his life. As quoted in Andrew Robinson’s video essay “Making the Apu Trilogy”, Ray said “I came out of the theater, my mind fully made up I would become a filmmaker. I would make my film exactly as De Sica had made his – working with nonprofessional actors, using moderate resources, and shooting on actual locations” –none of which was the typical approach to Indian filmmaking at the time.
Ray adapted and changed the story for the screen without writing a formal script. Instead, he created an outline and illustrations of key scenes using the dialogue from the book as he remembered it in his head. His goal was to maintain the humanism, lyricism, and truth found in the novel.
Because his approach to the film was so unconventional, he couldn’t find funding, so he sold his books, records, life insurance policy, pawned his wife’s jewelry, and borrowed from friends. As money kept running out, production kept stopping. And he could only film on weekends since he still worked as a graphic designer. Ray was eventually granted a loan from the West Bengal government to finish the film, who mistakenly thought it was a documentary for rural uplift and road improvements. As a result, the film took three years to make. In Andrew Robinson's book "Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye", Ray credits three miracles with saving him over the course of those three years: "One, 'Apu's' voice did not break. Two, 'Durga' did not grow up. Three, 'Indir Thakrun' did not die”. All turmoil and stress was well worth it, for “Pather Panchali” became a milestone in Indian cinema.
India had a flourishing film industry since the silent era, but being such a vast country with many states, cultures, and languages, there was not just one industry but separate industries in different states, each producing their own films (like Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta formed in the 1930s). Even so, for the most part, Indian cinema had become formulaic, frequently depicting mythological or devotional topics with song and dance interludes, and like most Hollywood films, was glossy, melodramatic, and escapist.
“Pather Panchali's” impact was massive. It reflected a part of life previously omitted from Indian films. It had no stars, glamorous sets, escapism, or musical numbers and was the first time audiences saw a real Indian village (it was filmed in Boral, a village on the outskirts of Calcutta), authentic clothes, actors without makeup, and no artificiality whatsoever. A frank reflection of real life. Its Goliath success propelled a new movement in Indian films which became known as parallel cinema – an alternative to mainstream commercial Indian films known for its realism, lack of musical numbers, and socially and politically related subjects. Other famous directors who emerged during this movement included Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, and Mrinal Sen.
Though “Pather Panchali” was Ray’s first film, his direction is already masterful, as he creates a completely cohesive and sensual film that is so seemingly authentic you can virtually feel the soil, taste the tamarind, and smell the rain. What looks like a simple film is filled with meticulously chosen, heavenly framed, and exceptionally put together shots that generate clarity of characters, location, and story while prompting heartfelt emotion, making for an enthralling experience.
Ray’s use of cinema is spectacular. Even the simple opening with “Durga” stealing a guava from her neighbor’s tree gives us so much additional information than just the action. We don’t even see the act of stealing the fruit, but with little dialogue and gorgeous visuals, Ray engagingly introduces the rich cantankerous neighbor, shows us that the very young “Durga” is a happy-go-lucky thief, and introduces us to their conflict as well as the lush forest paradise in which they live.
Ray had an instinct for how to drive home concepts and emotions in cinematic ways, such as showing “Sarboyjaya” read a letter with bad news while stepping into the shade or another with good news in bright sunlight. And much later in the film, Ray depicts the moment of “Apu’s” coming of age without a word of dialogue, showing the previously pampered “Apu” combing his own hair, dressing himself, getting an umbrella, and walking alone on the road to school. He’s grown up in an instant, and in the context of the story, it’s a devastatingly moving moment.
Ray’s creative use of sound matches his visual moxie every step of the way, be it birds chirping in the background reminding us where we are, the sound of a distant train at key moments, or the slight creaking of bamboo in the wind, all having a profound impact and putting us directly in the world and emotional states of the characters. And in a daring move, during several key scenes (such as when “Harihar” shows “Sarboyjaya" the gifts he brought for the family), Ray opts to fade out dialogue and replace it with music, which somehow makes moments even more shattering. It is both delicate and breathtaking, and clearly the work of one of moviedom’s greatest directors.
Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta, India to an affluent family whose lineage included prominent West Bengali artists and intellectuals. His father died when he was two, and he grew up with his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, a well known writer, painter, and entrepreneur. Ray studied economics in college followed by Fine Art at a University. After working at a British advertising agency, he got a job at Signet Press publishing where he became a topnotch illustrator, typographer, and book cover designer. Infatuated with movies while in school, he particularly loved those of Buster Keaton, Ernst Lubitsch, and Charlie Chaplin. In 1947, he founded the Calcutta Film Society and screened and studied many foreign films, including those from Hollywood. It was shortly after that he met Renoir and began making "Pather Panchali".
Not only did "Pather Panchali" change Indian cinema and put Indian cinema on the world map, it persuaded Ray to quit his illustration job and pursue a full-time film career. Its success prompted him to make a sequel, “Aparajito”, released in 1956, which continued the story of “Apu” and his family. Another huge international success, it won nearly a dozen awards and became the first film to with both the Golden Lion and Critics Awards at the Venice Film Festival. Ray was now lauded as an important international director. When asked if he was planning a third “Apu" film (which he wasn’t), he decided to do it, and in 1959, he released the third and final film in the saga of "Apu", "Apur Sansar" ("The World of Apu"), which also won many awards, including India's National Film Award for Best Feature Film. All three films, known as "The Apu Trilogy”, are magnificent, and I highly urge you to watch them all. You won't be disappointed.
In his illustrious career, Ray wrote and directed 31 feature films and a handful of shorts and TV movies, all in India (mostly Bengali-language), including the features "Charulata", "Mahanagar" ("The Big City"), "Jalsaghar", "Devi" ("The Goddess"), "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne", "Pratidwandi", “Nayak" ("The Hero”), and his final, 1991’s "Agantuk" ("The Stranger"). He produced six of his films and composed the score for over two dozen. His films earned well over 100 international awards, including 36 Indian National Film Awards, and an Honorary Academy Award in 1991 "in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world”. In addition, he was awarded the Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in France, India's Bharat Ratna, and their highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He wrote about two dozen books, including "My years with Apu", detailing the making of the "Apu Trilogy”. He was married once for over forty years until his death, and had one son, film director, writer, and composer Sandip Ray. Satyajit Ray died in 1992 at the age of 70.
Not only was Ray new to filmmaking when he made “Pather Panchali”, but so was just about his entire crew of eight (only his art director and editor had previous film experience). Ray hired mostly people he knew, which included twenty-one year old Subrata Mitra as the film’s cinematographer. Mitra was a science graduate who became interested in cinematography. Unsuccessfully wanting to work on Renoir's "The River", he stayed around the set taking still photos and studying the director’s brother, cinematographer Claude Renoir, and that's where he met Ray. Even though Mitra had never even looked though a movie camera lens, Ray hired him as cinematographer for “Pather Panchali”. Unbeknownst to them both, it was the beginning of one of the great partnerships in world cinema.
Mitra’s work in “Pather Panchali” gloriously brings Ray’s vision to life with lighting that turns a forest into a garden of Eden, a father and son writing together into an intimate occasion, and raindrops hitting a pond into an impressionist painting. His shots transform everyday actions into moments of extreme beauty, such as “Apu”, “Durga” and a dog following a candy vendor seen as reflections in a pond, or capturing “Durga” and “Apu” walking with their calf in that uncanny sunlight that happens just before a storm.
The film’s most famous sequence, when “Apu” and “Durga” see a train for the first time, is unforgettable largely because of how Mitra frames and presents the contrast between the white of the tall grasses and the black of the train and its smoke as it passes in the distance. You’ll easily see why Mitra is regarded as one of the greatest Indian cinematographers.
"Pather Panchali" began the career of Calcutta-born Subrata Mitra as a cinematographer. His next film was also with Ray on the second "Apu" film, “Aparajito”. Because of an impending monsoon while making that film, outdoor locations were changed to indoor studio sets, and the innovative Mitra invented what became known as "bounce lighting” (bouncing studio lights off of a white cloth to get a diffused, shadowless, daylight look), a technique he pioneered which is commonly used by cinematographers globally. Mitra shot ten films directed by Ray (many considered Ray's greatest), such as the entire "Apu Trilogy", "Devi", "Charulata", "Mahanagar", and their last collaboration, "Nayak" in 1966, after which they parted ways over creative differences.
Mitra shot a total of eighteen films in his career, including the acclaimed "Teesri Kasam", four James Ivory/Ismail Merchant productions (including "The Householder", "Shakespeare Wallah", and "The Guru" – the first Indian film shot entirely with halogen lamps), Merchant's short "Mahatma and the Mad Boy", and his final film, "New Delhi Times", which earned him a Best Cinematography National Film Award. He was awarded India’s fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri in 1986, and the Eastman Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinematography in 1992. Mitra did all his amazing visual work while suffering eye problems his entire life (even during the filming of "Charulata", the retina of his right eye became detached). He taught cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, India from 1997 until his death. Subrata Mitra died in 2001 at the age of 70.
Another vital part of “Pather Panchali” is its dazzlingly evocative score by Ravi Shankar which reflects the hope, joy, and sorrow of these people’s lives, as it colors the film with a timeless Indian flavor. Shankar was already a famous musician when Ray approached him, but had never scored a film. When he saw some of the footage, Shankar was blown away and immediately came up with the tune played by the flute in the film.
As Ray recalled in the book “The Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age”: “The music I wouldn’t say was composed, because there was nothing written down. [Shankar] just hummed and whistled, and the musicians just performed. All the music was done in a single session”. Shankar had eight musicians in a session lasting until four in the morning (Mitra also played the sitar and is featured in the soundtrack). Shankar worked with Ray on four films, including the complete “Apu Trilogy”.
Benares-born Ravi Shankar learned to play Indian instruments by the age of thirteen while part of his brother's dance troupe in Paris. He toured with the troupe in Europe and America where he was exposed to Western music, culture, and cinema. At 18, he gave up dance and studied the sitar and classical Indian music and went on to become a world-famous sitar virtuoso, composer, and highly influential musician who introduced Indian music to people around the globe. He recorded a multitude of albums and singles, and famously taught the sitar to guitarist George Harrison of the legendary band The Beatles, which Harrison played in the 1965 Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".
Shankar's countless international awards include four Grammys (with ten nominations) and their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, and numerous Indian government honors including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1962, and Bharat Ratna in 1999. He wrote songs and scores for many films, and was the first Indian to compose for non-Indian films, including his score for the 1982 Best Picture Oscar winner "Gandhi", which earned Shankar (along with George Fenton) a Best Original Score Academy Award nomination. He was married twice, and his children include Grammy nominated British-American musician and sitar player Anoushka Shankar, and Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, and pianist Norah Jones. His nephew is Indian singer, musician, and composer Ananda Shankar. Ravi Shankar died in 2012 at the age of 92.
Ray cast no stars and used many non actors – only five had previous film experience (the father, auntie, both female neighbors, and the school teacher), and Kanu Banerjee was one of them. As "Harihar Ray”, husband and father of the household, Kanu does a truly fine job letting us see how deeply this man loves his family and hopes for a better life. We see his affection when telling “Sarbajaya” his plans, reassuring her that "there are always good times and bad”, and the touching way he caresses the young “Durga”. This man has a kind and gentle soul, which gives us a glimpse at why some people take advantage of him.
The most experienced actor in the cast, Jodhpur, British India-born Kanu Banerjee worked heavily in Bengali theater and cinema, and favored a natural style of acting. His film career began with the 1926 Indian silent film "Krishnakanter Will", and by the time of "Pather Panchali", he had appeared in over forty films. He reprised his role as father in the second "Apu" film, "Aparjito", and by the end of his life appeared in nearly seventy films. His other films include "Sadanander Mela", "Nabajanma", "Saheb Bibi Gola", and "Punar Milan", but he is best remembered for his work in the two "Apu Trilogy" films. In 2012, the book "Hariharer Panchali" was released by Sandip Ray, which was a compilation of interviews Kanu gave in his lifetime. That same year a statue of Kanu was posthumously unveiled in Tala, North Kolkata, where he often stayed. Kanu Banerjee died in 1983 at the age of 77.
Karuna Banerjee is superb as "Sarbajaya Ray", wife and mother of the family. The burden falls on "Sarbajaya" to do what she can to keep the family going, and Karuna is fabulous at showing this woman saddled with worries about how to feed her family, what the neighbors think, and resentment at "Indir", while trying to hold it all together. She also shows great motherly love in her expressions such as when asking “Apu”, "You're so young, don't the other boys tease you?”, or checking to see if "Durga" has a fever. It's a moving, depth-filled performance that grabs and holds our sympathy.
Calcutta-born, University educated Karuna Banerjee began acting nonprofessionally on the stage, was a member of the Indian People's Theater Association, and performed political street plays. Ray knew her and wanted her in the film but had to convince her, for Karuna was reluctant with what she called a "middle-class inhibition" against appearing in films. She didn't even like the role until she began working with Ray, and then became very involved in the character and felt satisfaction from contributing to Ray's creative efforts. She reprised the role in the next "Apu" film, "Aparajito", which garnered her a Best Foreign Actress BAFTA Award nomination, and she worked again with Ray in "Kanchenjungha" and "Devi". Karuna appeared in just twelve films, including "Kato Ajanare" directed by Ritwik Ghatak, and two directed by Mrinal Sen, "Interview" and "Calcutta 71". She was also a writer of articles and essays, some of which were published as the 2017 book "An Actress in Her Time". A fun tidbit is that her real life daughter, Runki Banerjee, plays the younger "Durga" in this film. Karuna Bannerjee died in 2001 at the age of 81.
A simply outstanding performance is that of Chunibala Devi as “Indir Thakrun”, the old yet spunky aunt. If anyone seems plucked right out of real life and placed into the film, it's her. She is incredibly genuine, be it smiling at a stolen guava, eating puffed rice from a bowl, excited to see the newborn "Apu", or storming off when she's had enough of "Sarbajaya's" complaining. And when she returns to the house exhausted and thirsty, one can feel the heaviness of her frail body and heartbreak when she realizes she's no longer wanted. Chunibala's remarkable performance and presence earned her rave reviews and a Best Actress Award at The Manila Film festival, making her the first Indian to win a Best Actor or Best Actress award at an international film festival.
Ray began working on the film with every role cast except for "Indir". Actress Reba Devi (who plays the rich neighbor "Mrs. Mukherjee" in "Pather Panchali") recommended Chunibala to Ray, who found the eighty year old actress living in a brothel. A stage actress in the 1920s, she'd appeared in two films (“Bigraha" in 1930 and "Rikta" in 1939) before retiring from movies. As soon as Ray saw her he knew she was exactly right for “Indir”. She agreed to do the role as long as she was given her daily dose of opium. She cut her hair short, donned a tattered costume, and was very dedicated to the role. As Ray recounted in his book “My Years with Apu”: “The most outstanding performance was of course Chunibala’s… She felt already at home in the part and never gave us trouble, as long as she had her dollop of opium with her afternoon tea. The day she didn’t have it, she nearly fainted”. Not only is she fantastic, but audiences had never seen such an authentically old woman in an Indian film before. Even today, her bent body, creased face, and toothless smile makes her an unlikely star of any film. Chunibala died just before the film was released so she never knew the impact she made or the wide audience she touched. Ray had screened the film for her on a projector in her home before she passed, so she at least got to see her brilliant work. Chunibala Devi died in 1955 at the age of 83.
Uma Dasgupta gives another convincing performance as the mischievous "Durga Roy", "Apu's" sister. With a zest for life, whether giving stolen fruit to "Indir", eating sugarcane, or dancing in the rain, "Durga" doesn't put on pretenses, knows what's what, and doesn't care what others think. Uma makes her quite interesting, with layers of various emotions such as her unapologetic finagling to get candy, or tearing up knowing she'll never marry while at her best friend's wedding. She and "Apu" bicker as siblings do (as she sticks her tongue out at him or fights over her toy box), but always with an underlying bond of love, clearly seen by how she joyfully hugs “Apu” in the rain under a tree. "Durga" is perhaps the strongest character in the film, and Uma makes her totally endearing.
Uma Dasgupta reportedly had some previous stage experience, and won the part of "Durga" after successfully auditioning. Ray said years later in an interview in Film Comment magazine that "She had great natural talent". He'd tell her what he wanted in a scene, leave her alone, and she would do it. Uma walked away from acting after "Pather Panchali", never making another film and disappearing into obscurity. Not much is known about her life, but evidently she became a primary school teacher. The fact she never acted in films again is our loss, for she is fabulous in this one.
Also forever memorable is Subir Banerjee as "Apu Roy", the son of the family. A character who soaks in life with the excitement of youth, Ray brilliantly introduces "Apu" showing only his eye. To “Apu”, life is an adventure, whether being amused by his teacher, tasting tamarind, or intrigued by the sound of a train, and would rather shoot his bow and arrow than eat lunch. He looks up to "Durga" with an unbridled brotherly love and respect, seen while eating sugarcane, how he watches her dance in the rain, or by his telling smile when told to tell the punished "Durga" to come home because her meal is waiting. Subir's youthful innocence transforms the film into a gripping awakening to life.
Though many boys auditioned for the role, Subir Banerjee was spotted by Ray's wife playing near their Calcutta flat. He was not an actor, had no acting experience, and was very shy, and Ray had to completely mold him to extract the feelings and reactions he wanted, sometimes using tricks like setting off a firecracker without him knowing it, or putting obstacles on the ground for him to walk by to make him more relaxed and natural. It all worked, for his performance is free of falsities. Like Uma, Subir shunned acting and movies after "Pather Panchanli", immediately hiding from the press at a relative's home and then vanishing from the public’s eye. He reportedly worked as a millhand in a factory, and as clerk at an engineering firm. Subir certainly gave one of the most famous and revered performances by any child in movies.
A quick word about foreign films for those who are apprehensive. As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, you’ll get used to reading subtitles before you know it and soon won’t even realize you’re reading them. Foreign films are not only some of the best you'll ever see, but they expand our own realities and remind us that our way of life is not the only way, by introducing us to new places, cultures, and experiences we might never see up close and personal. Because this film has a slower pace than we are used to in the West, it might take a bit to adjust – but in the end I know you’ll be elated you watched it.
This week’s film may be obscure to some readers of this blog, but it is a supreme example of the brilliance of world cinema and certainly among the greatest films ever made. Enjoy an amazing piece of cinema. Enjoy “Pather Panchali”!
This blog is a weekly series (currently biweekly) on all types of classic films from the silent era through the 1970s. It is designed to entertain and inform through watching a recommended classic film a week. The intent is that a love and deepened knowledge of cinema will evolve, along with a familiarity of important stars, directors, writers, the studio system, and more. I highly recommend visiting (or revisiting) the HOME page, which explains it all and provides a place where you can subscribe and get email notifications of every new post. Visit THE MOVIES page to see a list of all films currently on this site. Please leave comments, share this blog with family, friends, and on social media, and subscribe so you don’t miss a post. Thanks so much for reading!
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Love this post, Jay. You write so beautifully. I will be revisiting the trilogy. And, thank you for sharing how foreign films can bring joy.