Pather Panchali (1955)

Sometime in the early years of the century, a boy, Apu, is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, a poet and priest, cannot earn enough to keep his family going. ... See full summary »

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (novel), Satyajit Ray (screenplay)

Stars:

Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Chunibala Devi

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kanu Bannerjee	...	Harihar Ray (as Kanu Bandyopadhyay)
Karuna Bannerjee	...	Sarbojaya Ray (as Karuna Bandopadhyay)
Chunibala Devi	...	Indir Thakrun
Uma Das Gupta	...	Durga (as Uma Dasgupta)
Subir Banerjee	...	Apu (as Subir Bandopadhyay)
Runki Banerjee	...	Little Durga (as Runki Bandopadhyay)
Reba Devi	...	Seja Thakrun
Aparna Devi	...	Nilmoni's wife
Tulsi Chakraborty	...	Prasanna, school teacher
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Haren Banerjee	...	Chinibas, Sweet-seller (as Haren Bandyopadhyay)
Rampada Das
Nibhanani Devi	...	Dasi Thakurun
Rama Gangopadhaya	...	Ranu Mookerjee
Roma Ganguli	...	Roma (as Rama Gangopadhyay)
Binoy Mukherjee	...	Baidyanath Majumdar (as Binoy Mukhopadhyay)

Storyline

Sometime in the early years of the century, a boy, Apu, is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, a poet and priest, cannot earn enough to keep his family going. Apu's sister, Durga, is forever stealing guavas from the neighbour's orchards. All these add to the daily struggles of the mother's life, notwithstanding her constant bickering with old aunt who lives with the family.

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Plot Keywords:

struggle | village | stealing | aunt | india | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Release Date:

22 September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Song of the Road

Box Office

Gross:

$536,364 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Government of West Bengal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 122 min (within Bengal)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Apu was spotted sitting on a neighbor's terrace by the director's wife.

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Quotes

Harihar Ray: Whatever God does is for the best.

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Connections

Followed by Aparajito (1956)

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Soundtracks

"It's A Long Way to Tipperary"
(uncredited)
Written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams
Played by the band

User Reviews

Pather Pachali

This is a tour de force around a family's quest for that better future amidst sheer poverty. The film's success is not limited only to realistic depiction of human condition in early 20th century Bengal, but it brings up the triumph of human spirit, love and affection in spite of utter struggle in the most poignant way that one may think. Anybody remotely connected with movie making should also watch APARAJITO AND APUR SANSAR, to complete the experience, and off course to understand the art and craft of cinematic expression from the Maestro. No doubt it ranks in top 100 movie list from Time magazine, not to speak of almost all Indian publications connected with films rate this one as THE MOVIE.