Aparajito (1956)

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (novel)
Satyajit Ray (writer)

Release Date:

1956 (India)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.

Plot Keywords:

Loss Of Mother | College Student | Death In Family | Sequel | Loss Of Father

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins

Cast

Kanu Bannerjee	...	Harihar Ray
Karuna Bannerjee	...	Sarbojaya Ray
Pinaki Sengupta	...	Apu (young)
Smaran Ghosal	...	Apu (adolescent)
Santi Gupta	...	Ginnima
Ramani Sengupta	...	Bhabataran
Ranibala	...	Teliginni
Sudipta Roy	...	Nirupama
Ajay Mitra	...	Anil
Charuprakash Ghosh	...	Nanda
Subodh Ganguli	...	Headmaster
Mani Srimani	...	Inspector
Hemanta Chatterjee	...	Professor
Kali Bannerjee	...	Kathak
Kalicharan Roy	...	Akhil, press owner

Also Known As:

The Unvanquished

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:13 | Canada:G (Ontario/Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Epic Productions

Trivia:

Although the Apu films exist as a cohesive trilogy, Satyajit Ray never set out to make a series of three films. In fact, even after completing "Aparajito", he was unsure whether there was sufficient material to warrant a third film.

Quotes:

Sarbojaya Ray: What is there at Keoratola?
Apu: [sleepily] Burning hot...
Sarbojaya Ray: What?
Apu: They have cremations.
Sarbojaya Ray: I see... I hope you're careful on the roads. When are your finals? After that you can get a job and I'll stay with you. Will you have me? Will that ever be, I wonder? Who knows how long one has to live? Suppose I fall seriously ill,,,I'm not so well as I used to be. In the evenings I'm often feverish, I've no appetite. I thought of telling you...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bong Connection (2006)

Ray's finest film?

I am always a bit dismayed by the attention that Pather Panchali and Charulata command in discussions on Ray because while they are fine films, they do not account for Ray's cinema as a whole. In fact, I would resist from picking one or even three films that 'speak for Ray'- but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a favourite. Aparajito is a wonderful work of art, an extremely moving melodrama and a remarkably accurate portrayal of adolescence. Of course, it would be shameful to give all the credit to Ray. Bibhuti Bhusan Bandhyopadhaya's novels (Aparajito is adapted from the last part of Pather Panchali and the first half of Aparajito) are meticulously descriptive and Ray's success with the film owes much to the simplicity and honesty of his source. But there is something in Aparajito that belongs exclusively to the cinema - something that has to do with the the mixture of distance and intimacy in the movies, of identification and unfamiliarity. You want to feel like Aparajito is a film about you, but you secretly admit that it isn't, it cannot be - because you experience it outside yourself, in Ravi Shankar's beautiful music, in the photography that oscillates between banality and the deeply metaphoric, in the wonderful performances (especially by Karuna Bannerjee), and finally in Ray's masterful vision in putting it all together. I couldn't say much else - you must experience it for yourself!