The World of Apu (1959)
"Apur Sansar" (original title)

Apu is a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer. An old college friend talks him into a visit up-country to a village wedding. This changes his life, for when the ... See full summary »

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (original story "Aparajito"), Satyajit Ray (screenplay)

Stars:

Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakravarty

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Soumitra Chatterjee	...	Apurba Roy (as Soumitra Chattopadhyay)
Sharmila Tagore	...	Aparna
Alok Chakravarty	...	Kajal (as Shriman Alok Chakraborty)
Swapan Mukherjee	...	Pulu (as Swapan Mukhopadhyay)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tushar Bandyopadhyay
Gupi Banerjee	...	(as Gupi Bandyopadhyay)
Panchanan Bhattacharya
Shanti Bhattacherjee	...	Office Associate
Jiten Bhons
Abhijit Chatterjee	...	Aparna's Brother (as Abhijit Chattopadhyay)
Jogesh Chatterjee	...	(as Jogesh Chattopadhyay)
Asha Devi
Belarani Devi	...	Apu's Neighbor (as Belarani)
Sefalika Devi	...	Shashinarayan's wife
Biren Ghosh

Storyline

Apu is a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer. An old college friend talks him into a visit up-country to a village wedding. This changes his life, for when the bridegroom turns out to be mad, Apu's friend asks him to become the husband! After initial revulsion at the idea, Apu agrees. Apu takes his exquisite bride, Aparna, back to Calcutta. But Aparna dies in childbirth, Apu leaves Calcutta, crazy with grief, and his son Kajal is left abandoned with his wife's parents. Only after a long period of total indifference to worldly responsibilities, does Apu become capable of returning to the world.

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Plot Keywords:

grief | father son relationship | calcutta india | redemption | insanity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Release Date:

4 October 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The World of Apu

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Gross:

$16,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Satyajit Ray Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine in 2005.

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Connections

Follows Aparajito (1956)

User Reviews

Masterpiece

For westerners, like myself, the beauty and wonder of the Indian culture and humanity of the people was supremely captured in Ray's masterpiece. I've seen the film three times and each reveals new insights.