This article is about the film. For the novel on which it is based, see Pather Panchali (novel).
Pather Panchali
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Satyajit Ray
Screenplay by
Satyajit Ray
Based on
Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Starring
Subir Banerjee
Kanu Banerjee
Karuna Banerjee
Pinaki Sengupta
Uma Dasgupta
Chunibala Devi
Tulsi Chakraborty
Cinematography
Subrata Mitra
Edited by
Dulal Dutta
Music by
Ravi Shankar
Production company
Government of West Bengal
Distributed by
Aurora Film Corporation (1955) Merchant Ivory Productions Sony Pictures Classics (1995)[a]
Release date
26 August 1955 (1955-08-26) (India)
Running time
112–126 minutes[b]
Country
India
Language
Bengali
Budget
₹70,000–150,000[c] ($14,700–31,500)[d]
Box office
est. ₹100 million[8] ($21 million)
Pather Panchali (pronounced[pɔtʰerpãtʃali] transl.Song of the Little Road) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directoral debut and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali novel of the same name and features Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Pinaki Sengupta and Chunibala Devi in major roles. The first film in The Apu Trilogy, Pather Panchali depicts the childhood travails of the protagonist Apu and his elder sister Durga amidst the harsh village life of their poor family.
The film was shot mainly on location, had a limited budget,[c] featured mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew. Lack of funds led to frequent interruptions in production which took nearly three years. The sitar player Ravi Shankar composed the film's soundtrack and score using classical Indian ragas. Subrata Mitra was in charge of the cinematography while editing was handled by Dulal Dutta. Following its premiere on 3 May 1955 during an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Pather Panchali was released in Calcutta the same year to an enthusiastic reception. A special screening was attended by the Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Prime Minister of India.
Critics have praised its realism, humanity, and soul-stirring qualities, while others have called its slow pace a drawback, and some have condemned it for romanticising poverty. Scholars have commented on the film's lyrical quality and realism (influenced by Italian neorealism), its portrayal of the poverty and small delights of daily life, and the use of what the author Darius Cooper has termed the "epiphany of wonder", among other themes.
The tale of Apu's life is continued in the two subsequent installments of Ray's trilogy: Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959). Pather Panchali is described as a turning point in Indian cinema, as it was among the films that pioneered the Parallel cinema movement, which espoused authenticity and social realism. The first film from independent India to attract major international critical attention, it won India's National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955, the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, and several other awards, establishing Ray as one of the country's most distinguished filmmakers. It is often featured in lists of the greatest films ever made.
^Sengoopta, Chandak (16 November 2009). "Apu-In-The-Word". Outlook. p. 2/5. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
^Cite error: The named reference dvdbeaver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Pather Panchali". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
^Jeffries, Stuart (19 October 2010). "Pather Panchali: No 12 best arthouse film of all time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
^Cite error: The named reference erickson nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Pather Panchali (1957)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
^Antweiler, Werner (2019). "Foreign Currency Units per 1 U.S. Dollar, 1950–2018" (PDF). University of British Columbia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference gross was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
PatherPanchali (pronounced [pɔtʰer pãtʃali] transl. Song of the Little Road) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit...
three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: PatherPanchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959). The original...
film PatherPanchali (lit. Song of the Little Road, 1955), the first installment of The Apu Trilogy. During the pre-production of PatherPanchali, Satyajit...
Bannerjee's novel Aparajito. It starts off where the previous film PatherPanchali (1955) ended, with Apu's family moving to Varanasi, and chronicles...
Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel PatherPanchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (Undefeated), Chander Pahar (Mountain...
including feature films, documentaries, and shorts. Ray's first film, PatherPanchali (1955) won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best...
in PatherPanchali (1955), the first film of Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy. Director Kaushik Ganguly won the award of best director for Apur Panchali in...
portrayal of Harihar Ray, father of Apu, in Satyajit Ray's classic PatherPanchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956), part of the Apu Trilogy. He was born in...
filmmakers of world cinema, Ray made his directorial debut in 1955 with PatherPanchali. The film earned critical acclaim and was awarded under the Best Film...
was inspired by the score by Pandit Ravi Shankar in the Bengali film PatherPanchali (1955). 12th Fail received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator...
character actress best known for her performance in Satyajit Ray's PatherPanchali, where she played the old grandmother, Indir Thakrun, to Apu and Durga...
her work in Boot Polish by Prakash Aurora. In 1956, Satyajit Ray's PatherPanchali won the Best Human Document Award. In the same year Gotoma the Buddha...
to become a film-maker. Ray made his directorial debut in 1955 with PatherPanchali and directed 36 films, comprising 29 feature films, five documentaries...
cinematographer with Satyajit Ray, the legendary Indian film maker, for PatherPanchali (1955). He continued to work with him for many of Ray's later films...
Awards as well as international acclaim. Ever since Satyajit Ray's PatherPanchali (1955) was awarded Best Human Document at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival...
Satyajit Ray is the most honoured director where six of his films—PatherPanchali (1955), Apur Sansar (1959), Charulata (1964), Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne...
L'Atalante (13 mentions) Closest runners-up: Hiroshima mon amour, PatherPanchali and Zero for Conduct. (11 mentions apiece) The number of silent films...
the mother in the first two parts of Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy: PatherPanchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956). Her performance in the latter earned her...
Alexanderplatz in its original German, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's novel PatherPanchali in its original Bengali, Lynd Ward's graphic novel Gods' Man, William...
Film PatherPanchali. Ohio State University. Ray, Satyajit (2006). The Apu Trilogy. Seagull Books. ISBN 978-1-905422-06-7. Ray, Satyajit (1984). Pather Panchali...
three Indian films have been nominated for Best Film from any Source— PatherPanchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959), all from Satyajit...
by Satyajit Ray, with the fictional character Apu Roy, comprising: PatherPanchali (Song of the Little Road) (1955), the first of the three films, covering...
(1968) A Sitar Recital (1968) Ravi Shankar Improvisations & theme from PatherPanchali (1968) Ravi Shankar's Festival from India (1968) Ravi Shankar (1969)...