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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Apu Trilogy: (Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) Rating 5/5



Bengali| Drama

Though for decades after decades this brilliant set of movies have being praised by many over and over and there is ample material to read everywhere, I still believe that it would be utterly disrespectful of me if I don’t express my view of the Apu trilogy. This set of movies directed by Satyajit Rai in based on two books written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. It’s cinematically perfect no doubt and the masterful taste of music is composed by Ravi Shankar. And Arpu trilogy is known to be one of the prime examples of parallel cinema movement in India and has indeed inspired movie makers for decades up to today. And it’s a perfect specimen that great movies do not rely on big budgets and famous stars.

Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) is the first movie that introduces Apu to the audience. He is born to a respectable yet poor family in a remote village having an elder sister. Yet turn of unfortunate events moves the family to the city where the next movie Aparajito (The Unvanquished) takes place. Here Apu becomes a young boy facing more hardships in life yet succeeds in his education. However by the end of Aparajito he is left on his own. When it comes to the third movie Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) the story completely concentrates on Apu as the key role moving up in the city as a small time writer and employed in a newspaper. Poor but a happy soul filled with compassion and inner beauty Apu faces joys, surprises and more tragedies in his life ultimately turns him in to removing himself from the society and loves ones completely.

The plot is nothing but beautiful. Rai with his skillful direction instantly transforms the viewer into a distant time and country. Looking back from today the beauty of the culture and the people back then seems very far yet feels so real. The true essence of these movies is the realism factor which is highly appraisable. Everything contributes to a core value of reality via every expression, set creation and dialogue. And each frame is a piece of art where the cinematography is simply mind blowing.


Apu trilogy is a work of genius for many factors and the ones mentioned here are just a few. While it’s hard to come to a conclusion of the favorite movie out of the three my affection towards Pather Panchali and Apur Sansar seems more. Aparajito portrays clear time period of Apu’s life transition from a young boy to an adult and for me it’s just that. Yet the other two movies feed from originality and then moves on to more deep representation of Apu’s character. However Apu trilogy is a must watch for any movie fan who believes that cinema is for the mind and hungry to feed their artistic brains. I’m sure this trilogy will be screened for generation to come and what can I say, older it gets tastier the wine. 

Director: Satyajit Rai

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