Pather Panchali ("Song of the Little Road") first appeared as a serial in a Calcutta journal in 1928, on condition that it could be discontinued if it proved unpopular with readers; both its style and its author Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay were then unknown. It was published as a book in 1929. It was the first published novel written by the author.
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| Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (Banerjee) |
Satyajit Ray working as a graphic designer for Signet Press, created the illustrations for an abridged edition of the book in 1944. At that time, Ray read the unabridged novel; Signet's owner D. K. Gupta told Ray that the abridged version would make a great film. The idea appealed to Ray, and around 1946–47, when he considered making a film, he turned to Pather Panchali because of certain qualities that "made it a great book: its humanism, its lyricism, and its ring of truth".
Vittorio De Sica's neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) had a profound impact on Ray. It firmed his determination to become a filmmaker and made him believe that it was possible to make realistic cinema that was shot on location with an amateur cast.
Ray's adaptation for the film involved drastic compression, elision and omission of scenes in the novel, as well as occasional additions. The shooting of Pather Panchali was a mixture of the premeditated and the improvised.
Pather Panchali never had a proper script. Unlike every other Ray film, there is no red shooting notebook for it. Instead, he had a treatment which he had started on board ship from London and, from early 1952, a sheaf of sketches of the most important shots in black ink which he deposited, years later, at the Cinémathèque in Paris.
The author’s young widow being an admirer of both Upendrakisore’s and Sukumar’s work, and of Satyajit’s cover designs granted the film rights of the novel to Ray refusing a larger offer.
Funding was a problem from the outset. No producer was willing to finance the film, as it lacked stars, songs and action scenes.
Ray's mother was instrumental in getting the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr B. C. Roy to arrange funding for the film through a woman friend with influence over him.
Ray had a frustrating experience with the Home Publicity Department of the West Bengal government as he had to render accounts for each stage of the shooting, before the officials would release the next instalment of money. After the film was released, Satyajit Ray received no income from Pather Panchali although it did bring him fame.
It took three years from 1952 to 1955 for Satyajit Ray to complete the shooting of Pather Panchali due to funding problems.
Despite the adverse conditions causing the delays, three miracles happened according to Satyajit: The voice of the child actor playing Apu did not break, the child actress playing Apu's sister Durga did not grow up and the octogenarian actress Chunibala Devi (1872–1955), who plays the role of a distant relative, Indir Thakrun, did not die.
The surname of three of the main actors and two supporting actors happened to be Banerjee, but they were not related to each other.
The most important passages of music in Pather Panchali were composed by Ravi Shankar in an all-night session lasting about eleven hours until 4 a.m., because of Shankar’s touring commitments.
The film was first screened in New York in May 1955 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The West Bengal Government was in no hurry to release the film, released it in India in August 1955. It was a hit at the box-office, yet up until early 1980 had earned a profit of only ₹24 lakh.
At India's 3rd National Film Awards in 1955, it was named Best Feature Film and Best Bengali Feature Film. Pather Panchali was sent to Cannes in 1956 with the personal approval of Jawaharlal Nehru. It was awarded a special prize, for ‘Best Human Document’.
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). Together, the three films constitute the Apu trilogy. The three films comprise a "coming of age" narrative (bildungsroman) describing the childhood, education and early maturity of a young Bengali named Apu (Apurba Kumar Roy) in the early part of the 20th century.
Compiled from related articles in Wikipedia, My Years with Apu & Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker