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1/35: Why I loved Pather Panchali (1955)

Pather Panchali (1955) Review | Satyajit Ray’s Poetic Debut

Pather Panchali (1955): Satyajit Ray’s Poetic Debut

Pather Panchali (1955)

Why on earth had I not watched any Satyajit Ray film till now? Puzzles me. But I'm setting out to watch every film made by the great man.

Pather Panchali is my kind of cinema. Simple, yet complex. Subtle, yet bold. Rambling, yet assertive. The story is quite loose and banal, but it is the telling of the story that makes an impact. What drew me to the film is the play of characters, and the attention to detail.

Your heart goes out to each of the pivotal characters — Sarbajaya, the forced matriarch; Durga, the dreamy daughter; Apu, the boy turning into a man; and Indir, the penniless beggar. Each of them tells their own story, not through words, but through their eyes and body language.

Usually, in a film, you can make out the star of the show, but you can't really point to one character here. Perhaps it's the whole package that is the star. Everything works together perfectly.

I'm now looking forward to watching the second in the Apu Trilogy — Aparajito. Stay tuned.

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