Serious movie buffs and people interested in the finer aspects of life know about Satyajit Ray and his body of work. This man is the only Indian who in the true sense finds a place in the ‘who’s who’ of the cinematic art world, unquestionably.
‘Pather Panchali’ is the first amongst his trilogy-a series depicting the life and world of ‘Apu’. This black and white gem in many ways is considered one of the first Indian movie to get international recognition by it’s sheer brilliance of effectively saying a story, of shadow play, of a candid display of simplicity, editing etc etc. In many ways it is a benchmark which is difficult for regular people to even perceive.
The Story. It tells the story of a poor brahmin’s family in a remote Bengal village. The family lives a constant state of depravity but Apu’s mother tries to combat their impoverishment by being aggressive with her neighbours who are comparatively better-off. The film opens with Apu’s elder sister, an imp of a girl, stealing fruits from the neighbour’s garden. There is a stark contrast between the two children. While Apu is the nice bright eyed mother’s boy, active but not mischievous, his sister has that streak of mischief in her. She keeps getting into trouble with the neighbours, their children and often brings them complaining at the doorstep.
Apu’s father leaves the village in search of better prospects and opportunities and is away for a few months. These are the trying times for Apu’s mother, who has to fend for the family with the meager resources at her disposal. She spanks the daughter, gets irritated with the old aunt staying with them, but is always sympathetic and overtly motherly to little Apu who prances all over the place with childish innocence. There are tragedies in store. The old aunt dies in the woods and after sheltering her brother from the rain Apu’s sister suffers from pneumonia and dies after a night of suffering and apprehensions. Apu’s father finally returns after getting a job in the city but has to confront the losses on reaching home. The final scene is of the remaining family packing up, traveling in a bullock-cart and migrating to the city.
Touching Moments. Capturing the simple village life of Bengal in the early part of the century, this celluloid rarity throws up many a scene which touch tender chords. The childish mischief of Apu’s sister with the shade of greed due to deprivation, the mother’s arguments and irritations to fight her almost non-existent economic resources, the mother’s agony on seeing her daughter suffer through the fateful stormy night and Apu finding the bead necklace which his sister had been blamed for stealing and had denied doing the act, are some of such memorable scenes. The scene of the brother and sister running through the bulrushes to watch a passing train is a trademark oft repeated in many movies (viz.Balika Badhu etc).
End Piece. It is indeed a pity that not a single good copy remains of this masterpiece. The good prints got destroyed in a fire accident at the archives of FTII, Pune (I hope I am wrong with the fact) and what is available for viewing is the resurrected piece by Merchant-Ivory. It takes away much of the sharpness and clarity of the movie but by no means can it ever affect Ray’s touch of brilliance. his ability to portray human emotions and an expert handling of the cast..specially little Apu, his sister and the old aunt. Maybe he had let them be natural and weaved the script around the candid shots that he took..who knows? The cast is of not very known actors…specially out of Bengal, but good emoting and handling of script with sublime dexterity has been the hallmark of the genius called Satyajit Ray.