PROBASHI- A Cultural News Magazine Volume 2 Issue 1 | Page 25

Probashi- Cover Story
In September 2012 the prestigious publication Sight & Sound of the British Film Institute published the list of 50 Greatest Films ever made. Only one Indian film featured in this list ‐ Pather

Probashi- Cover Story

Making of Pather Panchali
Making of Pather Panchali

In September 2012 the prestigious publication Sight & Sound of the British Film Institute published the list of 50 Greatest Films ever made. Only one Indian film featured in this list ‐ Pather

Panchali( song of the road) at rank 42nd.
What makes it incredible is that this movie was directed by a self taught film director, shot by an untrained cinematographer, embellished by a first time art director, with largely first time actors and on a shoe string budget. Despitee all the obvious obstacles the movie was released in 1955 and was heralded as a masterpiece and put the then newly independent India firmly on the world cinema map
. The film went on to win eleven international awards including the Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956 to become the first film made in independent India to receive international recognition. The story of how Pather Panchali got made is no less than a film script.
A classic scene in the film where Apu and Durga discover the train across a field of kash flowers( Kans Grass). On
27 October 1952, Ray set out to take the first shot of Pather Panchali which happened to be this scene. The following Sunday he returned to shoot further only to discover that the Kaash flowers had been eaten up by a herd of cattle. He had to wait for the next season of flowers to complete the scene.
The man who made the impossible
happen was
Satyajit Ray
( 1921‐92),
who started his illustrious career as
a film maker with
Pather Panchali.
Ray
did
the
scripting,
casting,
scoring, editing, and designed his
own credit titles and publicity
Satyajit Ray:
The man who made cinematic history with
Pather Panchali
material.
Ray followed Pather lineage.
Upendra Ray was India’ s
Panchali with Aprajito
( 1956) and foremost printing technologist,
Apur Sansar( 1959) which form the whose articles on printing were
Apu trilogy.
Ray went on to make 35 published in international journals. films which garnered an impressive
Sukumar Ray continues to be the
32 Indian
National Film awards, a most popular writer for children in number of international film prizes
Bengal. With such distinguished and the life time achievement legacy,
Satyajit Ray certainly had a
Oscar in
1992. The
Government of head start.
An alumnus of
India honoured him with the Bharat Presidency
College
Calcutta, Ray
Ratna in
1992. had a natural flair for painting and honed his artistic skills at
Tagore’ s Grandson of
Updendra
Kishore Ray
Visva
Bharati
University under and son of
Sukumar
Ray, Satyajit stalwarts like Nandlal
Bose and Ray had a distinguished family
Binode
Biharii Mukherjee.
Since his
high school days Ray had interest in films and music, both he pursued ardently through his student days.
Shortly after finishing his education at the age of 22 he joined the
British‐run advertising agency, D. J.
Keymer( now
Ogilvy), as a junior visualiser.
Starting 1943 he would spend next 13 years here, rising up the ranks to be the art director when he finally resigned to become a full‐time filmmaker after the success of
Pather Panchali
. Even as he got busy in his work at Keymer and was highly regarded for his