“A small boy living in a rural village with his mother, sister, and elderly aunt, always dreams of enjoying a train passing across their village with his elder sister. But his father was struggling so hard to earn for their livelihood going far away from them to provide for everyone in their family. “
However, the journey of the great Satyajit Ray reaching the peak of success started with this story. This story was taken from the great novel “Pather Panchali” by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. It was his debut film that had faced so many obstacles on its path. But he proudly made it onto the success. He turned “Pather Panchali” into a cult movie. Then he made two more films that are “Aparajito” and “Apur Shongshar”. These are the sequences of “Pather Panchali”.
“Apu Trilogy”, a series of three Indian Bengali language films directed by Satyajit Ray, comprises “Pather Panchali”, ” Aparajito” & “Apur Shongshar”. The first and second movies were inspired by the well-known novels of Bibhutibhusan Bandapadhyay. Ray made this series and changed everyone’s view about Bangla Cinema in the world court. Apu trilogy was received warmly by international filmmakers and even Hollywood filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson praised Satyajit Ray for these three movies. Moreover, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Italian Federico Fellini, and Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman were also inspired by the Trilogy. Wes Anderson was so fond of Ray’s excellence that he made a movie named ” The Darjeeling Limited” in 2007 to give tribute to Satyajit Ray. Along with that, Akira Kurosawa said about Ray, “Not to have seen a Satyajit Ray film is like living without seeing the sun and the moon”.
A storyline that had blown so many director’s minds all around the world, was depicted so finely by one of the masters of the cinema world, Satyajit Ray. This storyline is about the childhood to adulthood of Apu. Apu is the boy whose father had left the village to earn more as he couldn’t provide for everyone in his family. He is very fascinated with trains passing across their village. It was because of his elder sister Durga. Durga was daring, fearless, and agile. She used to be continually scolded by her mother, Sharbajaiya for her mischief all day long. And Apu was fond of his sister. He used to follow her steps and used to enjoy involving in her waywardness.
There is a popular dialogue in “Pather Panchali” about seeing the train to portray this iconic sibling bond of Apu-Durga. Actually, the train has a mysterious relation with the trilogy and Apu’s life. Apu glimpses the future in the famous train scene. Also, after the tragedy in their life, it was the train that took them to Kashi. Thereafter, the train connects “Pather Panchali” to “Aparajito” Apu. After Harihar’s death, there are many moments that Ray conveyed so aesthetically.
Then lastly in “Apur Shongshar”, the last scene is depicted by showing a train that Apu is leaving behind. It’s an arcane part that sums up Apu’s story. The train snatched his every loved one from his life and lastly, he left the train and went taking his son happily. Altogether, in the trilogy, train evokes the sensation of memories and nostalgia.
There are insights in a trilogy that depicts life to us, describe life, and make us understand life. The simplicity the movies hold makes us drown in the divine portrayal. Lastly, It must be mentioned that there was always the mastermind, Ray who impersonated this heavenly peace of art.
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Written by
Adri Sen,
Intern
Content Writing Department,
YSSE