Aparajito (1956)
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Aparajito (1956)
GetheMoviez Genre: Drama
Release Date: 1956 (India)
Runtime: 110 min
Filming Location: Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Gross: $170,215 (USA)
Director: Satyajit Ray
Stars: Kamala Adhikari, Lalchand Banerjee, Kali Bannerjee | See full cast and crew
Original Music By: Ravi Shankar
Sound Mix: Mono
Plot Keyword: Benares | School | Family Relationships | 1920s | India
Writing Credits By:
(in alphabetical order)
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay novel "Aparajito"
Kanailal Basu assistant screenplay writer
Satyajit Ray screenplay
Known Trivia
Rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine in 2005.
Much of Apu’s story here is actually autobiographical regarding Satyajit Ray’s own personal experiences. When Apu goes to Calcutta where he finds work and lodging with a printer, this is Ray directly reliving his youth, when he lived above his grandfather’s printing press.
Although the Apu films exist as a cohesive trilogy, Satyajit Ray never set out to make a series of three films. In fact, even after completing “Aparajito”, he was unsure whether there was sufficient material to warrant a third film.
This adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bannerjee’s work uses the last section from his novel “Pather Panchali” and the first section of its sequel, “Aparajito”.
The first Indian film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Ray, who was attending the festival, was utterly flabbergasted as he felt that the film contained some serious flaws.
Plot
A boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone.
Story
After living awhile in Benares, 10 year old Apu and his mother move in with her uncle in a small Bengali village. Apu enters a local school, where he does well. By the time he graduates, he has a scholarship to study at a college in Calcutta. So off he goes. His mother is torn by his leaving, and by his growing independence. She loves her son very much and wants him to succeed, but she does not want to be left alone. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>
Full Cast & Crew
Produced By:
Satyajit Ray known as producer
Cast:
Kamala Adhikari known as Mokshada
Lalchand Banerjee known as Lahiri (as Lalchand Bandyopadhyay)
Kali Bannerjee known as Kathak (as Kalipada Bandyopadhyay)
Kanu Bannerjee known as Harihar Ray (as Kanu Bandyopadhyay)
Karuna Bannerjee known as Sarbojaya Ray (as Karuna Bandyopadhyay)
Panchanan Bhattacharya
Debabrata Chakraborty
Harendrakumar Chakravarti known as Doctor
Hemanta Chatterjee known as Professor (as Hemanta Chattopadhyay)
Meenakshi Devi known as Pandey's wife
Subodh Ganguli known as Headmaster
Smaran Ghosal known as Apu – adolescent (as Smarankumar Ghoshal)
Charuprakash Ghosh known as Nanda
Santi Gupta known as Ginnima
Ajay Mitra known as Anil
Anil Mukherjee known as Abinash (as Anil Mukhopadhyay)
Shibnarayan Nag
Bhaganu Palwan known as Palwan
K.S. Pandey known as Pandey
Saraswati Pandey
Ranibala known as Teliginni
Kalicharan Roy known as Akhil, press owner (as Kali Roy)
Sudipta Roy known as Nirupama
Keya Sengupta
Pinaki Sengupta known as Apu (young)
Ramani Sengupta known as Bhabataran (as Ramaniranjan Sengupta)
Mani Srimani known as Inspector
Udayshankar Tiwari
Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database
Steven Wren comments
Steven Wren is from Los Angeles, CA/ 03 May 2013 Each of the three films of the Apu Trilogy exhibit the extraordinary quality of a documentary film on the conditions of life in India at the time they are set. I think this is what I like best in them through numerous viewings.The films are shot in locations that appear untouched by any art department- remote countryside in Bengal, the great cities – Benares and Calcutta.
The characters eke out an adequate life in their sufficient poverty – a life sustained by their faith and simple devotion to one another. At the same time there are moments that are pure cinema. There is an exquisite swish pan cut from Kurana (the mother) leaning against a tree, full of emptiness asApu has just left for Calcutta, to the swift dynamo of the train crossing a bridge with the trestles a blur. At the moment Kanu (the father) gives uphis soul a flock of birds alights over the Ganges. Later as Kurana isgradually sinking into the depths of loneliness – a sickness unto death -she has a vision of fireflies swirling around in the falling darkness.
These films traverse the drama of life and death touching gently on all of the salient points along the path. They put us face to face with the challenge of living in a world, which constantly gives us disappointment. At the same time there is a celebration of that ineffable quality which gives life meaning.
