Apu Trilogy

Satyajit Ray, probably the most well-known Indian director, won numerous awards nationally and internationally for his work in Apu Trilogy consisting of Pather Panchali(1955), Aparajito(1956) and Apur Sansar(1959) including 3 national awards and 7 awards from Cannes, Berlin and Venice film Festivals. Based on novels by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, it is a milestone in Indian cinema and is among the finest works of Parallel Cinema, Indian equivalent of Italian Neo-realism and French New Wave, it is also often considered as one of the greatest film trilogies ever made. I always considered not having seen such an important film as an anomaly in my cinematic life and I am happy that I finally got a chance to go through them and write about them as the 50th post on this blog because, seriously it hardly gets any better than this. This will give Lord of the Rings Trilogy run for his money as my favorite trilogy and might even score over it, just because of massive nostalgia factor that stuck with me like a leech for a longest time. There is hardly any pretense in them at all, they are heart-breakingly realistic and even after 50 years, much more relevant than many films made a year ago. Let me get into into them individually.

Pather Panchali(1955): First film of the trilogy is also a directorial debut of legendary Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray. Just like the family in the movie, Satyajit Ray had to find his way through heap of trouble before finally making this movie. He had to halt the production multiple times over 5 years until finally Government of West Bengal funded this film and everything materialized the way it should. In the first part of trilogy, we see childhood years of the protagonist Apu in his ancestral house in small village. His family is in very poor state, who usually struggle to make the ends meet. Their house is in dilapidated state but they don't have any money to mend it. What we see throughout the movie is their everyday struggle essentially to keep it going. As it becomes difficult for Apu's father to support his family, he eventually leaves to the nearby city in hope of finding a little steadier source of income. It takes a lot more time than anyone in the family anticipated for him to earn respectable money before he can come home. Apu's family goes from bad to worse during this period as even their mother who has been the pillar of the family starts to crumble under the loneliness and helplessness in absence of their father. 

For the reasons I am not entirely sure myself, this movie brought me on the verge of tears multiple times, maybe because even though I grew up in a city, I could easily relate to the every single character as if I know them personally. Even minor character like vendor of sweets brings back the memories of an Ice cream vendor who used to sit around the corner of my house. He used to sell it from a tin cylinder on tree leaves but I am yet to taste such sweetness from any Ben and Jerry's I have had over the years. Satyajit Ray makes his characters painfully real, I could easily see my own grandmother in old aunty Indir leaving in their house, I could see my brother and me fighting over who is getting the dinner table ready when Apu and Durga fight over the silver paper. Not only his characters but their interactions with each other and also the whole environment is created to perfection. Apu and Durga share an ideal relation two siblings can have where they care deeply for each other but just at the same time fight over trivial matters like any other kids of their age. Pather Panchali easily brings you to tears with harsh realities of life but it also portrays simple joys of life triumphantly like viewing pictures from bio-scope and playing outside in the rain(when I was little, it was almost a ritual to go out and play in the very first rain of the year). It should not come as any surprise that it won 'Most Human Document Award' in 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Rating(out of 5):

Aparajito(1956): Second part of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, Aparajito picks up the story where Pather Panchali, first part of the trilogy left and tells us the story of years of Apu's education. Even after being the middle segment of the trilogy, Aparajito stands firmly as a movie on its own. Having watched Pather Panchali before definitely helps you in getting a better feel of it but Aparajito does not rely on first installment - couple of references to Nischindipur, village where Apu was born is all it takes from it. Apu and his parents have moved to Varanasi in hopes of better livelihood. Varanasi being one of the most important holy cities of India and Apu's father being Priest as family occupation, he hopes to earn a decent livelihood. However, even though they have left their village, hardships in life haven't left their side just yet. (SPOILER)After passing of their father, they again move to a small village in West Bengal(SPOILER End) where he starts going back to school and turns out to be very bright student. He even gets a scholarship to continue his schooling in Kolkata but for his mother this unfortunately results to loneliness and deterioration of her health. We follow ups and downs in his life, see him move from Varanasi to small village in West Bengal and then to Kolkata. Aparajito among many others, received Golden Lion for Best Film as well as Critics award in 1957 Venice Film Festival. Even though personally I prefer Pather Panchali over Aparajito, a lot of critics consider this as an improvement over the first installment. In my case, I think Pather Panchali scores a tad more for sheer nostalgic value even though it isn't like Aparajito doesn't have its moments.

Rating(out of 5):

Apur Sansar(1959): In the last installment of Apu's trilogy, Apu is just out of college not because he is done but because he cannot afford it anymore. He is dreaming of becoming a writer one day. But for now, what he needs is a job to make the two ends meet for as he continues to dream of his life as a writer, he doesn't even have enough money to pay his meager rent. However, good jobs are hard to come by and what he can get are too low-profile in his own opinion for an intellect like himself. One fine day, when one of his college friends invites him to a country wedding of his cousin Aparna that might help him inspire something to write, he finds himself getting married to the bride as original bridegroom turns out to be a mental patient. Once bride and groom overcome the initial awkwardness, they share a beautiful relationship as husband and wife as Apu becomes a little more realistic with new responsibility of a family and Aparna, even though coming from a well-off family, adjusts perfectly in his impoverished life. (SPOILER) However, with her death is childbirth, heartbroken Apu almost gives up everything, so much that he does not even see the face of his child and takes up a vagabond lifestyle.(SPOILER End) It takes him a long time and a guilt trip to come back to normalcy. 

I am wondering if there is something special about Bengali Heroes and their response to the broken heart as Apu like another legendary Bengali hero Devdas takes an easy way out. It was also nice to finally see a familiar face in Sharmila Tagore, who later had quite a successful career in Hindi Film Industry as well. Just like Aparajito, one thing I appreciated the most about Apur Sansar is it stands firmly by itself as a movie. There is almost nothing you will not understand if you haven't seen the first two installments. Being a part of a trilogy, you can probably call it a drawback but as long as there is a definite link between all the movies I think it is fine and there is a definite link in all the above movies - Apu. Considering the fact that Satyajit Ray did not plan on making three films - According to IMDb, Ray did not plan to make third movie until Aparajito won big in Venice Film Festival - continuity in his film is even more remarkable. After 3 films and 30 something years in the life of our protagonist, I think it is a great compliment if you still want more by the end.

Rating(out of 5):