A Tribute to Humanity.....

With my exams coming to an end a week back, I was desperately looking for something to keep myself busy or entertained. I couldn’t find any TV sitcom or drama, and sadly there was a scarcity of good movies on the college lan with people leaving for home. But on the shinier side of things the download speed was ridiculously high, which also brought upon the toilsome process of selecting movies to watch through out the holidays. To set the tone for my month long cine fest I wanted to see an El Clásico, which could keep me revered for a long time. After hours of contemplation and browsing through the net for possible Clásico recommendations I stumbled upon a ‘Best Films of The Century’ list by The Village Voice which ranked The Godfather 12th, tied with Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (The Song of the Little Road). Though there are host of such lists by various magazines, but this was alarming, since the number of people here who have seen The Godfather would easily outnumber the ones who have seen or even heard of Pather Panchali. Considering the movie was filmed not far from were we stay, this was no more than a shame for all those who brag about the Orson Welles and Marlon Brando(no disrespect to them). Not surprisingly I couldn’t find the movie or any part of the trilogy in our college lan which even boasts of a collection of Korean and Thai movies, and I wanted to unveil this mystery..,that why a movie of such stature is utterly ignored by people who spent half the time of their day watching movies???, and no better way to find out than to watch the film itself.


Though I had seen it a long time back, but after watching it for the second time, it still managed to leave me stunned. With all the technological advancements in film making it still stands out as a piece of gem and is immaculate in all the technical aspects of film making. Its exceptional way of story telling, flawless sequences, shadow play and its candid simplicity takes one’s breath away. As the title of the film suggests it is a poetic fable demonstrating hope, tragedy, innocence and love without any artificial emotions and melodrama. Actors who played the lead roles in the film never acted in a film again. Before this film Ray had absolutely no experience of film direction and had a cinematographer who had never used a camera. Some of the initial shots of the film were taken with a 16mm camera as he had serious budget constraints with him mortgaging his entire life insurance for funds. But Pather Panchali comes closest to the portrayal of human life than any other movie. It does not have any complex plots but the sheer simplicity in which various complex facets of humanity are depicted keeps the viewers spellbound. The naivety and the innocence of the two children (Durga and Apu) touched me more than anything else, which was deepened by Ray’s artistic brilliance. Scenes in which Apu discovers the train at the outskirts of the village and runs towards it to find out where it is heading also the one where Durga and Apu chase a candyman across the village roads and Ray follows their reflections in the pond are only a few examples of Ray’s ingenuity. Not surprisingly the international audience was quick to take notice of Ray's cinematic artistry, and consequently Pather Panchali had put Indian cinema on the world stage, inspiring many more films of this genre. Lastly to the mystery which drove me to watch this film again(I don’t regret it..i can watch it again), I still have no idea but to all those who haven’t seen this movie or any Ray movie, I would just quote Akira Kurosawa…

“Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."