Apur Panchali

Apur Panchali
Directed by	Kaushik Ganguly
Produced by	Shree Venkatesh Films
Starring	Parambrata Chatterjee, Parno Mittra, Gaurav Chakrabarty
Music by	Indradeep Dasgupta
Cinematography	Shirsha Ray
Edited by	Bodhaditya Banerjee
Release dates	25 November 2013 (2013-11-25) (IFFI)[1] 25 April 2014 (2014-04-25) (India)
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Apur Panchali is a 2013 Bengali film directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced by Shree Venkatesh Films. It is based on the life of Subir Banerjee, the actor who played Apu in Pather Panchali (1955), the first film of Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy.^[2][3] Director Kaushik Ganguly won the award of best director for Apur Panchali in the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in November 2013.^[4] The director mentioned in an interview that he found similarities between certain parts of the life of Subir Banerjee and the iconic character Apu.^[3] The film uses several minutes of footage from Pather Panchali in its narrative.

Plot

The film follows the journey of Subir Banerjee the child actor who portrayed "Apu" of Satyajit Ray's masterpiece Pather Panchali. The events take place in two time periods. While the present day events are shot in color the past events are in black and white. Comparison is drawn between Subir's life and the Apu trilogy throughout the film. The film opens with a film school student Arka (Gaurav Chakrabarty) who comes to deliver a letter, an invite to attend a prestigious award ceremony in Germany to an older Subir Banerjee (Ardhendu Banerjee). Now retired, lost-in-the-crowd Subir initially doesn't want to receive the letter but he eventually agrees after Arka convinces him. Subir recounts his days working for Pather Panchali to Arka. They also visit an old broken house where the film was shot. Arka collects a brick from the house as a souvenir. Later, as they prepare for their journey to Germany, Subir narrates his life story to Arka.

After Subir's brother went away to work in Dhanbad, Subir; now in his 20's; had to give up his football career to take care of his ill father and help his mother in her household chores. On the advice of his friend Subir gets married to Ashima (Parno Mittra), the daughter of a wealthy villager in Burdwan, after his father passes away. Two years into their marriage, Ashima gets pregnant.

In the present, Subir and Arka open up to each other. Arka talks about his late father, whom he deeply admired. Subir reveals that due to jaundice, Ashima gave premature birth and the baby died soon after. Ashima went into depression and died, too. Subir thus became heart-broken and isolated himself.

As Arka and Subir board the plane to Germany, Arko thanks Subir; for this was his first business-class trip; to which Subir says, he ought to thank "Apu", since it is his first time on a plane.

Subir, on request of his mother, comes to return all of Ashima's belonging to her native house. Her grandmother asks him to bathe in the local pond and stay for lunch. Subir goes to the pond and as he prepares for bathe, a young boy asks him if his name is Apu, to which subir weepingly nods.

As the credits roll, Subir Banerjee is shown being felicitated at the International Preis für Film und Medianmusik, Germany.

Cast

• Parambrata Chatterjee as young Subir Banerjee
• Parno Mittra
• Gaurav Chakrabarty
• Ardhendu Bannerjee as older Subir Banerjee

Soundtrack

The Music and Background Score of the film is composed by music composer Indradeep Dasgupta. The background score of the film has been appreciated widely. On 4 April 2014 - a song from the soundtrack titled Apur Paayer Chhaap sung by Arijit Singh was released.

Release

The film was screened at the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in November 2013 and was received warmly. Kaushik Ganguly received the Best Director Award for the film there.

The film was released on 25 April 2014, and gained wide critical acclaim.

References