In 1950, a young commercial artist Satyajit Ray set sail on a ship to London. He was going there for professional training, but no one had any idea that the journey itself would sow the seeds of a revolution within Indian cinema.
On board, Ray had with him the manuscript of Aam Antir Bepu (Song of the Road), Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's Bengali novel that he had illustrated for a children's edition.
Drawing those characters, he was tormented by the thought that the world of the poor boy Apu and his folk was meant to live outside the page.
The germ of a movie started developing in his head, although he was unsure if a film based on such a story was ever possible.
Later, in London, Ray saw Italian neo-realist classics like Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves.
These movies, shot with non-professional actors and plain locations, taught him that the cinema could be as honest as it was lovely without glamour or glamour.
The Birth of Pather Panchali
By the time his boat took him back to Calcutta, the experience had converted a dream into conviction. Pather Panchali(Song of the Little Road) was produced on a shoestring budget in 1955 on borrowed money and personal savings.
As the first part of The Apu Trilogy, the film sketches out the early struggles of the protagonist Apu and his older sister Durga in the stark realities of rural poverty.
The first Indian independent film to receive serious international critical notice, it won India's National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955 and the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, making Ray one of India's most respected directors.
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