Pather Panchali (Bengali, 1955)

Pather Panchali, the debut film of Satyajit Ray, is the first in the Apu Trilogy, chronicling the birth and early life of Apu in a small village in Bengal.

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The plot

The film, set in the village of Nischindipur, tells the story of the Roys, a poor Brahmin family struggling in poverty. The father, Harihar Roy (played by Kanu Banerjee), earns a meager living by performing religious services. The income is barely enough to support his family, consisting of wife Sarbojaya (played by Karuna Banerjee), daughter Durga (played by Runki Banerjee as a child and Uma Dasgupta as a teenager), and their young son Apu (played by Subir Banerjee). Adding to their financial burden is Indir Thakrun (played by Chunibala Devi), an elderly cousin of Harihar, who lives with them.

The family's dire financial straits has been worsened by the loss of their orchard to the Mukherjees, a wealthy family of moneylenders, in order to repay a debt left by Harihar’s late brother. The moneylender's wife (played by Reba Devi), referred to as sejo-bou ( the wife of the third eldest brother in a family), is of a petty disposition, berating Sarbojaya for Durga stealing guavas from their orchard. This is galling for Sarbojaya, as the orchard had once been their own. An especially heated exchange occurs between the two when sejo-bou accuses Durga of stealing her daughter's necklace.

The earnings from priestly duties not being sufficient, Harihar takes up a job but the salary is intermittent and he is too timid to ask for his wages. The burden of outstanding debts and household expenses prompts Harihar to travel to the nearby town of Vishnupur for a week. But the days turn to months, as he struggles to find employment and has to travel further away. Meanwhile, back home, money is running out, forcing Sarbojaya to sell the family silver. Durga, who has been sick intermittently, takes a turn for the worse. Through this ordeal, a neighbor, Nilmoni's wife (played by Aparna Devi), is a pillar of support, helping the family with money and food.

Harihar eventually returns, having earned some money and bringing gifts for the family. But it is too late—Durga could not be saved. Traumatized by her death, Harihar decides to move his family to Kashi, hoping for a better life. What was once a difficult decision—to leave the home of his ancestors—now feels necessary after the tragedy they have endured. As the family packs their belongings, Apu discovers the necklace Durga had been accused of stealing, now confirming the truth of the imputation. In one of the most poignant scenes in world cinema, the little boy throws the trinket into the river, preserving his late sister's honor.

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Observations

The human condition

Pather Panchali can be seen as a sad story about poverty, a theme that can be easily exploited to evoke emotion. But the film's power lies in its ability to connect us with the characters at a human level.  For much of the film, there is little in the way of a structured plot; we simply observe the characters in their daily routines. In one scene of quiet domesticity, Harihar works at his desk, keeping an eye on Apu's studies, while Sarbojaya braids Durga's hair, and Indir Thakrun strains her eyes to mend her shawl. Apart from the dramatic final half-hour, the film is mostly a depiction of such mundane pursuits of these characters. Yet, this accumulation of small moments stirs, somewhat miraculously, a profound affection in us for them. While we may not share their economic struggles or cultural context, we  can relate to the gamut of emotions they experience—hope, joy, pride, pettiness, and grief.

Sarbojaya dreams of financial stability: two meals a day, new clothes for the children twice a year, a good husband for Durga, and education for Apu. She takes pride in her cooking, but their poverty limits her culinary ambitions. Harihar, ever the optimist, dreams of supporting his family while nurturing his literary aspirations. He takes pride in his Brahmin lineage, which has afforded him a strong education, though in fields of little value to the market economy.

The children, Durga and Apu, bring joy to the household. Their preoccupations are timeless —being distracted in class, running around aimlessly, being picky eaters, dragging one's feet in the morning before school, going on picnics, and pestering parents for small treats. The children’s knack for finding happiness in small things shines through, as when Apu excitedly runs around announcing the arrival of a letter. The children in Pather Panchali make the best of their circumstances—Durga, for example, cleverly times her visits to sejo-bou's house to coincide with the sweet seller’s arrival, knowing her playmates will share their treats.

Ray's portrayal of child psychology is masterful. He captures their adult-like emotional intelligence, though they lack the vocabulary to articulate it. When Sarbojaya beats Durga, the ever-fidgety Apu retreats to a corner, studying with exaggerated seriousness, as if matching the gravity of the moment. The scene where he tosses Durga's stolen beads remains a cinematic classic.

Pather Panchali also sensitively portrays the poignant reality that as children grow into adolescents, they become aware of the social hierarchies that divide them. Durga watches wistfully as the moneylender’s daughter, Ranu (played by Rama Gangopadhaya), marries in full bridal splendor, sensing that such a future may not be hers. When she expresses admiration for Ranu's hair, Sarbojaya bluntly tells her that her hair cannot be styled as well because the family cannot afford oil.

The characters demonstrate pride, another emotion we can relate to. Sarbojaya, educated enough to read her husband's letters in an era of low female literacy, has seen better days when the family wasn’t burdened by debt. She bristles at her daughter being accused of theft merely for picking fruit from sejo-bou’s orchard. Humiliated by her richer neighbor's vituperation, she one day beats Durga mercilessly. Her pride is further stung when Indir Thakrun gets a new shawl from another relative, an implicit reminder of their own inability to provide one. In a touching moment, Sarbojaya, desperate and ashamed, furtively picks up a fallen piece of fruit from under a tree. Later, when the family is starving, her shame in accepting financial help from Nilmoni's wife is heartbreaking. Harihar, like Sarbojaya, is also conscious of the family's status in the village as Brahmin priests. He takes care not to appear desperate when a neighboring villager seeks his services, and dreams of holding a rice ceremony for Apu befitting a Brahmin’s son.

Pettiness also threads through their lives, as it does in any human experience, both in giving and receiving. Sarbojaya resents the burden of Indir Thakrun's presence in her home and chafes at her availing of small comforts like salt and chillies from her kitchen. A particularly petty moment occurs when Indir Thakrun, visibly exhausted from a long walk from another relative’s house, asks for water, and Sarbojaya coldly tells her to help herself. The cruelty of this act becomes painfully clear when the old woman is discovered dead in the fields by Durga and Apu.

Pettiness, however, is not born from scarcity alone—sejo-bou, despite her wealth, begrudges Durga little treats, which would cost her nothing. It is natural for us to judge sejo-bou's small-mindedness more harshly than Sarbojaya's given the difference in their economic circumstance. However, our feelings towards her soften when she demonstrates a capacity for introspection, when after Durga's death, she reflects on her mean-spiritedness and attributes it to a limited worldview shaped by years of being tethered to a small village. When sejo-bou brings a basket of mangoes for the departing Roy family, we appreciate her delicacy in saying that those fruits had fallen naturally.

Grief hits the Roys with the loss of their daughter. In addition to bereavement, the couple experience the dissolution of the dreams they had for their family. Harihar, who had once insisted on staying in their ancestral village despite the grim economic prospects, awakens to the futility of that resolve. While the final scene showing the haggard faces of the couple sitting in a bullock cart, Harihar staring blankly at the landscape they are leaving behind and Sarbojaya lost in sad thoughts, is wrenching, the act of starting over at a new place is quintessentially human. Even though Sarbojaya tells Nilmoni's wife that she has abandoned all her aspirations, we can sense that the despair will fade over time because as long as there is life, there is hope.

Culture

While the human condition itself is universal, it unfolds within the cultural and social context of a place and time. The glimpses of early 20th-century village life in Bengal portrayed in Pather Panchali add to the film's charm.

Man does not live by bread alone. Regardless of the level of economic hardship, human beings have an intrinsic need to express themselves creatively. The villagers in the film are no exception. Harihar is an aspiring poet hoping to garner publisher interest in his work. The little detail of the impecunious Indir Thakrun watering a plant with the residual water in her tumbler is also an act of the creative impulse.

Durga Puja is a festive time, with children eagerly rushing to welcome the Goddess amidst the resounding beats of drummers and enjoying treats from sejo-bou. Bodi Majumdar (played by Binoy Mukherjee), the self-appointed cultural coordinator of the village, invites a jatra troupe to perform a mythological play as part of the celebrations. To raise funds, he appeals to Prasanna (played by Tulsi Chakraborty), a shopkeeper and teacher at a makeshift school, using the cultural rivalry with the neighboring village of Nawabgunj as motivation. The jatra sparks Apu's imagination, inspiring him to run around wearing a fake mustache and a crown.

The social dynamics of village life demonstrate the importance of tradition that is both charming and stultifying. On the positive side, relationships between individuals is governed by a foundational level of civility. Despite the rancor between the two women, sejo-bou tends to Sarbojaya during childbirth, and Sarbojaya reciprocates by assisting at sejo-bou's daughter's wedding because that is the done thing. Harihar looks after Indir Thakrun, even though she is not his immediate family.

Gender roles, though traditional, reveal a more egalitarian dynamic in Bengal compared to many other parts of India. While Harihar serves as the breadwinner and Sarbojaya as the homemaker, they function as equals. Sarbojaya's assertion that their house belongs to her as much as to Harihar underscores this sense of partnership.

Cultural norms is how society functions because we cannot rush to the police each time someone jumps a queue or leaves a restaurant without paying. In poorer countries with weaker judicial systems, these norms play an even more crucial role in promoting good behavior. Additionally, in the absence of a welfare state, family and community bear the responsibility of supporting the vulnerable, as seen with Indir Thakrun.

Yet, a less individualistic culture extracts a heavy price from individuals by restraining their freedom to pursue happiness. Harihar, influenced by these norms, stayed too long in a place that couldn’t sustain his family, potentially contributing to Durga’s death. When he finally decides to leave, village elders press him to reconsider, invoking his family’s legacy—a pressure less likely to occur in the anonymity of city life, where the freedom to chart one’s own course is greater.

Indir Thakrun

Reliant on distant relatives in old age with no resources of her own, Indir Thakrun's condition is a vulnerable one. Her character is memorable because despite her beholden circumstance, she is no shrinking violet. Her determination shines through in her efforts to address a simple yet pressing issue: the torn shawl that leaves her cold. She first appeals to Harihar for a replacement, and when none is forthcoming, she struggles to mend it herself—perhaps as a not so subtle ploy to remind Harihar of her plight. Ultimately, she obtains a new shawl from another relative, sparking a confrontation with Sarbojaya.

Despite her testy exchanges with Sarbojaya, she is an integral member of the family whom the children, especially Durga, are attached to. The first time she leaves the Roy household in a fit of anger, she returns to see her newborn nephew, Apu. Her joy at meeting the infant, whom she lovingly serenades with lullabies, stems from genuine affection. The second time she departs, her return appears to be driven by a premonition of her impending death. In a poignant moment, as Sarbojaya asks her to leave, she hesitates and looks back at the house that had been her home—perhaps aware it would be her final farewell.

Beneath Indir Thakrun's zesty exterior lies great pathos captured in a hymn where she implores the Lord to end her suffering by taking her life. Her existence demonstrates what Buddhists call dukkha of the body—the inherent discomforts and cravings it imposes. Even in deep sorrow, the body compels us to perform basic actions like eating, relieving ourselves, or scratching an itch. For Indir Thakrun, like for everyone else, survival demands constant effort—seeking a new shawl to shield against the elements or indulging her craving for flavor from Durga's stolen treats.

The Buddhist adage "movement masks dukkha" describes how we are constantly changing positions, whether subtly or visibly, to alleviate discomfort and hence, do not pay attention to the intrinsic nature of dukkha that exists even in the healthiest body. More broadly, those with the financial means to address the dukkha of their bodies would notice it less than Indir Thakrun.

Imagery

Like all great films, Pather Panchali communicates through both dialogue and visuals. Early in the film, we see a telling contrast: the tulsi plant in sejo bou's courtyard is blooming, while the one in the Roy household is barren and withering, underscoring their differing economic conditions. Seven scenes, in particular, stand out for their evocative imagery.

The first captures Durga and Apu chasing a sweetmeat vendor, accompanied by a stray dog. Their reflections, along with that of a large tree, shimmer in the water, creating a striking visual.

In the second, the world of silhouettes appear again when a shadow—revealed to be Indir Thakrun—appears as she narrates a ghost story to Durga and Apu, evoking an eerie atmosphere.

The third is the iconic image of Apu and Durga running through a field of kaash flowers, chasing a train whose steam billows wantonly. The arrival of the train is a climactic moment of a sequence that begins with the children standing by an electric tower, straining to discern the train’s distant rumble.

The fourth scene unfolds in two segments following Harihar’s letter announcing his return. In the first, joy is conveyed through an uplifting musical score and a series of optimistic visuals: water bugs flitting between flowers and their reflections in the water, a dog playing with a kitten, a bird in a cage, Durga fanning Sarbojaya, and Durga play-acting as a married woman offering prayers.

In the second segment, as the music fades, storm clouds gather and distant thunder rumbles—a foreboding sign of the tragedy to come. A montage of vivid imagery follows: Apu munching puffed rice as he hurries home past coconut trees, villagers rushing for shelter, a dog finding cover, and Sarbojaya hurriedly gathering clothes from the line. As the rains arrive, Durga revels in the downpour before shielding Apu under the drape of her saree.

The fifth scene portrays Durga's death. Wind howls, the lamp flickers, and Sarbojaya struggles to keep the door from flying open—a futile attempt to stave off death itself. In the background, Lord Ganesha silently observes the unfolding tragedy.

The sixth, a heartbreaking one, shows Apu preparing for school alone. Without Durga’s help, he dresses himself, combs his hair, collects his water bottle, and walks to school, solitary on an empty dirt road. In a charming detail, he takes a few steps out of the house, observes the cloudy skies and steps back in to fetch an umbrella.

The seventh and the penultimate scene of the film depicts the abandoned Roy household, eerily quiet as a snake slithers into the once-lived-in space.

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The genius of Pather Panchali lies in its extraordinary ability to remind us of our shared humanity that transcends culture and time through a story that is steeped in the visuals, social mores and cultural motifs of a Bengali village in the pre-modern age.