It is the early 1940s and Ray has started a film society in Calcutta with a couple of his “hipster friends”, where they mainly view and discuss artsy European and Russian films. STORYTIME – THE MAKING OF Satyajit Ray shooting Pather Panchaliīefore that, to truly understand the impact of Pather Panchali, at first one needs to know the context of how it was made. So what is it about Pather Panchali that makes it so special? How does a film become a masterpiece? Filmmakers from Akira Kurosawa to Martin Scorsayzze have held it as one of the best movies ever made.
Ray’s first (and probably the most well-known) film, Pather Panchali is a household name and is considered a bonafide international classic that placed Satyajit Ray in the leagues of the all-time greats. After surmounting all these hurdles, came Pather Panchali– a film that revolutionized Indian cinema.
Funds did not come easy but that didn’t stop Ray. He broke away from all these conventions and alleged “indispensable set rules”, whether it be working with an entire cast of non-actors to shooting the film in natural light, Ray did it all. Satyajit Ray arrived at the scene at a time when the Indian film industry was bound by set conventions and heavily depended on factors that were favourable to the commercial valuation of films. Yes, every Bengali is aware of Satyajit Ray at some level and has probably watched or read something by him, but very few have done the deep dive and watched the entire filmography. Heck, even most people in his homeland haven’t sought out his films.
When you bring up the notion of Indian cinema to people, their minds automatically go to the songs and dances, the lavish sets, and the larger-than-life melodramatic affairs that Bollywood has unfortunately popularized. However, the sad reality is, Ray’s body of work is largely unknown to the general audience. And especially what new thing could be said about Pather Panchali, when so many people, way more qualified than me, have already done so. Explaining to people why you love a Satyajit Ray film is like trying to explain to the love of your life why you love him – There are too many things to be said, too many details to be gone over, and after a certain point they all start to sound very repetitive, and you realize no matter what you say, words couldn’t possibly do justice to how you feel.