The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

225 Pages·2010·11.6 MB·English

by  Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson is the author of some twenty
books, including Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye
and Satyajit Ray: A Vision of Cinema (both
I.B.Tauris), and is the editor of three screen-
plays by Ray. www.andrew-robinson.org
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‘Satyajit Ray has worked with humility and complete dedication;
he has gone down on his knees in the dust. And his picture has
the quality of intimate, unforgettable experience.’
—Lindsay Anderson on Pather Panchali, 1956
‘Though he’s very young still, he’s the Father of Indian Cinema.’
—Jean Renoir on Ray, 1967
‘Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world
without seeing the sun or the moon.’
—Akira Kurosawa, 1975
‘Ray’s magic, the simple poetry of his images and their emotional
impact, will always stay with me.’
—Martin Scorsese, 1991
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The Apu
Trilogy
Satyajit Ray
and the Making
of an Epic
Andrew Robinson
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Published in 2011 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2011 Andrew Robinson
The right of Andrew Robinson to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part
thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanial, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978 1 84885 515 1 (HB)
ISBN 978 1 84885 516 8 (PB)
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xi
1 Self-taught Film-maker: Satyajit Ray’s Formative Years 1
2 Apu in Fiction and Film: Adapting the Novels
Pather Panchali and Aparajito 27
3 An Epic in Production: Making the Apu Trilogy 43
4 Working with Ravi Shankar: The Music of the
Apu Trilogy 81
5 Pather Panchali: Critique 91
6 Aparajito: Critique 109
7 The World of Apu: Critique 127
8 From Calcutta to Cannes: The Reception of the
Apu Trilogy 147
9 Apu in the East and West: The Trilogy and
Ray Today 161
Epilogue: Ray Talks about the Apu Trilogy 177
Films Directed by Satyajit Ray 185
References 189
Select Bibliography 203
Index 207
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Illustrations
1 Satyajit Ray on location in Calcutta, 1956, while
shooting Aparajito, with cameraman Subrata Mitra
(Marc Riboud) xii
2 Ray reading a music score, London, 1950
(Norman Clare) 26
3 Pather Panchali: Apu 30
4 Aparajito: Apu 34
5 The World of Apu: Apu 36
6 Sketch by Ray for script of Pather Panchali,
1952, showing Apu and Durga in the fields
with the train (Satyajit Ray Society) 44
7 Pather Panchali: Apu and Durga 47
8 Ray rehearsing Chunibala Devi in
Pather Panchali (Bansi Chandragupta) 50
9–12 Ray on location in Boral near Calcutta, while
shooting Pather Panchali, with actress Karuna
Banerji and cameraman Subrata Mitra
(Bansi Chandragupta) 54
13 Shooting Pather Panchali in Boral
near Calcutta (Bansi Chandragupta) 61
14–15 Pather Panchali: Indir Thakrun; Ray directs
Chunibala Devi in the scene of Indir’s death
(Bansi Chandragupta) 63
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viii The Apu Trilogy
16 Ray on location in Boral near Calcutta, during the
making of Pather Panchali (Bansi Chandragupta) 66
17 Ray on location on the ghats of Benares, 1956,
while shooting Aparajito with actor
Pinaki Sen Gupta (Bansi Chandragupta) 73
18–20 Ray on location at a railway station in Calcutta,
1956, while shooting Aparajito, with actor
Smaran Ghosal and cameraman Subrata Mitra
(Marc Riboud) 76
21 Sketch by Ray for a documentary film about
Ravi Shankar, 1951, which was never made
(Satyajit Ray Society) 82
22 Shankar, with Ray, recording music for Aparajito
in Calcutta, 1956 (Bansi Chandragupta) 87
23–24 Pather Panchali: little Durga; Indir Thakrun and
Durga 94
25–26 Pather Panchali: Apu is made ready for his first
day at school by Sarbajaya and Durga;
the grocer–schoolmaster Prasanna 98
27–28 Pather Panchali: Durga; Apu dresses up as a
prince 101
29–30 Pather Panchali: Sarbajaya rejects Indir 104
31–32 Pather Panchali: Harihar collapses over
Sarbajaya; village elders visit Harihar 106
33–34 Aparajito: Apu in Benares 112
35 Aparajito: Harihar collapses at the ghat 115
36 Aparajito: Apu and Nanda Babu 116
37–38 Aparajito: Sarbajaya, Apu and Harihar, just
before he dies; Apu plucks grey hairs 118
39–42 Aparajito: Apu and education. Apu with his
mother Sarbajaya; and with his headmaster 122
43 Aparajito: Sarbajaya and neighbour, not long
before Sarbajaya’s death 125
44 The World of Apu: Apu in his garret 128
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Illustrations ix
45–46 The World of Apu: Aparna’s mother and
Aparna as a bride; Apu and Aparna
on their wedding night 133
47 The World of Apu: Apu and Aparna’s
return to Calcutta, ignored by his
downstairs neighbour 135
48–49 The World of Apu: Apu and Aparna as
husband and wife 137
50–51 The World of Apu: Apu’s renunciation;
Pulu and Apu 139
52 The World of Apu: Kajal 141
53–56 The World of Apu: finale. Apu, Kajal and
Kajal’s grandfather 142
57 Ray at the editing table, in mid-career 146
58 Ray on location near Calcutta, 1956, during
the making of Aparajito (Marc Riboud) 160
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