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I am always a bit dismayed by the attention that Pather Panchali and Charulata command in discussions on Ray because while they are fine films, they do not account for Ray's cinema as a whole. In fact, I would resist from picking one or even three films that 'speak for Ray'- but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a favourite. Aparajito is a wonderful work of art, an extremely moving melodrama and a remarkably accurate portrayal of adolescence. Of course, it would be shameful to give all the credit to Ray. Bibhuti Bhusan Bandhyopadhaya's novels (Aparajito is adapted from the last part of Pather Panchali and the first half of Aparajito) are meticulously descriptive and Ray's success with the film owes much to the simplicity and honesty of his source. But there is something in Aparajito that belongs exclusively to the cinema - something that has to do with the the mixture of distance and intimacy in the movies, of identification and unfamiliarity. You want to feel like Aparajito is a film about you, but you secretly admit that it isn't, it cannot be - because you experience it outside yourself, in Ravi Shankar's beautiful music, in the photography that oscillates between banality and the deeply metaphoric, in the wonderful performances (especially by Karuna Bannerjee), and finally in Ray's masterful vision in putting it all together. I couldn't say much else - you must experience it for yourself!

The sun wakes up in the land of Benaras. An aged temple priest scatters seeds for the pigeons. Men take their morning dip in the holy river bordering a ghat (series of steps). Women wash their clothes in the same waters. A couple of pehelwans (wrestlers) exercise with gadas (heavy Indian club) close to the river banks. Priests sit close by sermonizing to their loyal devotees. Ships can be heard at a distance. It is morning.

Have we never seen a morning like this? We probably have, at least most who live or have lived in India. Yet why do we watch this morning with a quaint fascination? This is because Satyajit Ray doesn't regard his morning sequence as an establishment shot as most directors would – his camera gazes with wonderment at how life begins in the land of Benaras, and that gives his morning a wholly distinctive identity.

We find young Apu walking beside the ghat one morning, passing by the chanting priests and their devotees and stopping where a pehelwan is exercising. He fixedly gazes at the gada which the hefty pehelwan is swinging around his body, and then leaves. After his father's untimely demise, he reluctantly becomes a priest at the insistence of a male relative.

But he seems to have little interest in this, as evident in a scene where he watches, in his priest's attire, a couple of young boys his age tumbling and gamboling happily at a distance and then follows them after ditching his dhoti. He watches as they enter a school and then at night asks his mother whether he can join the same school. Once he gets admission, he's found to be a bright student who can recite lok-geet (folk music) fluently, and we realize maybe his short stint as a priest did pay off well.

Apu's world is simple, yet his life is profound. There isn't explicit symbolism anywhere yet but we know how symbolic each event in his journey is, as evident from the paragraph above. Moving to a big city like Benares from a tiny village like Nischindipur, living the city life shortly till the death of his father, moving to another village called Dewanpur, attending a school nearby and earning a scholarship, moving to Calcutta for further studies with little enthusiasm to return to the dismal village life are covered in Aparajito.

Apu's thinking, values and priorities blossom as his life passes these phases; take a scene in the film where Apu, in his teens, watches a couple of street children performing but finds their act uninteresting and leaves. Had this been young Apu, he'd be very enthused by their performance and watched it till the end. Aparajito is Apu All Grown Up.

His self-sacrificing mother Sarbajaya gives him all her hard-earned money so he can move to Calcutta, and she surrenders herself to a life of loneliness. Apu's priorities shift towards college studies and printing press work, and he only visits her once in every few months. Satyajit Ray uses still shots to capture her emotions and actress Karuna Banerjee's eyes speak volumes; her memorable 'Opu!' for calling Apu (Bengalis usually pronounce many of their words with an 'O' intonation) stayed with me long after the film ended.

Apu's college life was probably the only sequence that impressed me less, only because I've already seen similar scenes in many other recent movies. But what matters at last is our strong attachment to Apu's world; we laugh with, weep for and find joy in watching his world. Part of the credit has to go to Ravi Shankar's enchanting score, dominated by sitar, flute and dholak, for creating the right mood for each scene.

Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali and Aparajito give the pleasure of experiencing the same world through his eyes. And we are swept over completely.

Aparajito / The Unvanquished (1956) : Brief Review -

A deserving Classic sequel to the that Landmark Film which created a new wave in Indian Cinema. Even better version of Satyajit Ray's Visionary Storytelling. Aparajito starts off where the previous film Pather Panchali (1955) ended, with Apu's family moving to Varanasi, and chronicles Apu's life from childhood to adolescence in college. The film focuses on Apu's tenaage days and little fascinating period of his emerging career. At the same time, we see the struggle of his mother in remote village who has no joy left in her life. Firstly, i want to congratulate the screenwriter Satyajit Ray for inventing such a path-breaking screenplay in Indian cinema. I don't remember how many directors/writers tried to think out of the box with the mainstream stories by 1956 untill Ray mixed up two opposite sides of human nature, Hapiness and Sadness together in a parallel storytelling. A grand salute to the genius for thinking big. And another grand salute for bringing everything on screen just exactly how he thought while writing. Aparajito is blessed by the classy Framework. It's highly artistic, realistic and innovative in every frame you see. It's not just about framework but it is also about execution and direction. Those brilliant frames becomes superior when you hear that background music and understand why it is used there. I don't know why but i found this film better than Pather Panchali, especially the writing and screenplay. Otherwise, direction is very much similar and Ray has used some of his old techniques too. Pinaki Sen and Smaran Ghosal as Apu are simply beautiful with their natural acts whereas Karuna Banerjee is just outstanding. Overall, even better than Pather Panchali. That's it, that's the bottom line and you know it's big thing.

RATING - 8.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Aparajito is the second film of the Apu trilogy following Pather panchali. The entire film revolves around Apu as he grows up into adulthood after his family shifted to Varanasi due to financial turmoil. The film portrays every minute details of the hardships of Apu's mother as she struggles to survive and to continue education of her only surviving son.

'Aparajito' is the second film of director Satyajit Ray's Apu series. The films from that trilogy are connected but standalone (you don't have to watch all 3 and not necessary to watch them in order). The first film (Pather Panchali) covered the childhood of Apu from birth to the end of childhood as he undergoes a troubling childhood, ending in his father getting a job as a priest in Varanasi (Benares back then). This one picks up in Varanasi just after Apu and his parents move there. Apu comes of age in his growth from preteen into his teenage years, taken over by his intellectual curiosity to learn more about the world. His parents wanted him to become a priest to continue the generations' long heritage, but he instead chose science, math, and knowledge. In his desire to follow his educational aspirations, he moves to Calcutta on a scholarship at an institution. His tragic challenges and bleak reality continue as he becomes distant, into his schooling world.

I believe this was better than 'Pather Panchali' because this had an actual, meticulous story. Simple but heartwarming, honest, and relatable. The filming style is very distinct and stays consistent throughout, like the beats of a fluttering butterfly. Other technicals include beautiful cinematography on the shores of the Ganges River and old Calcutta, marvelous acting, and sharp editing. The music by the legendary composer Ravi Shankar was timeless and ethereal, allowing you to feel it in perfect complement to the surreal realism. I found the opening shot exquisite, filmed partially from a boat along the shores of the Ganges. Within the swirls of breathtaking beauty lies the harsh darkness of reality.

Would I recommend this? Yes. The plot allows this film to be easy to follow, emotional, and engaging. It's a film that you contemplate after you finish watching it. It's an experience that I found remarkable. Much like Pather Panchali, this is a film of the human spirit.

8/10.

Aparajito can easily stand on its own as a beutifully crafted film by master writer and director Satajit Ray, the king of Indian Neorealism films. Apu, the main character of the trilogy, begins to come of age in this film, as he must leave is rural roots and become acquainted with Calcutta, a large, bustling Indian metropolis. During this transitional period, Apu begins to distance himself from this family roots in the countryside in Bengal. This is a timeless scene repeated by the millions by millions of other children in almost every other country in the world. This universal experience can sometimes be a painful one for both the parent and the child. Apu comes to realize he is now alone in the world after his mother dies. A great film.

'Aparajito' proves that Satyajit Ray, alongside his cast and crew, were born to make films. This is a wonderful sequel that continues the themes already established.

This entry does feel more polished, while losing some of its charm it does actually work in the films favour - the gradual transition into civilization is more effective this way.

Both of the actors for Apu carry the youthful spirit from the first film, and finding new things he likes in cities of change is wonderful to see.

The real standout of the story is Karuna Bannerjee, who plays Apu's mother. This was an absolutely outstanding performance that wrenched my heart out.

'Aparajito' is a great middle entry of the trilogy. It delves deeply into the sacrifices parents make, and how the wonderful mixture of youth and ignorance affects each of us in its own, insidious, beautiful way.

"Aparajito" (1956) is the second episode of the "Apu trilogy" by Satyajit Ray. Recently I saw the first part "Pather Panchali" (1955) and wrote a review about this film.

In this review I talked about some characteristics of the "Apu trilogy" as a whole of which the most important ones are:

The trilogy has been very important for Indian cinema. It is different either from English directors such as David Lean ("A passage to India", 1984) or Powell and Pressburger ("Black Narcissus", 1947) situating some of their pictures in India but also from Bollywood. In the first instance the director (consciously or unconsciously) looks at India through colonial spectacles. The second example is pure entertainment.

The trilogy (and this is one of its strongest points) has both an Indian flavor but also illustrates universal problems in human relations.

The trilogy is based on two novels. "Aparajito" is based on the last part of the first novel and the first part of the second novel. Added to this are some autobiographical elements from the director. Nevertheless the endings of both "Pather Panchali" as "Aparajito" are both very natural cliffhangers.

In "Pather Panchali" Apu is approximately 5-7 years old, during most of "Aparajiti" he is a student between approximately 16-18 years old.

"Pather Panchali" is situated on the country side, most of "Apparajito" is situated in the big city's of Varanasi / Benares and Calcutta.

There are also similarities between the two films. In "Pather Panchali" there already was a hint about the train stimulating mobility and migration from the countryside to the big city. This hint evolves into the train playing a big symbolic role in "Aparajito".

Another similarity is the suffering of the mother. In "Pather Panchali" she suffers from a rather care free husband failing to bring in enough money to support the family. In "Aparajito" she suffers from an ambitious son. Children "flying out" is of course a universal theme, but in "Aparajito" it leads to a number of heartbreaking scenes. For example the scene in which the mother writes in a letter to her son with between the lines the message that her health is detoriorating. The son is to busy passing exams, reads the letter not carefully enough only to find out too late.

Last but not least the music for both movies was composed by Ravi Shankar. This famous Indian musician would later have a great influence on the pop scenes of the 60s and 70s. In my opinion his score is more prominent in "Aparajito" than in "Pather Panchali". It is very beautiful but on the verge of manipulative in some emotional scenes.

To his established talents for pictorial composition, mood and pacing, Ray adds another weapon to his arsenal: dramaturgy. Our hero has adolescent growing pains expressed in conflicts with Mom, whose love and faith never wavers. An improvement over the first film in the trilogy.