The first Indian film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Ray, who was attending the festival, was utterly flabbergasted as he felt that the film contained some serious flaws.
Although the Apu films exist as a cohesive trilogy, Satyajit Ray never set out to make a series of three films. In fact, even after completing "Aparajito", he was unsure whether there was sufficient material to warrant a third film.
Much of Apu's story here is actually autobiographical regarding Satyajit Ray's own personal experiences. When Apu goes to Calcutta where he finds work and lodging with a printer, this is Ray directly reliving his youth, when he lived above his grandfather's printing press.
Rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine in 2005.
This adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bannerjee's work uses the last section from his novel "Pather Panchali" and the first section of its sequel, "Aparajito".