Page 81 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

68 The Apu Trilogy

the curator of the museum’s film library, that Ray’s rough cut was
‘a most remarkable film’ – though Kaufmann seems to have seen
it as some kind of documentary, showing scenes from the life of
the villagers themselves, rather than a feature film.
Ray’s team was now up against a very tight deadline; the film
had to be finished for screening in New York in May 1955. In
six months they had to complete shooting and editing it, mix
the sound effects and add the soundtrack including the music,
which was yet to be composed, get approval from the West
Bengal Government as the film’s producer, subtitle the film if
there was time, and arrange for the print to go to New York.
In one respect at least, Ray was fortunate; he was able to use
most of the sound recorded on location. Since he and his actors
were relatively unknown, they had managed to work in Boral and
other locations in conditions of quiet. Never again – or only very
rarely – would this occur.
The most important passages of music in Pather Panchali were
composed by the virtuoso sitarist Ravi Shankar in early 1955
at an all-night session lasting about eleven hours until 4 a.m.,
because of Shankar’s touring commitments. Although he was
able to see only about half the film in a roughly edited version,
he was deeply moved by it. He had not read the novel (accord-
ing to Ray, that is – Shankar says he had), when he arrived in
Calcutta, yet he knew of its merit and even before seeing the
film he ‘sort of hummed’ for Ray a line of melody with the feel-
ing of a folk-tune about it but which also had a certain sophis-
tication. It became the main theme of the film, usually heard
on a bamboo flute, and was ‘certainly a stroke of inspiration’,
said Ray. During the recording itself, Ray would say: ‘Now let’s
do a piece for such and such a portion’, and Shankar and Aloke
Dey, who became Ray’s regular flautist, would ‘go into a huddle
and work out a score right then and there.’ The whole record-
ing session – for both Pather Panchali and later Aparajito – was
‘hectic ... with Ravi Shankar humming, strumming, improvising
and instructing at a feverish pace, and the indefatigable Aloke

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