Page 86 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

An Epic in Production 73

Without doubt, Aparajito looks more technically accomplished
than Pather Panchali (ditto, The World of Apu as compared with
Aparajito). In addition, its narrative flows more like a Hollywood
film of its time than the rambling Pather Panchali. An American
critic, Arlene Croce, wrote somewhat critically of a ‘smooth,
page-turning professionalism’ in Aparajito. ‘That is a very shrewd
comment’, Ray remarked later. ‘I agree with that to a certain
extent. It’s a kind of novelistic problem – because I had to tell
Apu’s story as told in the book. It’s a kind of chronicle. I never
really went back to that [saga] form any more.’
Nevertheless, there were plenty of problems in its making. Two
new actors were required to play the growing Apu: Pinaki Sen
Gupta for the Benares and early village scenes, Smaran Ghosal
for the adolescent Apu in the village and in Calcutta. Would
the audience accept Apu’s change in physical appearance? ‘It
is always a problem with this kind of film’, said Ray. ‘I kept

Ray on location on the ghats of Benares, 1956, while shooting Aparajito
with actor Pinaki Sen Gupta

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