2. Pather Panchali (1955)

Alternative title: Song of the Little Road

Language: Bengali

Director: Satyajit Ray

Running time: 122 mins

Starring: Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Subir Banerjee

Company: West Bengal Government

Ray's micro-budget lyrical elegy to the decline of a rural brahmin family forced to move to the city has been considered symbolic of India's transformation with the onset of industrialisation. Despite the film's reputation as India's answer to Italian neo-realism due to its detailed focus on the everyday life of ordinary people and the use of non-professional performers, its literary sophistication belies such an attribution. Subrata Mitra's photography, the naturalistic acting style of the performers, the gentle pace of narration and Ravi Shankar's score for the flute were considered pathbreaking in 1955 and continue to charm audiences the world over even today. The scene where the children encounter a train while playing in the fields is legendary and so are many others. Simple because of its evocation of the author's nostalgia for a childhood in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Complex because much of it has the sinister charm of a lullaby about princes, witches and demons.