Apur Panchali will hit the cinemas of West Bengal, India today. The film is inspired by the real-life story of Subir Banerjee, the child actor who played Apu in Satyajit Ray’s epic film Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955). Kaushik Ganguly, who directed acclaimed movies like Arekti Premer Golpo and Laptop, is the director of the film.
Popular actor Parambrata Chatterjee portrays a younger Subir Banerjee, while Ardhendu Bannerjee plays the role of the aged Banerjee.
Director Kaushik Ganguly won the award of best director for Apur Panchali in the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in November 2013.
The director mentioned in an interview that he found similarities between certain parts of the life of Subir Banerjee and the iconic character Apu. The film uses several minutes of footage from Pather Panchali in its narrative.
In an interview given to the Press Trust of India about Apur Panchali, Kaushik said: “Despite being one of the most celebrated child actors in the industry once, nobody cares to find out what he is doing now, no one remembers him. My film is a take on that. The USP of the film is the subject which has never been explored in Bengali cinema before. Interestingly, Subir’s life has an uncanny resemblance to what Ray had depicted in The Apu Trilogy. And that’s what inspired me to make this film. Though Pather Panchali was Subir’s first and last film, but if you study the man’s life, you’d sit and ponder if Satyajit Ray had written The Apu Trilogy keeping Subirda in mind. I would like to make it clear that my film is a work of fiction and not Subir Banerjee’s biography.”