View source for The Apu Trilogy

{{Short description|1955–1959 Indian film series by Satyajit Ray}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Apu Trilogy
| image          = The Apu Trilogy.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = [[DVD Region|Region 2]] box set cover of Satyajit Ray's trilogy
| director       = [[Satyajit Ray]]
| producer       = Satyajit Ray
| writer         = Satyajit Ray
| screenplay     = Satyajit Ray
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Pather Panchali (novel)|Pather Panchali]]'' and ''Aparajito'' by [[Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Subir Banerjee]]
* Pinaki Sen Gupta
* [[Soumitra Chatterjee]]
}}
| music          = [[Ravi Shankar]]
| cinematography = [[Subrata Mitra]]
| editing        = [[Dulal Dutta]]
| studio         = {{small|([[Pather Panchali]])}} : [[Government of West Bengal]]<br>{{small|([[Aparajito]])}} and {{small|([[Apur Sansar]])}} : [[Satyajit Ray| Epic Films]] / [[Satyajit Ray|Satyajit Ray Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Sony Pictures Classics]] / [[Merchant Ivory Productions]]<br>{{small| ([[Pather Pachali]] was distributed by [[Aurora Film Corporation| The Aurora Film Corporation]])}}
| released       = {{Film date|1955|08|26|[[Pather Panchali]]|1956|10|11|[[Aparajito]]|1959|05|01|[[Apur Sansar]]|df=y}}
| runtime        = 342 minutes (total)
| country        = [[India]]
| language       = Bengali
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}
'''''The Apu Trilogy''''' is a celebrated series of three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by [[Satyajit Ray]]: ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' (1955), ''[[Aparajito]]'' (1956) and ''[[The World of Apu]]'' (1959). The trilogy's score was composed by [[Ravi Shankar]].

Adapted from two Bengali novels by [[Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay]]—''[[Pather Panchali (novel)|Pather Panchali]]'' (1929) and ''Aparajito'' (1932)—these films are widely regarded as a cornerstone of Indian and world cinema and have been widely acclaimed as masterpieces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael (paperback) |url=https://www.loa.org/books/348-the-age-of-movies-selected-writings-of-pauline-kael-paperback/ |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=Library of America |language=en-US}}</ref> Produced on a modest shoestring budget using an amateur cast and crew, the trilogy garnered widespread critical acclaim and won numerous prestigious awards, including three [[National Film Awards]] and multiple honours at the [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]], [[Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin]] and [[Venice Film Festival]]s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Robinson|2003|p=77}}</ref> Notably, ''Pather Panchali'' was made with a budget of roughly {{INR}} 150,000,<ref>{{cite news |author=Pradip Biswas |date=16 September 2005 |title=50 Years of Pather Panchali |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/archive/archive_fullstory.php?content_id=11150 |work=[[Screen (magazine)|Screen]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602000402/http://www.screenindia.com/old/archive/archive_fullstory.php?content_id=11150 |archive-date=2 June 2009 |access-date=23 April 2009}}</ref> approximately $45,300 at the time.<ref>{{cite web| title= The fallacy of 'dollar = rupee' in 1947 | publisher = DNA | url = http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-the-fallacy-of-dollar-rupee-in-1947-1876776 | access-date = 19 August 2013 | date = 2013-08-19}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Isaksson|2007|p=40}}</ref>

==Plot summaries==
The three films comprise a "[[coming of age]]" narrative in the vein of a ''[[bildungsroman]]''; they describe the childhood, education and early maturity of a young [[Bengali people|Bengali]] named Apu (Apurba Kumar Roy) in the early part of the 20th century.

'''''Pather Panchali''''' (English, "Song of the Little Road")<br />
Apu's early experiences in rural [[Bengal]] as the son of a poor but high [[Caste system in India|caste]] family are presented. Apu's father Harihar, a [[Brahmin]], has difficulty in supporting his family. After the death of Apu's sister, Durga, the family moves to the holy city of [[Varanasi|Benares]].

'''''Aparajito''''' (English, "The Unvanquished")<br />
The family's finances are still precarious. After his father dies there, Apu and his mother Sarbajaya come back to a village in Bengal. Despite unrelenting poverty, Apu manages to get formal schooling and turns out to be a brilliant student. He moves to Calcutta to pursue his education. He slowly distanced himself from his rural roots and his mother who was not keeping well at the time. In the process the growing Apu comes into conflict with his mother. Later he is informed that, when his mother dies too, he has to learn to live alone.

'''''Apur Sansar''''' (English, "The World of Apu")<br />
Attempting to become a writer, Apu unexpectedly finds himself pressured to marry a girl whose mother rejected her mentally ill bridegroom on the day of their wedding. Their blossoming marriage ends in her death in childbirth, after which the despairing Apu abandons his child, but eventually returns to accept his responsibilities.

==Production==
In 1950, Ray had decided that ''[[Pather Panchali (novel)|Pather Panchali]]'', the classic coming of age story ([[bildungsroman]]) of [[Bengali literature]], published in 1928 by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, would be the subject matter for his first film. This semi-autobiographical novel describes the growing up of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village. He went ahead with the film after meeting [[Jean Renoir]] during filming of ''[[The River (1951 film)|The River]]'' (1951) and after watching the [[Italian neorealism|Italian neorealist]] film ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' (1948) while he was in London. Besides the influence of [[European cinema]] and Bengali literature, Ray is also indebted to the [[Theatre of India|Indian theatrical tradition]], particularly the ''[[Rasa (aesthetics)|rasa]]'' theory of classical [[Sanskrit drama]]. The complicated doctrine of ''rasa'' centers predominantly on feelings experienced not only by the characters but also conveyed in a certain artistic way to the spectator. The duality of ''rasa'' representation shows in ''The Apu Trilogy''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cooper|first=Darius|title=The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-62980-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cinemaofsatyajit00coop/page/1 1–4]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cinemaofsatyajit00coop/page/1}}</ref>

Ray gathered an inexperienced crew, although both his cameraman [[Subrata Mitra]] and [[art director]] [[Bansi Chandragupta]] went on to achieve great acclaim. The cast consisted of mostly amateur artists. Shooting started in late 1952, using Ray's personal savings. He had hoped that once the initial shots had been completed, he would be able to obtain funds to support the project, but such funding was not forthcoming.<ref name=makepanchali>{{Harvnb|Robinson|2003|pp=74–90}}</ref> ''Pather Panchali'' was shot over the unusually long period of three years, because shooting was possible only from time to time, when Ray or production manager [[Anil Chowdhury]] could arrange further money.<ref name=makepanchali/> With a loan from the [[Government of West Bengal|West Bengal government]], the film was finally completed and released in 1955 to great critical and popular success, sweeping up numerous prizes and having long runs in both India and abroad. During the making of the film, Ray refused funding from sources who demanded a change in script or the supervision of the producer, and he ignored advice from the government (which finally funded the film anyway) to incorporate a happy ending in having Apu's family join a "development project".<ref>{{Harvnb|Seton|1971|p=95}}</ref> Even greater help than Renoir's encouragement occurred when Ray showed a sequence to [[John Huston]] who was in India scouting locations for ''[[The Man Who Would Be King]]''. The sequence is the remarkable vision Apu and his sister have of the train running through the countryside. It was the only sequence Ray had filmed due to his small budget. Huston praised Ray to [[Monroe Wheeler]] at the [[New York Museum of Modern Art]], saying that a major talent was on the horizon.
<!--  Commented out: [[Image:Apu Pather1.jpg|left|thumb|Wide open eyes, a continual motif in ''The Apu Trilogy'']] -->
In India, the reaction to the film was enthusiastic; ''[[The Times of India]]'' wrote that "it is absurd to compare it with any other Indian cinema [...]. ''Pather Panchali'' is pure cinema".<ref name="set1">{{Harvnb|Seton|1971|pp=112–15}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, [[Lindsay Anderson]] wrote a glowing review of the film.<ref name="set1" /> However, the reaction was not uniformly positive. After watching the film, [[François Truffaut]] is reported to have said, "I don't want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands".<ref name=filmifunda>{{cite news
|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050420/asp/calcutta/story_4634530.asp
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050420095943/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050420/asp/calcutta/story_4634530.asp
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=20 April 2005
|title=Filmi Funda Pather Panchali (1955)
|newspaper=The Telegraph
|date=20 April 2005
|access-date=29 April 2006
|location=Calcutta, India
}}</ref> [[Bosley Crowther]], then the most influential critic of ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote a mixed review of the film that its distributor Ed Harrison thought would kill off the film when it got released in the United States, but it enjoyed an exceptionally long run.

Ray's international career started in earnest after the success of his next film, ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'').<ref name= robintrilogy/> This film shows the eternal struggle between the ambitions of Apu as a young man and the mother who loves him.<ref name= robintrilogy>{{Harvnb|Robinson|2003|pp=91–106}}</ref> Some critics, notably [[Mrinal Sen]] and [[Ritwik Ghatak]], rank it even higher than the first film.<ref name= robintrilogy/> Aparajito won the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]]. The film is also notable for its application of [[Reflector (photography)#Bounce lighting|bounce lighting]] to recreate the effect of daylight on sets with the use of large scale diffusers, pioneered by the cinematographer [[Subrata Mitra]].<ref name=cinematographers>{{cite web|title=Subrata Mitra|publisher=Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers|url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/mitra.htm|access-date=22 May 2009}}</ref>

Ray had not thought about a trilogy while making ''Aparajito'', and it occurred to him only after being asked about the idea in Venice.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wood|1972|p=61}}</ref> The final installation of the series, ''[[Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu''), was made in 1959. A number of critics find this to be the supreme achievement of the trilogy ([[Robin Wood (critic)|Robin Wood]], [[Aparna Sen]]). Ray introduced two of his favourite actors, [[Soumitra Chatterjee]] and [[Sharmila Tagore]], in this film. The film finds Apu living in a nondescript Kolkata house in near-poverty. He becomes involved in an unusual marriage with Aparna, the scenes of their life together forming "one of the cinema's classic affirmative depiction of married life",<ref name="harvnb">{{Harvnb|Wood|1972}}</ref> but tragedy ensues. After ''Apur Sansar'' was harshly criticised by a Bengali critic, Ray wrote an article defending it—a rare event in Ray's filmmaking career (the other major instance involved the film ''Charulata'', Ray's personal favourite).<ref>Ray mentions this in {{Harvnb|Ray|1993|p=13}}</ref> His success had little influence on his personal life in the years to come. Ray continued to live with his mother, uncle and other members of his extended family in a rented house.<ref>{{Harvnb|Robinson|2003|p=5}}</ref>

==Cast and characters==
{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center; width:100%;"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Character
! colspan="3" |  Film
|-
!  width:10%;"| ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' <br />(1955)
!  width:10%;"| ''[[Aparajito]]'' <br />(1956)
!  width:10%;"| ''[[The World of Apu]]'' <br />(1959)
|-
! Apurba "Apu" Roy
| [[Subir Banerjee]]
| Pinaki Sen Gupta <small> (boy) </small> <br /> Smaran Ghosal <small>(adolescent)</small>
| [[Soumitra Chatterjee]]
|-
! Durga Roy
| Runki Banerjee <small> (child) </small> <br /> Uma Dasgupta <small>(teenager)</small>
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Harihar Roy
| colspan="2" | [[Kanu Banerjee]]
| style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Sarbajaya Roy
| colspan="2" | [[Karuna Banerjee]]
| style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Indir Thakrun
| [[Chunibala Devi]]
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Prasanna
| [[Tulsi Chakraborty]]
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Bhabataran
| style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Ramani Ranjan Sen
| style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Nanda Babu
| style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Charu Prakash Ghosh
| style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Headmaster
| style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Subodh Ganguly
| style="background:#d3d3d3;" |
|-
! Aparna
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| [[Sharmila Tagore]]
|-
! Kajal
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Alok Chakravarty 
|-
! Pulu
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Swapan Mukherjee
|-
! Pulu's wife
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Sefalika Devi
|-
! Sasinarayan
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Dhiresh Majumdar
|-
! The Landlord
| colspan="2" style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| Dhiren Ghosh
|-
|}

==Critical reception==
This trilogy is considered by critics around the globe to rank among the greatest achievements of [[Cinema of India|Indian film]], and it is established as one of the most historically important cinematic debuts. ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' won at least thirteen international prizes (including Best Human Document at the [[1956 Cannes Film Festival]]), followed by eleven international prizes for ''[[Aparajito]]'' (including the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]]) and numerous other awards for ''[[Apur Sansar]]'' (including the [[Sutherland Trophy]] at the [[London Film Festival]]). When Ray made ''Pather Panchali'', he worked with a cast and crew most of whom had never been previously involved in film. Ray himself at the time of directing ''Pather Panchali'' had primarily worked in the advertising industry, although he had served as assistant director on [[Jean Renoir]]'s 1951 film ''[[The River (1951 film)|The River]]''. From this foundation, Ray went on to create other highly acclaimed films, like ''[[Charulata]]'', ''[[Mahanagar]]'', and ''[[Aranyer Din Ratri]]'', and his international success energised other Bengal filmmakers like [[Mrinal Sen]] and [[Ritwik Ghatak]].

<!--  Commented out: [[Image:Pather Panchali2.jpg|thumb|Apu and his mother Sarbajaya in ''[[Aparajito]]'' (1956).]] -->
This extract from ''Youth'', by South African author [[J. M. Coetzee]], talks of the music in the ''Apu trilogy'', which is based on [[Indian classical music]]:

{{cquote|At the Everyman Cinema there is a season of Satyajit Ray. He watches the Apu trilogy on successive nights in a state of rapt absorption. In Apu's bitter, trapped mother, his engaging, feckless father he recognizes, with a pang of guilt, his own parents. But it is the music above all that grips him, dizzyingly complex interplays between drums and stringed instruments, long arias on the flute whose scale or mode – he does not know enough about music theory to be sure which – catches at his heart, sending him into a mood of sensual melancholy that lasts long after the film has ended.}}

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Pather Panchali'' has a 98% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 82 reviews<ref name=RT-Pather>{{Cite web |title=Pather Panchali {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pather_panchali |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |language=en}}</ref> and in 2009 was included in its list of top 100 foreign films.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best of Rotten Tomatoes: Foreign|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|url=http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt_genre.php?category=200010|access-date=19 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603095751/http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt_genre.php?category=200010|archive-date=3 June 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''Aparajito'' has a 96% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 25 reviews,<ref name=RT-Aparajito>{{Cite web |title=Aparajito {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/aparajito |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |language=en}}</ref> and ''Apur Sansar'' (''The World of Apu'') has a 97% fresh rating based on an aggregate of 29 reviews.<ref name=RT-World>{{Cite web |title=The World of Apu {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_world_of_apu_1960 |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |language=en}}</ref> This makes ''The Apu Trilogy'' one of the highest-rated film trilogies of all time (97%, 94%, 100%){{when|date=September 2024}}, along with the [[Toy Story (franchise)|''Toy Story'' trilogy]] (100%, 100%, 99%), [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy]] (91%, 96%, 93%), the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy (94%, 97%, 83%), and the [[Before trilogy|''Before'' trilogy]] (100%, 95%, 98%).{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]], when including the films in his [[Great Movies]] list, wrote about the trilogy: {{blockquote|The great, sad, gentle sweep of "The Apu Trilogy" remains in the mind of the moviegoer as a promise of what film can be. Standing above fashion, it creates a world so convincing that it becomes, for a time, another life we might have lived.<ref name="Ebert" />}}

==Theme==
Andre Robinson, in his book ''Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye'', comments that the three films differ in their predominant moods, and he compares the trilogy to the development of an [[Indian classical music|Indian classical]] ''[[raga]]''.{{sfn|Robinson|1989|p=91}}

==Legacy==
''[[Sight & Sound]]'', the [[British Film Institute]]'s film magazine, listed ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' several times in its Critics' Poll of [[Films considered the greatest ever|all-time greatest films]], in 1962 (ranked #11),<ref name=Caldwell>{{cite web|author=Aaron and Mark Caldwell|title=Sight and Sound|publisher=Top 100 Movie Lists|year=2004|url=http://www.geocities.com/aaronbcaldwell/dimsscri.html|access-date=19 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729180509/http://geocities.com/aaronbcaldwell/dimsscri.html|archive-date=29 July 2009}}</ref> 1982 (ranked #79),<ref name=SS-1982-ranking>{{cite web|title=SIGHT AND SOUND 1982 RANKING OF FILMS|url=http://www.geocities.com/the7thart/1982.html|access-date=29 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022225459/http://geocities.com/the7thart/1982.html|archive-date=22 October 2009}}</ref> 1992 (ranked #6),<ref name=bfipoll>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/1992.html|title=The Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1992|work=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=20 May 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309164155/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/1992.html|archive-date=9 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 2002 (ranked #22),<ref>{{cite web|title=Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002: The rest of the critics' list|work=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021105130210/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2002|access-date=24 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Ivana Redwine|publisher=[[About.com]]|title="Apu Trilogy" DVD Review|url=http://homevideo.about.com/cs/worldfilm/gr/ApuTrilogyDVDRv.htm|access-date=14 March 2009|archive-date=7 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607043227/http://homevideo.about.com/cs/worldfilm/gr/ApuTrilogyDVDRv.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 2012 (ranked #42)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time | title= The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time | last=Christie | first=Ian|date=1 August 2012|access-date= 8 December 2013|work=Sight & Sound|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012020808/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time|archive-date=12 October 2013}}</ref> and 2022 (ranked #35).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Greatest Films of All Time|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time|website=bfi.org}}</ref>  ''[[The World of Apu]]'' appeared in 1982, ranked at #42.<ref name=SS-1982-ranking/> In the 1992 edition, both ''[[Aparajito]]'' and ''The World of Apu'' were tied at #127,<ref name=SS-1992-ranking>{{cite web|title=SIGHT AND SOUND 1992 RANKING OF FILMS|url=http://www.geocities.com/the7thart/ranking.html|access-date=29 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022115725/http://geocities.com/the7thart/ranking.html|archive-date=22 October 2009}}</ref> while ''The Apu Trilogy'' was ranked separately at #88.<ref name=Caldwell/> In a combined list of ''Sight & Sound'' critics' and directors' poll results in 2002, ''Pather Panchali'' was ranked at No. 28, ''[[The World of Apu]]'' at No. 93 and ''[[Aparajito]]'' at #160.<ref name=Cinemacom>{{cite web|title=2002 Sight & Sound Top Films Survey of 253 International Critics & Film Directors|publisher=Cinemacom|year=2002|url=http://www.cinemacom.com/2002-sight-sound.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> If the votes are combined, then ''The Apu Trilogy'' as a whole would be ranked at No. 14 in 1982,<ref name=SS-1982-ranking/> No. 4 in 1992<ref name=Caldwell/> and No. 14 in 2002.<ref name=Cinemacom/> In director's poll of ''Greatest films of all time'' by ''Sight & Sound'' magazine ''Pather Panchali'' ranked 48th in 2012<ref>{{cite web|title=Directors' top 100|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|website=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|year=2012|access-date=11 April 2018|language=en|archive-date=9 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209010504/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|url-status=dead}}</ref> and 22nd in 2022.<ref>{{cite web|title=Directors' 100 Greatest Films of All Time|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/directors-100-greatest-films-all-time|website=bfi.org}}</ref>

In 1988, [[John Kobal]]'s poll of critics and filmmakers ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 35 on their list of Top 100 Movies.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Kobal Presents The Top 100 Movies|author=George C. Wu|publisher=[[California Institute of Technology]]|url=http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/kobal/kobal.html|access-date=30 May 2009|archive-date=3 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503085917/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/kobal/kobal.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=John Kobal Presents the Top 100 Movies by John Kobal|url=https://www.thegreatestfilms.com/List/John-Kobal/John-Kobal-Presents-the-Top-100-Movies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121191219/http://thegreatestfilms.com/List/John-Kobal/John-Kobal-Presents-the-Top-100-Movies|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 November 2016|website=The Greatest Films}}</ref> In 1998, the Asian film magazine ''[[Cinemaya]]'''s critics' poll of all-time greatest films ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 7 on the list, while ''Pather Panchali'' alone was ranked at No. 2 on the same list. If the votes are combined, then ''The Apu Trilogy'' would be ranked at #1.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The "Sight & Sound" of Canons|first=Donato|last=Totaro|journal=Offscreen Journal|date=31 January 2003|url=http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/canon.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> In 1999, ''[[The Village Voice]]'' ranked ''Pather Panchali'' at No. 12 (tied with ''[[The Godfather]]'') in its top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list, based on a poll of critics, while ''The Apu Trilogy'' was ranked separately at No. 54 in the same poll. If the votes are combined, ''The Apu Trilogy'' would be ranked at #5.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10 |title=Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll |access-date=27 July 2006|year=1999 |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826201343/http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10|archive-date= 26 August 2007}}</ref> In 2000, an audience poll of best [[Asian cinema|Asian films]] conducted by ''MovieMail'' ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 2 on the list.<ref name=Lists>{{cite web|title=Lists|publisher=Film Journey|url=http://filmjourney.weblogger.com/lists|access-date=29 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523104422/http://filmjourney.weblogger.com/lists/|archive-date=23 May 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In January 2002, the trilogy as a whole was included on the list of the "Top 100 Essential Films of All Time" by the [[National Society of Film Critics]].<ref name=Carr81>{{Cite book |last=Carr|first=Jay |title=The A List: The National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films |year=2002 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81096-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/alistnationalsoc00jayc/page/81 81] |url=https://archive.org/details/alistnationalsoc00jayc |url-access=registration|access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=100 Essential Films by The National Society of Film Critics|url=https://www.filmsite.org/alist.html|website=filmsite.org}}</ref> In 2021 the trilogy was ranked at No. 65 on ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' magazine's list of ''The 100 best movies of all time''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 100 best movies of all time|work=Time Out New York |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/movies/best-movies-of-all-time|date=8 April 2021}}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' ranked ''The Apu Trilogy'' at No. 4 on its list of "10 greatest movie trilogies of all time".<ref>{{cite web|title=10 greatest movie trilogies of all time|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/greatest-movie-trilogies-star-wars-b1847608.html|website=The Independent|date=15 May 2021}}</ref>

''Pather Panchali'' was included in various other all-time greatest film lists, including [[Time Out (magazine)|''Time Out'' magazine]]'s "Centenary Top One Hundred Films" in 1995,<ref>{{cite web|title=Top 100 Films (Centenary) from Time Out Film Guide|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/timeoutC.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''{{'}}s "Hot 100 Films From the Past" in 1997,<ref>{{cite web|title=Hot 100 Films From the Past by ''San Francisco Chronicle'' Film Critics|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/sfchron2.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> the ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' "100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years" in 1999,<ref>{{cite web|title=100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years by Rolling Stone Magazine|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/rstone2.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> and the British Film Institute's Top Fifty "Must See" Children's Films in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top Fifty "Must See" Children's Films by the British Film Institute (BFI)|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/100kidsfilms2.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> [[Akira Kurosawa]] ranked ''Pather Panchali'' at No. 37 on his ''Top 100 favourite films of all time'' list.<ref>{{cite web|title=From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/akira-kurosawa-100-favourite-films-list/|website=Far Out|date=12 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Akira Kurosawa's List of His Favourite Movies|url=https://www.openculture.com/2015/01/akira-kurosawas-list-of-his-100-favorite-movies.html|website=Open Culture}}</ref> In 1996, ''The World of Apu'' was included in Movieline Magazine's "100 Greatest Foreign Films".<ref>{{cite web|title=100 Greatest Foreign Films by Movieline Magazine|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/foreign100_2.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Movieline's 100 Best Foreign Films|publisher=[[GreenCine]]|date=6 April 2008|url=http://www.greencine.com/list?action=viewList&listID=10368|access-date=19 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604073223/http://www.greencine.com/list?action=viewList&listID=10368|archive-date=4 June 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2002, ''Pather Panchali'' and ''The World of Apu'' featured in  "[[The New York Times]] Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made], THE FILM CRITICS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 2002</ref> ''The Apu Trilogy'' as a whole was included in film critic [[Roger Ebert]]'s list of [[The Great Movies]] in 2001<ref name="Ebert">{{cite news|title=The Apu Trilogy (1959)|author=Roger Ebert|author-link=Roger Ebert|publisher=rogerebert.com|date=4 March 2001|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-apu-trilogy-1959|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> and in [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]]'s [[Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies|All-Time 100 best movies]] list in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050523235033/http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2005|title=All-time 100 Movies|access-date=19 May 2008|magazine=Time|publisher=Time Inc|date=12 February 2005}}</ref> It was also ranked No. 17 in ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref>{{cite web
| title = The 100 Best Films of World Cinema – 17. The Apu Trilogy
| url = http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=17 
| work = Empire
| date = 2015-10-02 
}}</ref> The original trilogy has been reconstructed via the Harvard Film archive & Criterion and was shown in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA the 1st week of July 2015.

''[[Apur Panchali]]'' is a Bengali film based on [[Subir Banerjee]]'s life, who played child ''Apu'' in the [[Pather Panchali|first installment]] of ''Apu Trilogy''.<ref name="ndtvdec12">{{cite web|url=http://movies.ndtv.com/regional/kaushik-ganguly-s-next-film-on-pather-panchali-s-child-artiste-304914|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627155646/http://movies.ndtv.com/regional/kaushik-ganguly-s-next-film-on-pather-panchali-s-child-artiste-304914|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 June 2013|title=Kaushik Ganguly's next film on ''Pather Panchali''{{'}}s child artiste|publisher=[[NDTV]]|date=13 December 2012|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="toimar13">{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/parambrata-starts-shooting-for-apur-panchali/articleshow/19262757.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130113802/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-29/news-interviews/38124476_1_parambrata-chatterjee-satyajit-ray-apur-panchali |url-status=live |archive-date=30 November 2013 |title= Parambrata starts shooting for ''Apur Panchali''| last=Ganguly| first=Ruman| date=29 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Times of India]] | access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> Director [[Kaushik Ganguly]] won the award of best director for ''Apur Panchali'' in the 44th [[International Film Festival of India]] (IFFI) in November 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dearcinema.com/news/kaushik-ganguly-named-best-director-apur-panchali-iffi-2013/2157| title= Kaushik Ganguly named Best Director for Apur Panchali at IFFI 2013|publisher= Dear Cinema | date=30 November 2013| access-date= 7 December 2013}}</ref> The director mentioned in an interview that he found similarities between certain parts of the life of Subir Banerjee and the iconic character Apu.<ref name="ndtvdec12"/> In the film actor [[Parambrata Chatterjee]] portrays a younger Subir Banerjee, while Ardhendu Bannerjee plays the role of the aged Banerjee.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/bengali/news-interviews/Param-to-play-Apu/articleshow/18928950.cms |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131212174644/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news-interviews/37651931_1_kaushik-pather-panchali-aparajito |url-status=live |archive-date=12 December 2013 | title= Param to play Apu| last1=Ganguly |first1=Ruman|last2=Ghosh|first2=Madhushree |date= 13 March 2013 |work=[[The Times of India]] | access-date= 12 December 2013}}</ref>

===Influence===
According to Michael Sragow of ''[[The Atlantic|The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in 1994:

{{blockquote|In the four decades since Ray's debut as a writer-director—with the first Apu movie, Pather Panchali (1955)—his influence has been felt both in the type of work other directors attempt and in the means they employ to execute it. The youthful [[Coming of age|coming-of-age]] [[Drama film|dramas]] that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy, which Terrence Rafferty has rightly called "cinema's purest [[Bildungsroman]]". In baggy-pants homage to Ray, American TV's cartoon-burlesque Bildungsroman, ''[[The Simpsons]]''—which could be called "The Education of [[Bart Simpson]]"—contains an Indian convenience-store owner named [[Apu Nahasapeemapetilon|Apu]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=An Art Wedded to Truth|first=Michael|last=Sragow|year=1994|journal=[[The Atlantic|The Atlantic Monthly]]|url=http://satyajitray.ucsc.edu/articles/sragow.html|access-date=11 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412212046/http://satyajitray.ucsc.edu/articles/sragow.html|archive-date=12 April 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}

Across the world, filmmakers such as [[Martin Scorsese]],<ref>{{cite web | author=Chris Ingui | publisher=Hatchet | url=http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2002/03/04/Arts/Martin.Scorsese.Hits.Dc.Hangs.With.The.Hachet-195598.shtml | title=Martin Scorsese hits DC, hangs with the Hachet | access-date=6 June 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826214118/http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2002/03/04/Arts/Martin.Scorsese.Hits.Dc.Hangs.With.The.Hachet-195598.shtml | archive-date=26 August 2009 | df=dmy-all}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Raging Bull: A film review|author=Jay Antani|year=2004|publisher=[[Filmcritic.com]]|url=http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Raging-Bull|access-date=4 May 2009|archive-date=8 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208084836/http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Raging-Bull|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[James Ivory]],<ref>{{cite web
|author = Sheldon Hall
|publisher = Screen Online | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/532213/index.html | title=Ivory, James (1928–) | access-date=12 February 2007}}
</ref> [[Abbas Kiarostami]], [[Elia Kazan]], [[Carlos Saura]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Satyajit Ray is this Spanish director's inspiration|author=Suchetana Ray|publisher=[[CNN-IBN]]|date=11 March 2008|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/satyajit-ray-is-this-spanish-directors-inspiration/60900-8.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915212023/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/satyajit-ray-is-this-spanish-directors-inspiration/60900-8.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 September 2009|access-date=6 June 2009}}</ref> [[Isao Takahata]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Daniel Thomas|title=Film Reviews: Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)|date=20 January 2003|url=http://www.danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/fireflies.htm|access-date=30 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030085422/http://www.danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/fireflies.htm|archive-date=30 October 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Barry Jenkins]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Director Barry Jenkins' 14 Favourite Films from Criterion Collection|url=https://nofilmschool.com/2017/06/director-barry-jenkins-14-favorite-films-criterion-collection|website=no film school|date=2 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Barry Jenkins' Favourite Films:24 Classics Loved By the "Moonlight" Director|url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/barry-jenkins-favorite-films/|website=IndieWire|date=31 May 2017}}</ref> [[Philip Kaufman]],<ref name=Metroactive>{{cite web|title=Ghost 'World': The influential presence of Satyajit Ray's 'The World of Apu' lingers over some of the greatest American films of all time|author=Steve Palopoli|publisher=[[Metro Silicon Valley|Metroactive]]|date= 8–15 October 2003|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/10.08.03/apu-0341.html|access-date=16 January 2010}}</ref> [[Wes Anderson]]<ref name = "The Statesman">{{cite web
| title = On Ray's Trail
| url = http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=30&id=172929&usrsess=1
| publisher = The Statesman
| access-date = 19 October 2007
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080103071501/http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=30&id=172929&usrsess=1 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 3 January 2008}}</ref> and [[Danny Boyle]]<ref name=Jivani>{{cite web |author=Alkarim Jivani |title=Mumbai rising |work=[[Sight & Sound]] |date=February 2009 |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49511 |access-date=1 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201115836/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49511/ |archive-date=1 February 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> have been influenced by ''The Apu Trilogy'', with many others such as [[Akira Kurosawa]] praising the work.<ref>{{Harvnb|Robinson|2003|p=96}}</ref> Filmmaker [[Martin Scorsese]] when talking about ''The Apu Trilogy'' remarked "without a doubt, in [Ray's] films the line between poetry and cinema, dissolved".<ref>{{cite web|title=Cinematic Poetry:The Restoration of "The Apu Trilogy"|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/features/cinematic-poetry-the-restoration-of-the-apu-trilogy|website=Roger Ebert|date=11 May 2015}}</ref> In [[Gregory Nava]]'s 1995 film ''[[My Family (1995 film)|My Family]]'', the final scene is duplicated from the final scene of ''Apur Sansar''. Similar influences and references to the trilogy can be found, for example, in recent works such as ''[[Sacred Evil]]'',<ref>{{cite news
|author = SK Jha
|publisher = Telegraph India | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060609/asp/etc/story_6319302.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618042430/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060609/asp/etc/story_6319302.asp | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 June 2006 | title=Sacred Ray | access-date=29 June 2006
 | location=Calcutta, India
 | date=9 June 2006}}
</ref> [[Paul Auster]]'s 2008 novel ''[[Man in the Dark (novel)|Man in the Dark]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster: Reflections from a hall of mirrors where the present changes shape|author=Douglas Kennedy|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=19 September 2008|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/man-in-the-dark-by-paul-auster-934871.html|access-date=9 July 2009|location=London}}</ref> the ''[[Elements trilogy]]'' of [[Deepa Mehta]] and even in films of [[Jean-Luc Godard]].<ref>{{cite magazine
|author = André Habib
|magazine = Senses of Cinema | url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/16/godard_habib.html | title=Before and After: Origins and Death in the Work of Jean-Luc Godard | access-date=29 June 2006
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060614150838/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/16/godard_habib.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 14 June 2006}}
</ref> The technique of [[Reflector (photography)#Bounce lighting|bounce lighting]] pioneered by [[Subrata Mitra]], to recreate the effect of daylight on sets, has also had a profound influence on the development of [[cinematography]].<ref name=cinematographers/> [[Ravi Shankar]]'s soundtracks to the films were also a major influence on [[The Beatles]], specifically [[George Harrison]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Leng|first=Simon|title=While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison|year=2006|publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation|Hal Leonard]]|location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1423406099|pages=48–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRoFPFvI1joC&pg=PA48|access-date=7 July 2012}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
{{see also|List of awards conferred on Satyajit Ray}}

===National awards===
;President's Medals
* '''Winner''' – 1955 – President's Gold & Silver Medals (New Delhi) – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')<ref>{{cite web|title=Pather Panchali|publisher=Satyajit Ray official site|url=http://www.satyajitray.org/films/pather.htm|access-date=1 May 2009|archive-date=23 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623012707/http://www.satyajitray.org/films/pather.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* '''Winner''' – 1959 – President's Gold Medal (New Delhi) – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')<ref name=apursan>{{cite web|title=Apur Sansar|publisher=Satyajit Ray official site|url=http://www.satyajitray.org/films/apursan.htm|access-date=1 May 2009|archive-date=29 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629110513/http://www.satyajitray.org/films/apursan.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

;[[National Film Awards]]
* '''Winner''' – 1956 – [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film|Best Film]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1956 – [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali|Best Feature Film in Bengali]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1960 – [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film|Best Film]] – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')

===International film festivals===
;[[Cannes Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – [[1956 Cannes Film Festival|1956]] – Best Human Document – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – [[1956 Cannes Film Festival|1956]] – [[SIGNIS|OCIC Award]] (Special Mention) – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* Nominated – [[1956 Cannes Film Festival|1956]] – [[Palme d'Or|Golden Palm for Best Film]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')

;[[Venice Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – [[Golden Lion|Golden Lion of St. Mark for Best Film]] – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – Cinema Nuovo Award – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – Critics Award – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')

;[[Berlin International Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – [[David O. Selznick|Selznick]] Golden Laurel for Best Film – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1960 – [[David O. Selznick|Selznick]] Golden Laurel for Best Film – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')

;[[British Film Institute|British Film Institute Awards]], [[London Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – [[FIPRESCI|FIPRESCI Award]] – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* '''Winner''' – 1960 – [[Sutherland Trophy|Sutherland Trophy for Best Original And Imaginative Film]] – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')
* '''Winner''' – 1980 – Wington Award – Apu Trilogy (for each film)<ref>{{cite web|title=Apu Trilogy|publisher=Satyajit Ray official site|url=http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/apu_trilogy.htm|access-date=1 May 2009|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710145800/http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/apu_trilogy.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

;[[Edinburgh International Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1956 – Diploma of Merit – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1960 – Diploma of Merit – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')

;[[San Francisco International Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – Golden Gate for Best Picture – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1957 – Golden Gate for Best Director – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'') – [[Satyajit Ray]]
* '''Winner''' – 1958 – Golden Gate for Best Picture – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* '''Winner''' – 1958 – Golden Gate for Best Director – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'') – [[Satyajit Ray]]
* '''Winner''' – 1958 – International Critics' Award – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')

;[[Vancouver International Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1958 – Best Film – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')

;[[New York Film Festival]]
* '''Winner''' – 1959 – Best Foreign Film – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')

;[[Stratford, Ontario|Stratford]] Film Festival
* '''Winner''' – 1958 – Critics' Award for Best Film – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')

===Other international awards===
;[[National Board of Review of Motion Pictures|National Board of Review Awards]] (United States)
* '''Winner''' – [[Academy Award|1958]] – [[National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Film]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – [[National Board of Review Awards 1960|1960]] – [[National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Film]] – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')<ref name=apursan/>

;[[Kinema Junpo|Kinema Junpo Awards]] (Tokyo)
* '''Winner''' – 1967 – Best Foreign Film – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')<ref>https://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Kinema_Junpo_Awards/1967 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040925233308/http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Kinema_Junpo_Awards/1967 |date=25 September 2004}} {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>

;[[Bodil Awards]] (Denmark)<ref>[http://www.filmkritik.dk/1b.lasso?n=4] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007153021/http://www.filmkritik.dk/1b.lasso?n=4|date=7 October 2008}}</ref>
* '''Winner''' – 1967 – [[Bodil Award for Best Non-European Film|Best Non-European Film]] – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* '''Winner''' – 1969 – [[Bodil Award for Best Non-European Film|Best Non-European Film]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')

;[[British Academy Film Awards]] (United Kingdom)
* Nominated – [[11th British Academy Film Awards|1958]] – [[BAFTA Award for Best Film]] – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* Nominated – [[12th British Academy Film Awards|1959]] – [[BAFTA Award for Best Film]] – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')
* Nominated – [[12th British Academy Film Awards|1959]] – [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress]] – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'') – [[Karuna Banerjee]]
* Nominated – [[15th British Academy Film Awards|1962]] – [[BAFTA Award for Best Film]] – ''[[The World of Apu|Apur Sansar]]'' (''The World of Apu'')

;Other awards
* '''Winner''' – 1956 Golden Carbao ([[Manila]]) – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1956 Vatican Award (Rome) – ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (''Song of the Little Road'')
* '''Winner''' – 1958–1959 Golden Laurel for Best Foreign Film (United States) – ''[[Aparajito]]'' (''The Unvanquished'')<ref>{{cite web|title=Aparajito|publisher=Satyajit Ray official site|url=http://www.satyajitray.org/films/aparaji.htm|access-date=1 May 2009|archive-date=21 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121160346/http://www.satyajitray.org/films/aparaji.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|1950s|Film}}
* ''[[Avijatrik]]''
* [[Cinema of West Bengal]]
* [[Cinema of India]]
** [[Parallel Cinema]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== General bibliography ===
* {{cite book |last=Isaksson |first=Folke |editor=Cardullo, Bert |title=Satyajit Ray: Interviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQYs4X5d9WAC |year=2007 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-57806-937-8 |chapter=Conversation with Satyajit Ray |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103143738/http://books.google.com/books?id=fQYs4X5d9WAC |archive-date=3 January 2014}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Ray
|given1 = S
|year = 1993
|edition = 3
|title = Our films, their films
|publisher = Asia Book Corp. of America
|isbn = 978-0-86311-317-8
}}
* {{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Andrew|title=Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnkcLvYRNfMC|year=1989|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06946-6}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Robinson
|given1 = A
|year = 2003
|title = Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker
|publisher = I. B. Tauris
|isbn = 978-1-86064-965-3
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Seton
|given1 = Marie
|author-link = Marie Seton
|year = 1971
|title = Satyajit Ray: Portrait of a director
|publisher = Indiana University Press
|isbn = 978-0-253-16815-3
|url-access = registration
|url = https://archive.org/details/portraitofdirect0000seto
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Wood
|given1 = R
|year = 1972
|title = The Apu trilogy
|publisher = November Books Ltd
|isbn = 978-0-85631-003-4
}}

== Further reading ==
* Nyce, Ben (1988). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KHJZAAAAMAAJ Satyajit Ray: A Study of His Films]''. Praeger. 1988. {{ISBN|978-0275926663}}.

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q622380|title=Pather Panchali}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q622382|title=Aparajito}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q622376|title=The World of Apu}}
* [http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/apu_trilogy.htm The Apu Trilogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710145800/http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/apu_trilogy.htm |date=10 July 2017 }} at SatyajitRay.org
* [http://www.janusfilms.com/aputrilogy/ The Apu Trilogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202004850/http://www.janusfilms.com/aputrilogy/ |date=2 December 2015 }} at [[Janus Films]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050525000402/http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,the_apu_trilogy,00.html The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)] in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''
* [http://artsandfaith.com/t100/apu.html Voted #17 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2010)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404172104/http://artsandfaith.com/t100/apu.html |date=4 April 2010 }}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3804-the-apu-trilogy-behind-the-universal ''The Apu Trilogy: Behind the Universal''] an essay by [[Girish Shambu]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay}}
{{Satyajit Ray}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apu Trilogy, The}}
[[Category:Film series introduced in 1955]]
[[Category:Cinema of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Films directed by Satyajit Ray]]
[[Category:Indian film series]]