The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : `Song of the road' still strikes a chord

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

`Song of the road' still strikes a chord

Staff Reporter

VFS screenes 'Pather Panchali' to commemorate its 51st year of release

VISAKHAPATNAM : The Vizag Film Society (VFS) screened Pather Panchali, by Satyajit Ray to commemorate the film's 51st year of its commercial release on Monday at the Academic Staff College in Andhra University. Satyajit Ray first released the film in 1955 and it effectively depicted a boy's childhood in the Indian countryside in the 1950s.

Shot on a shoestring budget, Ray was able to complete the film only after obtaining a grant from the government of West Bengal. The Oscar award-winning director later went on to complete the trilogy at the behest of the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Inspiration

The film was screened after an hour-long interactive session. Speaking at the session R. Sinha, former professor of chemical engineering in AU and film critic, said though the film was an adaptation of a Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's novel, Ray was largely inspired by Vittorio De Sica's historic film `The Bicycle Thief'. "Pather Panchali had such an impact that many directors from Andhra Pradesh like K.V. Reddy, B.V. Reddy and G. Rambrahmam were inspired by it," he noted.

Universal appeal

The film has a universal appeal and was reviewed worldwide with great praise. Akira Kurosawa had once said, "I can never forget the excitement after seeing it. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river."

The secretary of VFS, N. Prakasa Rao, the society's vice president Krishna Bai and Chalasani Prasad of Virasam also participated in the interactive session.

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