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The Psychological Dynamics of Apu in Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy

Satyajit Ray’s films Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The

Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), more commonly known as The Apu

Trilogy trace the evolution of a village family with subtle introspection into the psychological

dynamics of the protagonist Apu. Pather Panchali has been adapted from Bibhutibhusan

Bandopadhyay’s novel of the same name and the film incorporates many of the original

dialogues of the novel. The next two sequels Aparajito and Apur Sansar are both adapted

from Bibhitibhusan’s novel Aparajito. To quote Ray:

The first part of the trilogy, Pather Panchali was based on…a great book, a

classic of Bengali literature with many qualities, visual as well as emotional,

which are transcribable on film. I tried to retain these qualities in the film.

The second part, Aparajito, deals with the adolescence of the central

character Apu and is based on the last portion of the book Pather Panchali,

and the first portion of the second novel which is also called Aparajito.

The third part of the trilogy Apur Sansar, which is based on the second half

of the novel Aparajito presented more problems. The orphan Apu was now

young man as depicted by the author Bibhuti Bhusan Banerjee, he charts a

somewhat unclear emotional pattern. (Ray 15-17)

The purpose of my present paper is to investigate the development of Apu’s (Apurba Kumar

Roy’s) psychological self with special reference to his relationship with his mother and

subsequently with his wife and child.

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I

The influence of Vittorio de Sica on Satyajit Ray was phenomenal. He practically

ventured on the path of film making after watching Sica’s Lardi di Biciclette (The Bicycle

Thieves). In My life, my work, Ray said:

I would make my film exactly as De Sica had made his: working with non-

professional actors, using modest resources, and shooting on actual locations.

The village which Bibhutibhusan had so lovingly described would be a living

backdrop to the film, just as the outskirts of Rome were for De Sica’s film.

(Robinson 24)

Ray’s Pather Panchali embodies these very notions. He has worked with amateur actors and

shot on locations. The effect was a completely new discovery in the Indian milieu. Ray’s

episodic plot structure efficiently captures the essence of rural Bengal and creates the illusion

of reality with greater comfort. Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) begins with Durga

stealing fruits from the neighbour’s garden and the neighbour’s querulous whinnying.

Durga’s mother, Sarbajaya who goes to fetch water from the well feels humiliated by the

neighbour’s scornful speech. Sarbajaya scolds Durga for stealing the fruits and tells her to

return them. She is evidently angered by the fact that Durga steals the fruits for Indir

Thakrun, an old relative who stays in their house. We have the first glimpse of the rift

between Sarbajaya and Indir Thakrun. Indir Thakrun feels humiliated and leaves the house

for the household of a village acquaintance Raju. Sarbajaya’s husband, Harihar is a learned

priest but without any stable job. Poverty looms large in their house. Harihar writes scripts

for yatras and hopes for better fortune. After a time lapse we find Harihar anxiously loitering

in the veranda while Sarbajaya is in labour. Apu is born and brings with him the hope of new

aspirations and positive vibes. Pather Panchali tells the story of a simple priest and his

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family trying to surmount the poverty and sense of tragedy bent on wrecking their life apart.

The two motifs—poverty and tragedy pervade the entire film and prove instrumental in the

other two films too. The quarrelling neighbour adds to the misery. Roy is unflinching in his

honesty. He shows the whole truth—he is not sympathetic towards Sarbajaya as regards her

behaviour with Indir Thakrun, nor does he present any justification of Durga’s blatant theft of

the necklace. The overweening problems though cannot curb their spirit. They have one thing

most necessary—hope. The bond between Apu and Durga has been especially emphasized by

Ray. The siblings embody the essential pristine beauty of village life. Their having pickle

together, watching bioscope typify this very sense of beauty and a child’s vision of the world

which sees everything with intensified tone and colour. Their adventure in the fields of kaash

flower and watching the train is perhaps the most iconic moment in the film (fig. 1). Earlier

Apu asks Durga if she had watched train or knew where the train goes by.

Fig. 1. Pather Panchali: Apu and Durga amidst kaash flowers…

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His fascination with the train is symbolic in different levels. The train may emblematise

ambition; it may also stand for a hope for better life, or means of an escape from the mundane

existence. The train is as if a product of the magical world which holds promise of great

opportunities. Above all the train is a symbol for Apu’s journey—from village to city, from

prejudices to enlightenment, from innocence to maturity. His imagination is inflamed from

the very early years when Indir Thakrun tells him and Durga ghost stories. The all-

encompassing poverty has been reiterated trough out the film: when Apu and Durga wants to

have some sweets but have no means to buy them, when Indir Thakrun whines about her torn

shawl and in Sarbajaya’s interminable appeal and nagging to her husband about their state of

utter poverty. Durga cannot resist her urge and steals a necklace from the neighbour’s house

which leads to further altercation between Sarbajaya and the neighbour. Apu certainly is

concerned about the ensuing scenario and tries to warn his sister with whom he shares a deep

bond. Srbajaya beats Durga and turns her out of the house. When she asks Apu to bring his

sister home, his face lights up. When Durga dies and they decide to leave Nischindipur, Apu

finds the stolen necklace and throws it into the pond. Apu is certainly shocked by the

discovery and wants the necklace to disappear. He wants to preserve Durga’s image in

whichever means he can. This incident shows how much the incidents that brought Durga

into the centre of debate disturbed him. He wished to efface all the tarnished conceptions that

people had of his sister. These incidents may appear trivial from the distance or to an

uncritical eye, but to a child whose entire universe consists of only a few people and few so

called trivial incidents, the incidents may be infused with great significance and meaning. We

can in this context recall Rabidranath Tagore’s short story Ginni (Housewife), where the

teacher, oblivious of the child’s innocent and impressionable mind nicknames him ‘ginni’(for

playing with his sister), making him an object of utter ridicule and shame. The story ends

with the words “…he realised that to play with your little sister on a school holiday was the

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most shameful thing in the world, and he could not believe that people would ever forget

what he had done” (Radice 54-57). Unfortunately the throbbing poignant fervour, the very

intensity and nuance of the Bengali script is missing in the English translation. To come back

to Pather Panchali, in the necklace incident Apu is perhaps denying himself the recognition

that his sister had done an act of shame, as Andrew Robinson hinted (107). Not a single word

is spoken but the ineffably complex emotions of Apu are vividly portrayed. The incident

concretizes Ray’s theory as he says, “I have a feeling that the really crucial moments in a film

should be wordless” (Robinson 107). At one point in the film we watch Apu watching a yatra

acting out the story of the evil Serpent king, his daughter, and her noble husband. Apu

watches in utter thrall and amazement the drama and grandeur which parallels contrastively

with the drama of his own life which is mundane and bleak when juxtaposed with the yatra.

The yatra acts as stimulus to his inner urge to escape the mundane life to which he is

tethered. Returning home he dresses like a prince and watches himself in the mirror trying to

situate himself in a magical world far removed from his material existence, trying to create

for himself a separate identity. The very ethos of Pather Panchali and the rest two films

seems to be moulded by death and tragedy. And the trail of death begins with the passing

away of Indir Thakrun. Apu watches death for the first time so closely. The scene has been

aptly created with its wonderful mixture of beauty, horror and mystery. Durga’s death

obviously had a greater impact on the entire family. Durga’s death shatters Sarbajaya and the

family decides to leave Nischindipur for Benares trying to leave behind all the poverty and

suffering. The sense of loss and grief pervades the entire atmosphere as they leave

Nischindipur never to return again.

II

Aparajito (The Unvanquished) shifts focus to Apu. We find the family relocated in

Benares. The film begins at the banks of the Ganges at Benares and captures in a nutshell the

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very essence of the city and the family itself. There are devotees everywhere. “Kathak

thakurs” recite and explain holy verses to devotees. There are pigeons everywhere hovering

over the sky and they become an important motif of the film. Harihar now has a considerable

income. Apart from being a “kathak thakur”, he practices Ayurveda. Apu watches his father

explaining religious verses to devotees, then passes by another “kathak thakur” and reaches

an alfresco gymnasium where he watches a muscular man exercising, fascinated by the

rhythmic movements and swings of the club. Andrew Robinson explains here:

As the scene fades into dusk over the whole ghat seen from the river, we

understand both the ten-year-old Apu’s dawning new horizons and his

subliminal rejection of both the priestly and the manual way of life. (114)

We see Sarbajaya and Apu visiting the Viswanath temple and watching the arati. Sarbajaya

is obviously mesmerised by the spectacle and spirit of devotion but Apu remains a detached

observer. Apu has new friends now. He learns English from a non-Bengali friend which

further iterates his intellectual curiosity. Due to strenuous work Harihar falls ill and dies.

Harhar’s death is accosted by the fierce whirring of the pigeons which intensifies the tragedy

and sense of horror. This comes as a second blow to Sarbajaya and Apu. Sarbajaya is almost

destroyed from which he never recovers. Hence forward she remains in constant fear of

losing Apu. Her only sense of purpose comes from Apu. Having lost one daughter and

husband, she is completely uprooted from whatever sense of hope and stability she had. Apu

gets a coin as reward for plucking grey hairs from the head of the household. He feeds some

monkeys in a temple and rejoices watching their antics. Robinson says in this context:

As the monkeys gambol and swing around the temple, snatch the foods from

Apu’s eager hands and rings the temple bells with discordant abandon, Apu’s

curiosity and love of life are yet again impressed upon the mind of the

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viewer—in implied contradiction to the resignation and fatalism of his mother

Sarbajaya. (Robinson 119)

Sarbajaya watches Apu acting as a mere servant to the household and decides to leave for the

village of her relative in Mansapota. The relative promises to provide for her and Apu and

seeks to introduce Apu to the affairs of priesthood. Apu is certainly not interested in the

arrangement but does really have nothing to say. We see Apu learning the rites and rituals of

pujas without any emotional attachment or understanding. One day he sees a group of young

children playing and his repressed desires burst out. He rushes to play with them and traces

them to a school. His memories of Nischindipur as a student haunt him and he discloses his

desire to go to school to his mother who is concerned about financial difficulties but agrees.

We see Apu as an intelligent student. He impresses the school inspector. The headmaster

introduces him to out-of-syllabus books: books of science and technology and biographies of

great men. Later we see Apu enacting what he has read, in real life dressing like an African

native. He conducts scientific experiments and explains to his mother the mechanics of lunar

eclipse (fig. 2) with eyes full of undeviating excitement and enthusiasm.

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Fig. 2. Aparajito: Apu with his mother…

In the Matric examination he stands second in the district.When the headmaster asks him if

he would like to study further especially in Kolkata, he readily agrees. But he faces resistance

from his mother though she ultimately gives her consent. Sarbajaya is clearly jolted into a

world where she finds only grief and tragedy. Having lost her daughter and husband she is

constantly in fear of losing her son. Sarbajaya vehemently voices her refusal to give consent

and hits Apu. When Apu goes out of the house, she feels like pushing his son further away in

the attempt to hold on to him. Apu has found the substitution he needs for his loss, his

education, and his aspirations. But the substitution for Sarbajaya is only her son. Sarbajaya,

who is an uneducated simple Bengali village woman, brought up in a conventional orthodox

Bengali society holds her family and husband to uttermost significance. Sarbajaya finally

gives her consent to Apu, but is certainly terrified underneath by the sense of losing her only

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sense of being in the world. Apu reaches Kolkata. We find him to be concerned more and

more with his studies and moving more and more away from his mother. He says to his friend

Pulu that in the village he cannot study and feels sleepy; that is why he does not want to go to

village. On the other hand his mother craves for his love and attention. One day when Apu

was sleeping and he does not wake up when Sarbajaya calls his name, she is terrified by the

apprehension of his death. She is obsessed with death and morbid thoughts. She is clearly

reminded of her husband’s reclined dead body in this situation. One day Sarbajaya’s letter

reaches Apu in which she tells him of her desire to see him, how much she is pained having

not seen him for over two months. Apu still does not go home citing examination and its

preparation. Sarbajaya falls ill and dies. Apu returns home and breaks down. But he recovers,

regains strength and prepares to leave for Kolkata wishing to conduct the funeral in Kolkata

at Kalighat. Mrinal Sen’s comment in the Calcutta Statesman is significant in this regard:

In Aparajito, Ray’s unorthodox approach to the analysis and unfolding of the

relationship between a mother and her only son growing into adulthood is,

indeed, a revelation. The focus is on slow but inevitable disintegration of a

seemingly unalterable relationship, with constant stresses and strains acting

within, and the eventual discovery of the son’s new moorings in metropolitan

setting. The entire process, as I watch the film, has its ups and downs, its

complexities, its inexorabilities which are ruthless and yet so much an integral

part of us and our time… (Robinson 109)

As Robinson aptly says, “For Apu to be free to grow and realise his talents, Sarbajaya must

be abandoned and die…” (110). Aparajito as if reiterates and reinstates the perennial truth

that the old would wear away, giving way to the new. Old rules, old customs, orthodox mind-

set, prejudices and ignorance give way to education, enlightenment, liberalism and

progressive outlook. In the end of the film Apu comes out of the tragedy, moves forward and

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shows promise of positive mentality. In the end he is truly “the unvanquished”. Tragedy

cannot wreck his love for life. He has lost his sister, his father, his mother but he comes

around with robust optimism and true courage and never falls out of love with life and this is

what he will give voice to in Apur Sansar.

III

Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) begins with a conversation between Apu and his

college professor from which we learn that Apu is dropping out of college because of

pecuniary crisis. The professor asks him not to lose his habit of writing because that may be a

vocation for him. Next we find him residing in a dilapidated building which obviously

emphasizes his financial problems. He is sleeping in a cot with an upturned inkpot on some

manuscripts. The manuscripts and ink indicate his vocation as an aspiring writer. The

upturned inkpot may be a foreboding of his future annihilation of his artistic self. The burning

light may also indicate his promise as a creative writer, as Robinson suggests (129). The

landlord comes and asks for fees. The landlord scorns at the fact the he is burning electricity

by keeping the light on even during daytime and turns the light off. After the exit of the

landlord Apu expresses his anger by switching the light on and turning on another additional

light. Apu’s grimace is childish rather than pungent or repulsive. Ray does not take sides; he

is completely objective. Ray seems to say that a writer, naturally not bothered by mundane or

material issues, should at least have a sense of practicality. Next Pulu comes to visit him.

They have lunch at a restaurant. Pulu asks Apu to go with him to a cousin’s marriage and

lures him by evoking the beauties and pleasantries of village life. The two friends walk by the

road while Apu recites aloud some dialogues of a drunken intellectual from Dinabandhu

Mitra’s Sadhabar Ekadasi. Pulu offers him a job of clerkship which will diminish his poverty

but Apu rejects the offer. He vents out his disgust at the very conception of being a clerk. He

cannot even visualize himself as doing any mundane job which is very consistent with his

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temperament as an aspiring artist. Apu says that he is a lone man with no responsibilities,

tensions, attachments; so he won’t be a clerk. Pulu asks him what he had been writing. He

answers “a wonderful novel”, “ekti aschorjo uponyas” in the Bengali script. The novel turns

out to be almost entirely autobiographical. He describes his own situation, his own

psychology, his own aspirations, his own creeds and hopes:

A boy. A village boy. Poor, but sensitive. Father, a priest. He dies. The boy

doesn't want to be a priest. He wants to study, he's ambitious. He studies. In

the process, I see him struggle. He sheds superstition and prejudice. He takes

nothing on trust. He tries to be rational. He has imagination, he's intrigued by

little things. He has greatness in him, perhaps. He has the ability to create. But

he doesn't. Right, but that's not a tragedy. He remains poor, in want. But he

doesn't turn from life, he doesn't want to escape. He is fulfilled, he wants to

live.

We clearly see how much self-conscious Apu is. He has the introspection and insight of a

true artist. He says Pulu that apart from so much autobiographical elements, his novel has

imaginary characters, plot extensions and love. Pulu argues that no one can write about love

without having firsthand experience and as Apu had never been “within ten yards of a girl”,

he cannot write about love. But Apu argues that he can write about love because he has

imagination, he does not need firsthand experience. We realize how naïve Apu is regarding

the concept of love. Ray here changes the plot deviating from Bibhutibhusan Banerjee’s

novel, excluding Apu’s girlfriend Lila who was present in the novel. By this plot innovation

Ray intensifies the situation on two dimensions: on the one level he is totally innocent in the

world of love, on another level this naiveté and innocence becomes instrumental in his after-

marriage life. Next we see Apu and Pulu in a boat on their way to the marriage function of

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Pulu’s cousin. Apu recites Rabindranath Tagore’s Niruddesh Yatra, a poem addressed to a

lover whom the addresser does not know. The poem typifies the very essence of Apu’s state

of mind and future course of life. Like the poem, Apu’s search for love is vague and

uncertain, yet shrouded in mystery and enthralled rapture. The poem anticipates love in

Apu’s life. They reach their destination which is significant both literally and metaphorically.

Apu has arrived at his destination in his search for love. We are reminded of a very recent

Bengali film Bakita Byaktigata (Rest is Personal) by Pradipta Bhattacharyya. The central

motif of the film is that one cannot look for love; it comes unexpectedly catching the person

totally unaware. Similarly Apu comes to attend the marriage ceremony but the bridegroom

turns out to be crazy and he has to marry the bride, Aparna to save her from the orthodox

Hindu society which would otherwise condemn her to lifelong maidenhood.

Fig. 3. Apur Sansar: Apu and Aparna in the night of phulsajya…

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In the night of phulsajya (fig. 3) he tells Aparna about his decision to marry her: “This

marriage was forced on me. I was against it, but…Something changed my mind, I felt I

would be doing a noble thing. Everything became confused.” We find Apu frustrated, restless

and churning with overweening emotion unable to think anything clearly. He speaks

hesitantly, sometimes slows down and sometimes speaks rapidly without any coherent

progression of thought. He becomes happy the moment he senses the whiff of understanding

in Aparna, but sinks into depression when he is reminded of his own poverty. The sudden

unexpected marriage has visibly jolted him into an uneasy position. He is especially troubled

by his own poverty and the affluent upbringing of Aparna. He points out that he has no

house, no job and is disturbed by the fact he has no means of keeping his newly wed bride

well provided for. However Apu brings Aparna home. After a time lapse of few days we

watch Aparna carrying out the daily chores. Apu is again reminded of his poverty. He asks

Aparna:

“Do you lament your decision?”

Aparna: What? I don't know such difficult words.

Apu: Will "regret" do?

Aparna: Yes

Apu: Do you regret it?

Aparna: Regret what?

Apu: Do I have to explain that too?

Aparna: Yes

Apu: You missed out on a rich husband. You're laughing!

Aparna: No, I'm crying.

Apu: You must feel sorry. You don’t tell me.

Aparna: Of course. I could have had an easy life.

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Apu: I am going.

Aparna: Where?

Apu: To look for a maid servant.

Aparna: Don’t be silly. Come back please. Who will pay for the servant?

Apu: I’ll get more private lessons.

Aparna: Then send me back to my parents. One lesson is bad enough after a hard day’s work.

Apu: What should I do then?

Aparna: I’ll tell you: give up the lesson you have.

Apu: And then what?

Aparna: Then my poor husband will come home early. Then I shall lament no more.

The problem here is that the entire connotation, the beauty, poetry, the subtle resonance and

music is missing in the English translation.

Fig. 4. Apur Sansar: Apu and Aparna as husband and wife…

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In the original Bengali script “onushochona” and “apshosh” were the words in place of

“lamentation” and “regret” respectively. In the talk show “Ghosh and Company” Rituparna

Ghosh explains to Joy Goswami the poetry and how Apu and Aparna are connected in a

single artistic whole. Ghosh says that Apu first says the word “onushochona” which Aparna

cannot comprehend, but when Aparna herself uses the word “onushochona” they are

connected in a single unified whole where their whole consciousness gets merged, their

separate identities become unified (fig. 4). Similarly later Apu asks Aparna, “What is there in

your eyes?” Aparna replies “kajal” (which means kohl). We later come to know that the name

of Apu and Aparna’s son is Kajal. The same ‘kajal’ that Apu admires and gazes at with

ineffable amazement (Here ‘kajal’ symbolizes his love for Aparna.), later turns out to be his

object of anger and hatred as concretized in his son Kajal. But later he finds his way back to

his son. Apu’s relationship with his wife Aparna and his son Kajal has astounding

correspondence with each other. First, Apu is thrust into a marriage which he does not like

and is almost sick of, but he later learns to love his wife. Similarly he cannot love his son at

first, but after many tribulations the acceptance and love come. After Aparna’s death Apu is

completely shattered. He writes to Pulu: “Hear you're going abroad. Wish you success. I’m

going away, too. Don't know where I'm going but I do know why: want to be free…” He

wishes freedom from the oppressive effect of the tragedy. He feels bogged down, suffocated.

His letter to Pulu reflects that he has been totally wrecked. He sets out for the unknown. Next

we find him sitting by the side of a cliff and he throws away his manuscript. Both Robin

Wood and Andrew Robinson say that this is unconvincing (Robinson 138). They argue that

Apu’s severing of all ties with all his attachments, especially with his vocation is implausible.

I intend to contend this opinion. Apu and Aparna’s conversation when she sets out for her

father’s house is significant in this context.

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Apu: One job will be done. I'll have time to work on my novel. I haven't touched it since we

married.

Aparna: Is that my fault?

Apu: No, it's your virtue. You know how much my novel means to me, don't you? You are

greater than my novel to me.

The point is Apu falls in love with Aparna and his love and vocation gets merged somewhere

in his consciousness. And we see his vocation gets replaced by love which has a stronger

hold upon him. So, Aparna’s death also gets blended inextricably with his vocation. The

tragedy pervades his entire being. At first he does not realize this. But when he becomes

conscious of the fact he tries to fly away from everything that was in any way connected with

the memory of Aparna. He is as if an Indian Odysseus trying to get back to his ‘home’ after

his monumental loss. Satyajit Ray explains this situation:

The fact of the death of the wife in childbirth is obviously a traumatic

experience for him. An experience like that can bring about very strong, far-

reaching changes in a man’s outlook on life and death and the meaning of

existence etc. he is absolutely shattered by the death because it happens so

quickly. And the next step—that’s very Indian. Probably it doesn’t appeal to

the West so much, but I think it’s probably in keeping with Indian philosophy

and the Indian attitude to life. Certainly in Bibhutibhusan it’s very strong.

Anyway I am quite happy with the transition from a mood of suicide to a

mood of renunciation. (Robinson 138)

Bibhutibhusan Banerjee’s comment in this context is also worth quoting:

In the city, one’s mind might be wholly preoccupied with thoughts of self,

desire or ambition. Here under the colossal expanse of the star-studded sky,

these things seemed both irrelevant and insignificant. …Even books that had

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once seemed fascinating, or important in his busy life in the city now appeared

trivial, dull, and unnecessary in his present seclusion. (Robinson 139)

Next we find Kajal in the village hunting birds. We are immediately reminded of childhood

Apu in Pather Panchali. In place of Apu’s timid innocence we find in Kajal a sense of wild

rebelliousness, clearly a result of Apu’s abandoning him. He is constantly reminded by others

of his father not visiting him even for once in five years. He yearns for his father, yet at the

same time he begrudges his grandfather’s strict rules. Pulu comes back from abroad and

learns about the whole situation and goes to meet Apu working in a colliery. Apu who had

once rejected the post of clerkship now works at a begrimed colliery which comes as a total

shock to the audience. We find a slovenly Apu, indifferent about anything of life. His

resignation and renunciation is depressing. The artist Apu has rejected his vocation. He tells

Pulu about his callousness to his son: “How can I love him? I've never seen him; to me he is

unreal, untrue. For me he doesn't exist…There is something which I can't forget. As Kajal

exists... Aparna does not. I have no love for him. He is like a stranger.” But Pulu is able to stir

Apu’s sense of responsibility and guilt. Apu comes back to see his son and seeks to arrange

for his proper upbringing, nothing more than that. But he meets with stern opposition from

Kajal. Kajal rejects him altogether and when Apu tells him that he is his father Kajal throws a

brick at him. Kajal’s grandfather goes to cane him, but Apu reacts in horror, “What are you

doing? You might have killed the boy”. Besides reflecting his sensitivity regarding death, this

scene betrays the birth of his affection for his son. It also grows an implicit bond between the

father and son. When he is about to leave the village Kajal follows him. Kajal asks Apu:

“Where are you going?”

Apu: Will you come with me?

Kajal: Are you going to Calcutta?

Apu: If I did, would you come with me?

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Kajal: Would you take me to my father?

Apu: Certainly

Kajal: Will he be cross with me?

Apu: Why should he be?

Kajal: He'll never leave me?

Apu’s voice falters at this question but he decides in the next moment and replies “never”.

Then comes the crucial question: “Who are you?” Apu replies “your friend”. Apu has finally

found his way back to his son. He cannot resist the simplicity, innocence and the profound

appeals of the childish eyes. The audience asks if Apu is reminded of his own childhood.

Perhaps he is. The childhood as a rejuvenating force has been iterated in the trilogy as we

find at the beginning in Pather Panchali and at the end in Apur Sansar. Apu finds back his

love for both his child and his own life when he comes in contact with childhood. We find a

queer correspondence with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane where too childhood has been

represented as the only true, only happy phase of the life of the protagonist Charles Forster

Kane, the “rosebud” of his life. Apu Sansar ends with Apu returning to Kolkata with Kajal on

his shoulders (fig. 5), a picture of utter significance implying Apu’s rebirth into a world of

love full of new hope and vitality.

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Fig. 5. Apur Sansar: The reunion of father and son…

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Works Cited

Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perf. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead,

Dorothy Comingore, and Everett Solane. RKO Radio Pictures, 1941. Film.

Joy Goswami. Interview by Rituparna Ghosh. Ghosh and Company. Youtube.com

Starjalshaindia, n.d. Web. 11 July. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/ >.

Ray, Satyajit. “Should a Film-Maker be Original?” Satyajit Ray on Cinema. Eds. Sandip Ray,

Dhritiman Chaterji, Arup K. De et al. New York: Columbia UP, 2011. 15-17. Print.

Rest is Personal [Bakita Byaktigato]. Dir. Pradipta Bhattacharyya. Perf. Ritwick

Chakraborty, Aparajita Ghosh Das, Madhabi Mukherjee, Churni Ganguly, Monu

Mukherjee. Tripod Entertainment, 2013. Film.

Robinson, Andrew. The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic. London: I. B.

Tauris, 2011. Print.

Song of the Little Road [Pather Panchali]. Dir. Satyajit Ray. Perf. Kanu Banerjee, Karuna

Banerjee, Subir Banerjee, Uma Das Gupta, Runki Banerjee, and Chunibala Devi.

Aurora Film Corporation, 1955. Film.

Tagore, Rabindranath. “Housewife”. Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories. Trans.

William Radice. London: Penguine Books, 1991. 54-57. Google Book Search. Web. 8

August 2015. <http: //books.google.co.in/>.

The Unvanquished [Aparajito]. Dir. Satyajit Ray. Perf. Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee,

Pinaki Sen Gupta, Smaran Ghosal, Ramani Sen Gupta, and Charaprakash Ghosh.

Aurora Film Corporation, 1956. Film.

The World of Apu [Apur Sansar]. Dir. Satyajit Ray. Perf. Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila

Tagore, Alok Chakravarty, Swapan Mukherjee, Dhiresh Majumder and Sefalika Devi.

Satyajit Ray Productions, 1959. Film.

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