''Aparajito'' (1956 film)- Review

Directed by: Satyajit Ray
Released: 1956
Country: India

Genre: Drama

Rating: 5 out of 5

Review

''Aparajito'', Satyajit Ray's second film, is a sequel to his first, ''Pather Panchali''.

Harihar (Kanu Banerjee) and Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee) and their son, Apu (Pinaki Sen Gupta) have moved to Varanasi. Although there is poverty and a lot of troubles, they are initially happy but then, suddenly, Harihar dies. Sarbajaya is left to fend for herself and her son. They move to Sarbajaya's hometown, a remote village. The film follows the difficult lives of Sarbajaya and Apu (the adolescent Apu is played by Smaran Ghoshal) and how Sarbajaya has to come into terms with the painful changes once Apu moves to Kolkata for his education.

''Aparajito'' is quiet and unpretentious but the characters go through and display a wide variety of emotions. The most powerful performance is delivered by Karuna Banerjee, who plays Sarbajaya. You can feel the pain she feels when her son- the person she is still, after all the troubles she has been through (including the death of her daughter and husband), bravely facing life for- goes away to Kolkata. We can feel her longing for her son, the loneliness she goes through. Apu, too, is a character with depth. There is a scene- right after Sarbajaya and Apu move to the village- when Apu can hear the sirens from a train and rushes to see it passing by. Emotions are reflected on his face. What is he thinking of? Perhaps the time- depicted in ''Pather Panchali''- in which he and his elder sister had run to see the train passing by? When he decides to move to Kolkata, little can he imagine the loneliness his mother will go through. Being a teenager with little experience with human emotions, he can hardly comprehend his mother's emotions- something that he eventually comes to regret.

''Aparajito'' is a deeply moving and powerful film.