Pather Panchali still alive at the age of ‘50’

Mumbai: Prabhat Chitra Mandal celebrated ’50 years of Pather Panchali’ on the occasion of its 39^th Anniversary with the screening of Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy at the Y.B. Chavan centre on Tuesday 8^th Jan, 2008 at 6pm. The guest of honor, Mr. Sudhir Nandgaovkar inaugurated the ceremony, which was attended by a wide array of visitors from both the film and social fraternity.

The formal ceremony started with a welcome speech by Mr. Santosh Pathare, general secretary of Prabhat Chitra Mandal.

“We have successfully completed our 39 years of Prabhat Chitra Mandal, and what better way to celebrate this occasion than with the screening of Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy ,” said Mr. Pathare in his welcome speech. After introducing Mr. Sudhir Nandgaovkar and presenting him a bouquet he announced, “Sudhir Nandgaovkar is going to take up the responsibility of heading Prabhat Chitra Mandal’s new classic film center to be opened in Thane very soon.”

“Pather Panchali means a ‘song of a little road’. Pandit Ravi Shankar had given music to this film which was directed by great Satyajit Ray. And now this film has completed its’50 years’, which is definitely a great moment to rejoice and celebrate, not only this film, but the entire film industry as a whole,” expressed Mr. Nandgaovkar.

Pather Panchali was released in the year 1958 and ran for 8 weeks in Kolkatta. It was Satyajit Ray’s first film, which went on to a have a tremendous impact all over the world for its simple and artistic portrayal of poor a Bengali family, in which lies the genius of the great filmmaker.

The response for this screening was great. The enthusiasm amongst the audience, especially among the youngsters was palpable. “There were more than 200 people, including a good number of youngsters for the screening,” said Mr. Pathare.

The commemoration will continue till 10^th January with the screening of ‘Aparajito’ and ‘Apur Sansar’ respectively, which constitutes the famous 'Apu' Trilogy’.