The World of Apu (1959)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 1. Including: National Film Award for Best Feature Film

The World of Apu, initially released as Apur Sansar, is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film written, produced, and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is adapted from the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s novel Aparajito. Preceded by Pather Panchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956), it is the concluding instalment of Ray’s acclaimed Apu Trilogy, chronicling the life of Apu, a young Bengali man, through his formative years in early twentieth-century India.

Production

Soumitra Chatterjee, a radio announcer and stage actor, had auditioned, along with doyen of Bengali theatre Sisir Bhaduri, for the role of the adolescent Apu in Aparajito (1956). Though Ray thought Chatterjee had the right look, he found the actor too old for the part in that film, but he remembered Chatterjee when casting the role of adult Apu in The World of Apu two years later.

Ray had a tough time finding the right actress to play Aparna. He even placed an ad in a local daily asking for photographs from girls between the ages of 15 and 17, and, although there were over a thousand responses, he did not find any of the girls worth auditioning. Then, Ray became aware of a girl, Sharmila Tagore, who had recently performed at a dance recital at Children's Little Theatre (CLT) in Kolkata.

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