India’s Evergreen Films: ‘Pather Panchali’ Tops The List

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – Satyajit Ray’s 1955 classic ‘Pather Panchali’ was named the best Indian film of all time in a poll conducted by the Indian chapter of International Federation of Film Critics.

Ritwik Ghatak’s 1960 drama ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ was placed in the second spot, followed by Mrinal Sen’s ‘Bhuvan Shome.’

Ray’s 1955 film ‘Pather Panchali’, which is based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s 1929 Bengali novel of the same name, marked his directorial debut. It was also the first film of the Apu Trilogy. Regarded as one of the most iconic films ever made, ‘Pather Panchali’ depicts the childhood travails of protagonist Apu and his elder sister Durga amid the harsh village life of their poor family. It was followed by ‘Aparajito’ (1956) and ‘Apur Sansar’ (1959).

Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s 1981 Malayalam film ‘Elippathayam’, Girish Kasaravalli’s 1977 film ‘Ghatashraddha’, and M.S. Sathyu’s ‘Garam Hawa’ made it to number four, five and six, respectively.

Ray’s 1964 film ‘Charulata’ was named seven in the list. The eighth spot was taken by Shyam Benegal’s 1974 film ‘Ankur’, while Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyaasa’ (1954) and Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ (1975) took the ninth and tenth positions, respectively.