Movie maker, Satyajit Ray`s Apu Trilogy stands out in world cinema, remarkable for every facet of its being. In the New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote `The fulfilment of the Apu trilogy honours the screen.` Such was the magic of the films - at no point are they forced - rather an easy, natural flow marks the progression of one film into the next. The luminous performances by Soumitra Chatterjee as the adult Apu and Sharmila Tagore as Aparna are among the best ever on screen.

Ray became art diector of an ad agency and a book illustrator. He based his trilogy on Bibhuti Bhushan Bannerji`s novel Pather Panchali, inspired by `its humanism, its lyricism and its ring of truth` and the author`s `wonderful ear for life-like speech as a reflection of class, and as revealing states of mind`. Ray was, at the time, illustrating a new edition of the book.

1955 - Pather Panchali: The film starred Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Subir Bannerjee, Tulsi Chakraborty, Runki Bannerjee, Chunibala Devi, and Ruma Ganguly. Ray`s masterpiece of a pre-industrialization village (called Nischintpur, i.e. `a place of no worry`) and the story of one family. The father leaves for the city in search of employment, his wife, children are left behind. The daughter catches pneumonia and dies after a joyous dance in the rain - the parents and the son leave their village to move to Benares. The enduring mother masks her pain, the father wallows in self-pity while the boy Apu looks to the future with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

The direction and photography, apart from the performances, have made this one of the most renowned films of India. The picturization of the monsoon rains which begin gently, liberating and then turn destructive, echoing the daughter Durga`s (Dasgupta) life - from joy and abandon in the rain to her death, caused by the storm. There was no script for the film - just a series of wash drawings by Ray in a sketch book now with the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris. The film was three years in the making, and beset by financial problems. Later, the Government of Bengal helped finance the film. The film won the prize for the `Best Human Document` at the Cannes film festival in 1956.

1956 - Aparajito: The film starred Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Pinaki Sengupta, Smaran Ghoshal, Santi Gupta, and Kali Bannerjee. The film continues the story of the family of Pather Panchali. The father dies, the mother is compelled by circumstances to settle for the charity of a relative for her son`s sake. Apu grows up, preferring to study and later to live in the city than become a priest like his father. His mother passes away while Apu studies and works in Calcutta. The train journey from Benares to the village is accompanied briefly by the theme of Pather Panchali, and the memories surface. This film was the first to employ bounce lighting, pioneered by Subrata Mitra. The film explores the relationship between mother and son - the growing distance as Apu failed to understand her. A realistic portrait and one that viewers were not comfortable with. The film was initially a failure in India but critical acclaim reversed this. It won the Lionne d`Ore at the Venice film festival.

1957 - Parash Pathar: The film starred Tulsi Chakraborty, Ranibala Devi, Kali Bannerjee, Jahar Roy, Chhabi Biswas, Jahar Ganguly, Pahadi Sanyal, and Tulsi Lahiri. A bank clerk becomes wealthy in an amazingly short span after finding the philosopher`s stone. He is unable to part with it even though he knows he should. At a party, the drunken former clerk shows off the powers of his stone. Later, while trying to escape the police, he gives the stone to his secretary who swallows it as soon as the police arrive. The dialogues held the key to much of the film`s power, and thus a thorough knowledge of the language was essential.

1958 - Jalsaghar: The film starred Chhabi Biswas, Padmadevi, Pinaki Sengupta, Gangapada Basu, and Kali Sarkar. A zamindar, refusing to face the truth about his declining fortunes, lives the old life. Finally, he puts all his remaining wealth into holding a musical evening, to which he invites his upstart, newly rich neighbour. The evening is tremendously successful. Having thus established his superiority over the other`s newly-acquired status, he rides off on his favourite horse, to his death. The film was based upon Tarashankar Bannerjee`s story. The music for the film was composed by Vilayat Khan, and was as befitted the ancient lineage the zamindar personified. The refined tastes, the resistance to change and the stubborn pride of the landed nobility was delicately handled by Ray.

1959 - Apur Sansar: The film starred Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakraborty, Swapan Mukherjee, and Dhiren Ghoshal. The third film of the Apu Trilogy, this depicts Apu`s marriage to his friend`s sister, their love and joy in one another, Aparna`s death after childbirth, and Apu`s initial rejection and ultimate acceptance of his son. The scene of Apu with his son Kajal brings to mind the child Apu and the story comes full circle.

1960 - Devi: The film starred Chhabi Biswas, Sharmila Tagore, Soumitra Chatterjee, Anil Chatterjee, Parnendu Mukherjee, and Mohammed Israel. A zamindar believes that his younger daughter-in-law is a reincarnation of the goddess Kali. He offers obeisance and she in her naivete goes along with it. Her husband, opposed to superstition, finds himself helpless in the situation. The film was based on a story by Prabhat Mukherjee, and was acclaimed Pauline Kael as `the most convincing study of upper class decadence ... Ray, by giving them the respect and love that he gives the poor and the struggling, helps us to understand their demoralization.`

1961 - Teen Kanya: Based on short stories by Rabindranath Tagore, the film too is in three parts - Postmaster, Monihara, and Samapti. Each was directed by Satyajit Ray, and he composed the music himself.
- Postmaster: The film starred Chandana Bannerjee, Anil Chatterjee, Nripati Chatterjee, Khagen Pathak and Gopal Roy. The postmaster`s job in a village is taken by a young man from the city. He finds village life lonely and boring. An orphaned child does the housework for him and he in turn imparts literacy to her. Finally, he decides to resign, and it is only at the point of departure that he realizes the child`s hurt feelings and his own affection for her.

- Monihara: The film starred Kali Bannerjee, Kanika Majumdar, Kumar Roy and Govinda Chakravarty. A woman forgets her pain over her childlessness in her love of jewellery. Financial problems take her husband to the city; she worries for her jewels and wearing the lot, disappears. Her husband returns with a gift of a necklace and is informed of her death. Her ghost however returns for the necklace.

- Samapti: The film starred Aparna Dasgupta (later, Aparna Sen), Soumitra Chatterjee, Seeta Mukherjee, Mihir Chakravarty, and Devi Neogi. A young man returns home to an arranged marriage. He falls in love with his bride but she is quite unprepared for the relationship. It is only when he returns to Calcutta that she misses him and realizes her feelings.

Satyajit Ray`s other Films

Kanchanjungha (1962): His first colour film. The oppressiveness of the family patriarch is cast aside as each member wants freedom - as in the mists clearing over the Kanchanjungha peak.

Mahanagar (1963) A wife joins the work-force, the world outside and her reactions, the family`s reactions, and eventually the new understanding between her and her husband.

Charulata (1964) A wife newly out of purdah, a dedicated husband unmindful of his wife, her attraction towards another man and her husband`s tender understanding that she has not seen any man apart from him in a decade. She fully faces the unsuitability of her paramour when her husband is killed trying to appease communal resentments kindled by the lover.

Nayak (1966): A film star full of fears and insecurities and a magazine editor who chooses to destroy her notes rather than make public the star`s private pain. oGoopy Gyne Bagha

Byne (1968): Based on fables written by Ray`s grandfather, this is a tale of inept musicians with magic slippers, and ghosts and kings! - A loveable film that became a cult and a box-office success. The highlights of this fantasy were the 7` ghost dance and the ghost-king`s dialogue accompanied by flashing lights. The film`s main characters find a place in Salman Rushdie`s 1990 novel `Haroun and the Sea of Stories`.

Shatranj Ke Khiladi: (1977) On one hand, about two apolitical chess-players happily oblivious to their erupting world, unable to find peace at home, and their escape to a mosque when they do realize the times. On the other hand, Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh, a weak ruler who gave in to the British without a fight, and General Outram determined to implement Dalhousie`s annexation policy - the last two characters received what many perceived to be an overly sympathetic treatment.