Pather Panchali (novel) Pather Panchali (novel) Pather Panchali (, Pôther Pãchali, translated as Song of the Road) is a novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and was later adapted into a film of the same name by Satyajit Ray. "Pather Panchali" deals with the life of the Roy family, both in their ancestral village in rural Bengal and later when they move to Varanasi in search of a better life, as well as the anguish and loss they face during their travels. It first appeared as a serial in a Calcutta periodical in 1928 and was published as a book the next year; it
Aparajito Ghosal who played the role of adolescent "Apu", at the age of 14, did only one more film, documentary "Rabindranath Tagore" (1961), also made by Ray, where he played young Rabindranath Tagore. Smaran died in 2008 in Kolkata, at the age of 64. "Aparajito" was preceded by "Pather Panchali" (1955) and followed by "Apur Sansar" ("The World of Apu") in 1959. Together, the three films constitute the Apu trilogy. "Pather Panchali" portrays the childhood of Apu in their ancestral house. "Apur Sansar" depicts Apu's adult life, his reaction to his wife's premature death, and his final bonding with his son