Subrata Mitra to a cameraman...Almost every shot of "Pather Panchali" posed a problem for me, innumerable problems, many sleepless nights spent on ruminating over the prospects of the next day's shooting..."Pather Panchali" had many excellent shots--both technically and artistically, but it had many bad shots too." From 1997 until his death, Mitra was an emeritus professor of cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) at Kolkata. Subrata Mitra Subrata Mitra (12 October 1930 – 7 December 2001) was an Indian cinematographer. Acclaimed for his work in "The Apu Trilogy" (1955–1959), Mitra is often considered one of the greatest of
Pather Panchali the progress of Ray's project. Huston saw excerpts of the unfinished film and recognised "the work of a great film-maker". Because of Huston's positive feedback, MoMA helped Ray with additional money. Including the delays and hiatuses in production, it took three years to complete the shooting of "Pather Panchali". The realist narrative style of "Pather Panchali" was influenced by Italian neorealism and the works of French director Jean Renoir. In 1949 Renoir came to Calcutta to shoot his film "The River" (1951). Ray, a founding member of the Calcutta Film Society (established in 1947), helped him scout for locations in