Pather Panchali ("The Unvanquished", 1956), the second film of the Apu trilogy. Satyajit Ray, working as a graphic designer for Signet Press, created the illustrations for a new abridged edition of the book in 1944. At that time, Ray read the unabridged novel; Signet's owner D. K. Gupta told Ray that the abridged version would make a great film. The idea appealed to Ray, and around 1946–47, when he considered making a film, he turned to "Pather Panchali" because of certain qualities that "made it a great book: its humanism, its lyricism, and its ring of truth". The author's widow permitted Ray
Aparajito films admired by him; this list quoted him as having affirmed the jury's choice as "ABSOLUTELY right" (though he misidentified the winning film as "Pather Panchali"). Emanuel Levy said: "Made in 1956 (and released in many countries a year later), 'Aparajito' indicates India’s processes of modernization and industrialization and their inevitable impact on both individual and culture. Nonetheless, in his upbeat outlook, Ray suggests that individuals can rise to the occasion and might not be compromised by the corruption that characterizes the society at large." Bosley Crowther, who had earlier given a lukewarm response to "Pather Panchali", saying that the