Balu Mahendra to the script". As a film-maker, he claimed himself as belonging to the realistic way of story-telling devised by Satyajit Ray and Vittorio De Sica. Mahendra was drawn towards realistic cinema after watching Ray's "Pather Panchali" (1955). He is credited as being one among the earliest filmmakers to bring "naturalism" in Tamil cinema in the 1970s. He usually photographed, scripted and edited all his films. His films were characterised by strong "visual appeal" and minimal number of characters. A majority of his films centre on the complexity of human relationships and are known to portray women as strong characters. Although
The Apu Trilogy In 1999, "The Village Voice" ranked "Pather Panchali" at No. 12 (tied with "The Godfather") in its top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list, based on a poll of critics, while "The Apu Trilogy" was ranked separately at No. 54 in the same poll. If the votes are combined, "The Apu Trilogy" would be ranked at #5. In 2000, an audience poll of best Asian films conducted by "MovieMail" ranked "The Apu Trilogy" at No. 2 on the list. "Pather Panchali" was included in various other all-time greatest film lists, including "Time Out" magazine's "Centenary Top One Hundred Films"