Subrata Mitra as a cinematographer with Satyajit Ray, the legendary Indian film maker, for "Pather Panchali" (1955). He continued to work with him for many of Ray's later films. He is known for pioneering the technique of bounce lighting, while filming "The Apu Trilogy". Satyajit Ray thought that "Subrata Mitra’s camera work is better than Raoul Coutard’s". Coutard was at the time much more acclaimed than Mitra having collaborated with Godard on many of his film projects. One of his most important technical innovations was his introduction of bounce lighting, which he pioneered while filming "Aparajito" (1956), the second part of "The
Pather Panchali trilogy: "Aparajito" ("The Unvanquished", 1956) and "Apur Sansar" ("The World of Apu", 1959). "Pather Panchali" is described as a turning point in Indian cinema, as it was among the films that pioneered the Parallel Cinema movement, which espoused authenticity and social realism. The first film from independent India to attract major international critical attention, it won India's National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955, the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, and several other awards, establishing Ray as one of the country's most distinguished filmmakers. It is often featured in lists of the greatest