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
Pather Panchali to make a film based on the novel; the agreement was in principle only, and no financial arrangement was made. The Bengali word "path" literally means path, and "pather" means "of the path". The word "panchali" refers to a type of narrative folk song that used to be performed in Bengal and was the forerunner of another type of folk performance, the "jatra". English translations of the Bengali title include "Song of the Little Road", "The Lament of the Path", "Song of the Road", and "Song of the Open Road". "Pather Panchali" did not have a script; it was made