Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ declared best Indian film by FIPRESCI

PTI, Oct 21, 2022, 3:36 PM IST

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Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s feature “Pather Panchali” has been declared as the best Indian film of all time by International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).

The 1955 film has received the number one slot in the top ten films in the history of Indian cinema list, which was declared after a poll conducted by the India chapter of FIPRESCI.

As per a press release issued by FIPRESCI-India, the poll was conducted in secret, and involved 30 members.

Based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s 1929 Bengali novel of the same name, “Pather Panchali” was Ray’s directorial debut. It starred Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Pinaki Sengupta and Chunibala Devi.

This list also features Ritwik Ghatak’s 1960 drama “Meghe Dhaka Tara” (Bengali), Mrinal Sen’s 1969 drama “Bhuvan Shome” (Hindi), Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s 1981 drama “Elippathayam” (Malayalam), Girish Kasaravalli’s 1977 film “Ghatashraddha” (Kannada), MS Sathyu’s 1973 movie “Garm Hava” (Hindi), Ray’s 1964 film “Charulata” (Bengali), Shyam Benegal’s 1974 film “Ankur” (Hindi), Guru Dutt’s 1954 film “Pyaasa” (Hindi) and 1975 blockbuster “Sholay” (Hindi), directed by Ramesh Sippy.