The World of Apu

Thank you, sir

I wish you had stayed on

to take your degree

I couldn't afford to

But don't give up your writing

I remember your stories in the

college magazine about village life

They were very good. You know,

one can earn a living by writing

Satyajit Ray Productions presents

APUR SANSAR (The World of Apu)

Original story by

Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay

Apu:
Soumitra Chatterji.

Aparna:
Sharmila Tagore

Kajal:
Aloke Chakravarty.

Pulu:
Swapan Mukerji

Photography:
Subrata Mitra

Art direction:
Bansi Chandragupta

Sound recording:
Durgadas Mitra

Film editing:
Dulal Dutta

Production manager: Anil Chowdhury

Music:
Ravi Shankar

Production, script and direction:

Satyajit Ray

Good morning. Sit down

What use will that be?

It will rest your legs

I haven't come up to rest my legs

You know very well why I'm here

I'm going to ask a straight question,

and I'd like a straight answer

- What is the date?

- The tenth

- How many months rent do you owe me?

- Three

That makes twenty-one rupees

Will you pay me now,

or shall I return this evening?

That makes three questions, not one

It's not fair

Many things are not fair

Is it fair

that I should house you for nothing?

That you should use electricity

all day without paying for it?

You have had education.

You have pictures

of great men on the wall

Is it fair

that you don't pay the rent?

It's a sign of greatness, you know

I, too, could turn a pretty phrase...

...but it would not be fit

for your young ears

Anyway, either I get my money

this evening...

...or I'll look for a new lodger

This letter is for you, not me

We're both Rays

We are pleased to accept your short

story "A Man of the Soil"...

...for publication in the next

issue of Sahityik

Not bad news, I hope

Why do you get so few letters?

Does nobody write to you?

I'd like to open a love letter

by mistake

Perhaps it's as well

I've experienced

matrimonial complications

HARIMATI PRIMARY SCHOOL

You advertised for a teacher

Qualifications?

- Intermediate Science

- No good, we want Matriculation

But I got that before Intermediate

What did the advertisement say?

It did specify Matriculation

Then why harp on Intermediate?

What's the point?

Would you work

for ten rupees a month?

Well?

I understand

you want someone in your factory.

I have Matriculation

Any experience of labelling?

Labelling?

No, but I can learn

Go through that door

and down the passage.

Take a look first

Pulu!

You're a fine friend.

Why didn't you tell me

you'd left the student hostel?

I've been searching north Calcutta

for you since four o'clock

I finally got your address from the

people you give private lessons to

What's so funny?

You've put on weight

I had.

I lost it these last three hours

Would you like tea at the cafe

around the corner?

All right.

But I've two tickets for

us to see Sadhabar Ekadashi

Is this a hideout? Are you

forging banknotes or something?

I wish I could

And you cook for yourself?

I'll cook you a meal one day:

Rice and potatoes

What about the railway job?

I thought you'd got it

There was a strike on, and they

wanted people as strike-breakers

So you've been unemployed?

I give some private lessons

- How much do you make?

- Fifteen rupees a month

Didn't you learn to type?

Yes, I thought it might be useful

Good. I'll get you a job

as soon as we return

Where are we going?

You'll come with me to my cousin

Aparna's wedding on Monday

- Where?

- Just for a few days

- But where?

- Khulna.

Khulna!

It's a hundred miles away

You'll love it there

An old-world village,

a lovely river with boats on it

Fields of grass and paddy.

Bamboo groves, mango orchards

Doesn't it tempt you?

Trees full of birds:

Magpies, thrushes, nightingales

And in the evening,

fireflies and oil lamps aglow

No electricity

Doesn't it sound tempting?

You'll come, won't you?

Take me back to thy lap,

O Mother Earth

Take back thy son and wrap him

in thine ample robe.

Let me be one with the soil,

and spread myself

Far and wide,

like the joys of spring,

let me burst the heart's narrow cage

reak down the stonewalls of self

and the cheerless prison of the mind

To rush forth in a rapture of delight

And flow to the far ends of the earth,

surging, billowing, rolling on

A policeman

Who's there?

I Am Mainaak,

son of the Himalayas,

hiding my wings in the sea

What's come over you?

You sound

as if you've had too much to drink

I don't think I'll take that job

Don't be absurd

Why should I become a clerk?

There is no reason why I should

I'm a free man, without ties,

no one to worry about

Why should I become a clerk?

But you can't keep pawning books

to pay the rent

- Things will change

- Not without a job

Listen, those with real talent...

Needn't eat?

Apurba Kumar Ray

Make fun of me, but just wait and see

Something up your sleeve?

Some new poems?

You're too prosaic

You'll go abroad,

become an engineer,

get a fat job and settle down

So I'm prosaic? That's gratitude!

Who took you in hand in Calcutta?

Country bumpkin scared of the traffic

Who read your first short story,

and what did he say about it?

Don't get so worked up

Do you know why I feel so elated?

I've had my first good meal

for months, thanks to you

Well, are you writing anything?

A wonderful novel

Why didn't you tell me?

- Do you know a good publisher?

- No problem

A boy

A village boy.

Poor, but sensitive

Father, a priest. He dies

The boy doesn't want to be a priest.

He wants to study, he's ambitious

He studies

In the process, I see him struggle

He sheds superstition and prejudice

He takes nothing on trust

He tries to be rational

He has imagination,

he's intrigued by little things

He has greatness in him, perhaps.

He has the ability to create

But he doesn't

Right, but that's not a tragedy

He remains poor, in want

But he doesn't turn from life,

he doesn't want to escape

He is fulfilled, he wants to live

This is autobiography

Partly, but there are imaginary

characters, plot, love...

Love?

What do you know of love?

You've never been

within ten paces of a girl

It's not that easy,

you have no experience

- Is imagination worth nothing?

- Not where love is concerned

- You're quite wrong

- I'm absolutely right

How much further wilt thou lead me,

O Fair One?

Tell me what shore thy golden boat

will touch

Whatever I ask thee, O thou

from distant lands

Thou smilest in thine own sweet way

And I can never know

what is in thy mind

Silently, thou liftest a finger

pointing to the trackless, wild sea

As, far to the west,

the sun goes down in the sky

What lies there?

What do we go to seek?

Tell me, I pray thee,

O stranger fair

Where, at the edge of evening,

glows the day...

Give me your hand

Wonderful. Really wonderful

Look who is here!

It's Pulu, and not alone

I hope the journey was not

too unpleasant for city people

My youngest son, Murari.

He's studying at Daulatpur College

Take his luggage

Rate this script:3.0 / 3 votes