Apur Sansar…..The World Of Apu

Friends, I hope with my blogs ” The beauty of Satyajit Ray movies” and ”Aparajito The Unvanquished” I am able to give you a fair idea about Mr Satyajit Ray and his movies. Most importantly I hope, that like me you all must have become fond of Apu. Apu is not just a character but a reflection of a journey called life.

Apur Sansar (The World Of Apu) is the last and the most intriguing movie of the Apu trilogy. Unlike the earlier movies of this trilogy, this movie completely revolves around Apu and his journey. In Aparajito we have seen that Apu is convinced by his grandfather to take up priests job after his mother’s death. Apu, having other plans refuses to do so and returns to Kolkata to pursue his education. In Apur Sansar we see Apu as a grown-up adult portrayed beautifully by Mr Soumitra Chatterjee. Apu being qualified bachelor is now in search of a job to meet his ends. In one of the scenes when his landlord pesters him for rent, Apu gives him a dose of his own medicine. Although not very impressed by this ,the landlord reminds him that if things don’t improve then he has to look for another tenant. While leaving he also reminds Apu about efficiently using the resources mainly electricity. The scene is so well shot that we all go down the memory lane of our bachelor days and recollect the epic conversations that we used to have with landlords.

Apu’s job search continues and he finds himself in a difficult situation as he is either overqualified or under-qualified for them. One fine day, he is visited by a college friend Pulu. Pulu takes him for dinner where he comes to know about Apu’s situation. After the dinner when Apu and Pulu go for a stroll, Apu tells Pulu that he as been writing a novel where the character’s journey is similar to that of Apu. Hats off to the Mr Satyajit Ray for articulating the dialogues between two friends and bringing alive friendship on screen where Apu pours his heart out to Pulu. Apu is animated and tells Pulu that although his struggle for securing a job is on, he is contemplating a novel. Pulu is excited about this and wishes to read it. Reminds us all about that one friend with whom we can share everything without hesitation. The one who will always stand by us come what may. At the end of their meet Apu is invited by Pulu for his cousin’s wedding which is planned in scenic countryside. Little does Apu know that this will change the course of his entire life.

Apu and Pulu arrive at the wedding location and during their journey, Pulu gets a glimpse of Apu’s writing which makes him more fond of Apu. For Pulu, its more of Apu’s autobiography but for Apu its his dream novel. He tells Pulu that though the character in his novel has been through crisis situations but that hasn’t changed his viewpoint about life and he still hopes for the best.

While Apu is enjoying the serenity of this place, a crisis situation arises and Pulu runs to Apu for help. The groom who was to marry Pulu’s cousin is found to be mentally unstable and the marriage is called off. To avoid bad omen, Pulu asks Apu to marry his cousin as a favour. After initial hesitation, Apu does agree and the marriage takes place. Let me now introduce Aparna who is Pulu’s cousin and now Apu’s wife. The character of Aparna is played by Sharmila Tagore when she was 15 years old. The innocence of Apu is so well portrayed on screen, his conversation with Aparna where he tries to comes to terms with this unexpected event of his life.

Apu and Aparna return to Kolkata after marriage and he tries to comfort Aparna in his bachelor residence. Now we all know how a bachelor residence is, in most of the cases it’s unorganised. To depict the differences between Apu’s bachelor days and post marriage, Mr Satayajit Ray uses his lens smartly to pin point few things such as the dirty or torn curtains getting replaced by new ones, new linens replacing old ones, the improvement in overall aesthetics of the room . Apu and Aparna’s chemistry is so beautifully depicted, be it Apu’s flirty eyes gazing at Aparna early morning, the smudged vermillion dot on Aparna’s forehead,all depicting the romantic moments of a newly wed couple. This is what you call a magical director who has displayed romantic intimacy without physical intimacy on screen.May be such great directors came from a different school of thought where emotions and feelings had a greater meaning.

Life moves forward for Apu and Aparna with Apu managing a clerk’s job and some part-time tutions. Soon they are overwhelmed with the joy of Aparna conceiving. Aparna leaves for her maternal home and Apu promises to visit her soon. Will this be Apu and Aparna’s last meet? In one of the scenes when Aparna us away at her maternal home, Apu is trying to go through Aparna’s letter secretly after office hours but is interrupted by his colleague. While travelling back home he again tries to go through the letter but a fellow passenger starts peeping making him uncomfortable. Apu reaches home and cannot hold his excitement to read Aparna’s letter. To his surprise he finds Aparna’s brother waiting at his doorstep. He breaks the most saddening news of his life that Aparna has passed away while giving birth to the son. What will Apu do now? Life has been posing challenges to him at every juncture. Will Apu survive this tragedy?

Apu is depressed after Aparna’s death and contemplates suicide but doesn’t commit. Apu doesn’t even go to meet his son as he considers him the reason for Aparna’s death. The director here tells us that even though we may face such extremities of life but giving up is not a solution. Negative thoughts might cross our mind in such cases but we definitely have more reasons to cherish life. Apu is a wanderer now and is more of a body without soul. Apu seems to be lost in this world and takes up odd jobs as he keeps shifting his location. He is so fed up that he tears away the pages which he had written for this novel. Apu’s friend Pulu comes looking for him and tries to convince him to take up his son’s responsibility. Apu’s doesn’t agree with him rather tells Pulu to make some arrangement for him. Apu assures him that he will take care of the money part but he his not ready to meet his son. Pulu refuses saying he is already tied up and cannot help him, with this Pulu leaves. Apu’s conscience is aroused and he finally decides to meet his son. His son’s name is ”Kajol”. In the meantime Kajol grows up under his maternal grandfathers watchful eyes. When we first see Kajol onscreen, we are reminded of our little Apu. One scene where kajol does some mischief and he is reprimanded ,he tells that his father will come and give them a good bashing. He is ridiculed saying that no one has seen his father’s tiki ( tuft of hair) for the last 5 years. Innocent Kajol asks, do fathers have tiki? A little boy who hasn’t seen his father since birth is simply drawing different images about his father. Craving of a child for parental love is conveyed through this single scene and beautifully portrayed.

Apu finally meets his son Kajol but doesn’t find acceptance from him. Apu tries hard to win over him but Kajol refuses to budge. Apu decides to leave and after walking a few steps he finds Kajol following him, he innocently asks Apu if he can take him to Kolkata to his father to which Apu agrees. He still doesn’t recognise Apu as his father but as a friend who will take him to his father. Apu is so moved by Kajol’s innocence that he realises how wrong he was to hold Kajol responsible for Aparna’s fate. He accepts Kajol and Apu’s journey continues.

With Apur Sansar and especially the concluding scene of the movie, Satyajit Ray gives beautiful ending or rather should I say new beginning or dimension to Apu’s life. Apu is not just a movie character. Apu is our reflection. Through this character , Satyajit Ray tells us, Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.