The World of Apu

Apur Sansar (The World of Apu)
Film poster
Apur Sansar
Directed bySatyajit Ray
Written bySatyajit Ray
Based onAparajito
by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Produced bySatyajit Ray
StarringSoumitra Chatterjee
Sharmila Tagore
Alok Chakravarty
Swapan Mukherjee
CinematographySubrata Mitra
Edited byDulal Dutta
Music byRavi Shankar
Production
company
Satyajit Ray Productions
Release date
  • 1 May 1959 (1959-05-01)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali
Box office₹75–80 lakh

The World of Apu, initially released as Apur Sansar (Bengali: অপুর সংসার), is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film written, produced, and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is adapted from the second half of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s novel Aparajito. Preceded by Pather Panchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956), it is the concluding instalment of Ray’s acclaimed Apu Trilogy, chronicling the life of Apu, a young Bengali man, through his formative years in early twentieth-century India.

The film stars Soumitra Chatterjee in his debut role as Apu, alongside Sharmila Tagore as Apu’s wife, Aparna—both of whom would become frequent collaborators in Ray’s later works.

Premiering on 1 May 1959, The World of Apu received widespread critical acclaim. It was awarded the Indian National Film Award for Best Feature Film and earned multiple international accolades, including the Sutherland Award for Best Original and Imaginative Film and the National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film.