An older Apu (Subir Banerjee) and Durga (Uma Dasgupta)

Pather Panchali, famously hailed as ?the film that changed the history of Indian cinema?, will be 50 years old this New Year.

It was Apu and Durga?s song of the road and even today, talk of the film brings a song to their lips. Few know them by their actual names ? Subir Banerjee and Uma Dasgupta. Not that they mind, for the film ? the only one they acted in ? has been their claim to fame and today, both wish to be remembered simply as Apu and Durga.

That?s understandable. From the renowned Akira Kurosawa to Govind Nihalani right down to Karan Johar, everyone has been moved by Ray?s celebration of compassion and humanism.

If Kurosawa had found ?nothing haphazard or irrelevant in his technique,? Govind Nihalani was moved by its ?alaap-like quality? while Karan Johar defines it as one of the greatest movies ever made.

Mrinal Sen rates the film highly, but it is Aparajito, the second in the trilogy, that he singles out for higher praise. ?I believe contemporaneity is measured by the filmmaker?s attitude, not a time period. That is why Aparajito is my all-time favourite,? he explains.

Five decades on hasn?t seen a waning of interest in the film. On the contrary, its popularity graph has witnessed a steep rise. Collapsing as it does the rigid ranks of parallel and commercial films, Pather Panchali is still viewed as a pathbreaking venture. Books on its making have been released to mark the occasion. Sandip Ray plans to screen a good print of the film sometime around August 26, the day on which the film was actually released half a century ago.

What?s more, it?s a song that is to remain on everyone?s lips.