This article is about the film. For the novel on which it is based, see Pather Panchali (novel).

Pather Panchali (Bengali: পথের পাঁচালী, Pôther Pãchali,, English: Song of the Little Road) is a 1955 Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of the Indian state of West Bengal. Based on Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's Bengali 1929 novel of the same name, the film was the directorial debut of Ray. The first film of The Apu Trilogy, it depicts the childhood of the protagonist Apu in the rural countryside of Bengal in the 1920s.

Though the film had a shoestring budget of Rs. 150,000 (US$3000), featured mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew, Pather Panchali was a critical and popular success. Influenced by Italian neorealism, Satyajit Ray developed his own style of lyrical realism in this film. The first movie from independent India to attract major international critical attention, Pather Panchali won "Best Human Document" at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, establishing Satyajit Ray as a major international filmmaker. Pather Panchali is today considered one of the greatest films ever made.

Pather Panchali
(Picture : Apu and Durga running to catch a glimpse of a train, a famous scene of the film) Directed by	Satyajit Ray
Screenplay by	Satyajit Ray
Based on	Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Starring	Subir Banerjee Kanu Banerjee Karuna Banerjee Uma Dasgupta Chunibala Devi Tulsi Chakrabarti
Music by	Ravi Shankar
Cinematography	Subrata Mitra
Editing by	Dulal Dutta
Studio	Government of West Bengal
Distributed by	Edward Harrison (1958) Merchant Ivory Productions Sony Pictures Classics (1995)
Release date(s)	August 26, 1955 (India) September 22, 1958 (US) (1955-08-26) (1958-09-22)
Running time	115 minutes 122 minutes (West Bengal)[1]
Country	India
Language	Bengali
Budget	150,000 (US$3000)