Pather Panchali is the Taj Mahal of 1950's Indian cinema. Remarkably, director Satyajit Ray was self-taught; he never apprenticed or formally studied his art at a film school. This critical work examines the classic film from the perspective of a director, not simply placing it in historical and critical context, but providing commentary on Ray's technical direction. Liberally illustrated with hand-drawn sketches of frames from the film, this work is indispensable to both cinema aesthetes and aspiring directors. The book includes about 475 hand-drawn, ink-wash, black and white sketches of frames from the film; Ray's two forgotten articles from the Apu trilogy days; an unconventional bibliography recommending not only what to read on Ray but also what to avoid reading; and a foreword by Dilip K. Basu, head of Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection, University of California, Santa Cruz.