1959·105 min·Released

The World of Apu

Drama

Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.

8.1(283 votes)

Popularity1

Videos

The Apu Trilogy: 2015 Restoration - Janus Films Trailer

CinemaView Experience

69/100

Watch

CinemaView Score

Best Format

STANDARD

Worth Premium Ticket

✗Skip Premium

Confidence

82%

Why we recommend it

✓Worth watching — solid reviews and rating
✓TMDB rating 8.1/10 from 283 votes
✗Dialogue-driven scenes do not justify premium pricing.
✗Premium formats add little value for this title.
ℹStrong audience ratings support a theatrical watch.
·Limited technical metadata reduces recommendation confidence.

Cast & Crew

Soumitra Chatterjee

Apurba "Apu" Kumar Ray

Sharmila Tagore

Aparna Ray

Alok Chakravarty

Kajal Ray

Swapan Mukherjee

Pulu

Sefalika Devi

Shashinarayan's Wife

Belarani Devi

Apu's Neighbor

Asha Devi

Dhiresh Majumdar

Shashinarayan

Dhiren Ghosh

Landlord

Shanti Bhattacherjee

Office Associate

Panchanan Bhattacharya

Bechu Singha

Watch Options Nearby

These theatres support recommended formats for this movie. This does not mean the movie is currently showing.

Find theatres near you

Enter your city or let us detect your location

CinemaSerf

Written on 1/9/2026

By this third instalment of the adventures of “Apu” (now Soumitra Chatterjee), I was already quite fond of him. He has to shake off the last vestiges of his student years and find himself a job. Even with a teaching qualification this aspiring novelist finds that’s easier said than done but he gets by, delaying settling his seven rupee a month rent for as long as he can, and living cheaply. Then his friend “Pulu” (Swapan Mukherjee) introduces him to his sister “Aparna” (Sharmila Tagore) and the direction of his life takes quite an heartfelt change in direction. Before long they are married, she has become pregnant and has left to spend the tail end of her pregnancy with her wealthier parents. Before he has a chance to join them, a tragedy ensues that affects the young man profoundly. Unable to face his grief he takes to the road on a pilgrimage of sorts, only a directionless and purposeless one. A chance encounter with “Pulu" a few years later reminds him of his obligations to his young son “Kajal” (Alok Chakravarty) who has been brought up by his grandfather, but can “Apu” bear to see the child that robbed him of his true love? Moreover, even if he should decide to make contact, who’s to say the youngster will want to engage with a total stranger? Whatever you do, don’t watch the colourised version of this. Seen in monochrome, it offers us beautifully crafted and characterful drama that lavishes it’s humanity on us. Chatterjee juggles his roles as lovestruck young man becoming grief-stricken wanderer perfectly, without melodrama or sentimentality and the courting scenes with Tagore are really quite delightful to observe, as is his reading of her lovingly threatening letter. The location photography captures the poverty in which most people live as well as the beauty of their surroundings well, and then the camera turns effortlessly in onto the characters as his travels expose this vulnerable young man before our eyes. As with many of Ray’s films, it keeps the story tight and it also clearly extols the virtues of education and of appreciating self-worth - without “Apu” becoming in any way self-obsessed. I was actually quite sad as we reached the end. Not because anything unpleasant happens, but because I felt that I’d like to have known what happened next for “Apu”.

Media

The Apu Trilogy: 2015 Restoration - Janus Films Trailer

No editorial yet

Guides and articles for this movie will appear here after content sync.

Release Timeline

This title has already released. Showing historical dates and streaming availability.

Theatrical · confirmed
Theatrical
The World of Apu
May 1, 1959
Theatrical · theatrical_release
Theatrical release (IN)
The World of Apu
May 1, 1959
Streaming
Now streaming on HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, Criterion Channel, HBO Max
The World of Apu

No awards linked

No Wikidata award or festival records were found for this title yet.

8.2

Bicycle Thieves

21 July 1948

Boy and Crows

0.0

Boy and Crows

1 January 1968

0.0

Martha the 7th wife

30 August 2017

6.4

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

18 June 1999

9.0

The Newest City in the World

11 November 1974

7.5

L'Avventura

14 September 1960

6.4

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

1 May 1959

7.4

Ashes and Diamonds

3 October 1958

The World of Apu

Videos

CinemaView Experience

Why we recommend it

Cast & Crew

Watch Options Nearby

Social

Media

Release Timeline

Related Movies

Watch Options Nearby

Release Timeline

Social

Media

Related Movies

CinemaView Experience

Why we recommend it