Back in 1955, when Satyajit Ray was getting ready to put out Pather Panchali—a movie that would change Indian cinema forever—almost no one thought he could do it. He had trouble finding someone to produce it, and Ray even had to pawn his wife Vijaya Roy’s jewelry.

But Kishore Kumar was one of the few who believed in him at that time. Most people knew Kishore as a great singer and actor, but he also really loved movies and was close to Ray.

Kishore Dreamt of Documenting Satyajit Ray’s Masterpiece

Kishore was married to actress Ruma Guha Thakurta, who was Vijaya Ray's niece. He would visit Kolkata a lot and hang out at Ray’s house. It was there that Kishore quietly started working on his movie idea—another Pather Panchali, but he would be the one filming it.

When Kishore heard that Ray was having money problems, he quickly gave him ₹5,000—which was a lot back then—to help him shoot the film. But Kishore Kumar askedKumar asked for one thing: he wanted to use his 16mm camera to film what it was like behind the scenes and turn it into a documentary. Ray, who everyone called Manikda, said yes.

Kishore Kumar’s Unrealised Tribute to Ray’s iconic Film

Kishore got some shots of Ray directing, the crew working, and the real excitement of making the movie. Sadly, no one ever got to see this footage. The camera broke down years later, and everything he had filmed was gone.

If that footage had made it, we could have seen not only Pather Panchali, but also a special, personal view of how it was made—as seen by Kishore Kumar, a real artist who really wanted to help make movie history in his own way.