@ wpqx

Eleven from Ray's oeuvre is damn impressive! Just curious about what the 11th film was, since you list the ten best. Is it by chance, "The Chessplayers" or "The Philosopher's Stone"? If so, they would have been up there in my Ray top five. I am surprised to see "Distant Thunder" meet with such appreciation too. John mentioned it, and now you have it at the top. It is a hopelessly underrated film in India, especially in Bengal. Wonder why? Would be quite high on my list too. "Devi" and "Three Daughters", on the other hand would not be in my top ten. Let me give it a try too. This time i'm treating each rank seriously. I am cheating a bit, as usual.

1. The Music Room (by far the best)
2. The Philosopher's Stone 
3. The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (in an age when special effects was unheard of, he pulls off a technical wonder!)/Distant Thunder
4. Aparajito
5. The Chessplayers/Pather Panchali
6. The Adversary
7. The Lonely Wife
8. The Middleman
9. The World of Apu 
10. The Coward, The Saint

@ john

"Umrao Jaan" gives the "kothha" (literally, the house of the courtesan) genre of bollywood films (to which "Pakeezah" belongs) a different spin. It isn't untrue that courtesans in north india owned a lot of property and had prestige in society during a certain period. I do find the empowerment message a drag, but there is enough in the film to distract you from it.

M