Satyajit Ray began shooting his first film, Pather Panchali, with a producer who later went bankrupt. Ray pawned his wife’s jewelry and sold rare books and records, and the money was still not enough. He then approached Bidhan Chandra Roy, the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
The state government part financed the film. LatestLY reports that it was “part financed by the West Bengal Roads Department.” Swarajya reports that Roy asked for a happier ending, and that Ray refused.