Halfway through filming, Ray ran out of funds. The Government of West Bengal loaned him the rest, allowing him to complete the film. This loan is listed in public records at the time as "roads improvement", a nod to the film's translated title.
The original negative for the film was burned in a fire in 1993. Amazingly, the damaged film was restored as the negative was rehydrated, repaired and scanned in 4K resolution.
Legend has it that on the first day of shooting, Satyajit Ray had never directed a scene, his cameraman Subrata Mitra had never photographed one and none of his child actors had even been screentested for their roles.
The international success of "Pather Panchali" allowed Ray to quit his job at the advertising agency he had been working at, and devote himself to film-making, literature and art.
Because of all the many delays in this film's nearly three-year production, director Satyajit Ray became increasingly apprehensive that some event might occur to prevent his finishing it. In fact, he attributed his success in that regard to three miraculous occurrences (or rather non-occurrences), referring to his cast by their character names: "One, Apu's voice did not break. Two, Durga did not grow up. Three, Indir Thakrun did not die."