Subir Banerjee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Subir Banerjee is an Indian
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
who played
Apu APU or Apu may refer to: Film and television * ''The Apu Trilogy'', a series of three Bengali films, directed by Satyajit Ray, with the fictional character Apu Roy, comprising: ** ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') (1955), the first ...
in
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
's Bengali film ''
Pather Panchali ''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali (language), Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Ba ...
'' (lit. ''Song of the Little Road'', 1955), the first installment of ''
The Apu Trilogy ''The Apu Trilogy'' comprises three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: ''Pather Panchali'' (1955), ''Aparajito'' (1956) and ''The World of Apu'' (1959). The original music for the films was composed by Ravi Shankar. ...
''.


Pather Panchali

During the pre-production of ''Pather Panchali'', Satyajit Ray advertised in newspapers seeking boys between five and seven years of age for the role of Apu. Several boys arrived for audition, but none of them met the expectation of the director. Finally, Ray's wife
Bijoya Ray Bijoya Ray ('' née'' Das; 27 October 1917 – 2 June 2015) was the wife of the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Their son Sandip Ray is also a film director. Bijoya and Satyajit were first cousins. Bijoya's father was the eldest half brother of ...
spotted a boy playing on the roof of a neighbouring building of their apartment. This boy, Subir Banerjee, was eventually cast for the role of Apu. Banerjee stayed at Lake Avenue in Kolkata, and later recounted his father's reluctance in allowing him take up the role. That is when Ray said, "Today, no one knows your son or me. But I'll make a film that will change Bengali cinema. Then, all of Bengal will know both of us." This convinced his father, thereafter the shooting continued from 1952 to 1954, with a year's break in between. Andrew Robinson, in his book ''Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye'', describes that at the beginning of the shooting of ''Pather Panchali'' in 1952, Subir Banerjee was a "decidedly unresponsive actor". The first scene that the crew shot was a scene involving Apu and his elder sister Durga, played by another young actor Uma Dasgupta, walking through a field of ''kash'' (''
Saccharum spontaneum ''Saccharum spontaneum'' (wild sugarcane, Kans grass) is a grass native to the Indian Subcontinent. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading rhizomatous roots. In the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a l ...
'') and catching a glimpse of a train. The scene required that Apu walk haltingly, looking for his sister, who had gone ahead. However, Banerjee, without any acting experience, could not enact the halting walk. So the crew had to improvise and place small obstacles in Banerjee's path; also some crew members hid in different parts of the ''kash'' field and called Banerjee at pre-arranged times so that Banerjee looks in those directions at times, thereby giving his walk a halting and searching appearance. The film had interrupted shooting schedules due to funding problems. One long break spanned eight months. Satyajit Ray became nervous, among other things, that the voice of Banerjee, a growing young boy, would
break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning res ...
, thereby causing a problem in the continuity of the film. However, this did not happen.


Later life

Banerjee did not appear in any film after ''Pather Panchali''. He disappeared from the public eye. ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'', a magazine, tracked him down and published his details in an article, "Pather Panchali: An Odyssey Revisited", in March 1980. At that time, he worked as a millhand in a factory in the suburbs of
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. According to a report in
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
, Banerjee became a clerk at a
central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
office, and later took voluntary retirement. He is, as of December 2012, 69 years old and "completely detached" from films.


In popular culture

''
Apur Panchali ''Apur Panchali'' is a 2013 Bengali film directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced by Shree Venkatesh Films. It is based on the life of Subir Banerjee, the actor who played Apu in ''Pather Panchali'' (1955), the first film of Satyajit Ray's Apu ...
'' (2013) is a Bengali film based on Banerjee's life. Director
Kaushik Ganguly Kaushik Ganguly (born 4 August 2012) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor in Bengali cinema. Multiple National Award winner Actor-Director, Kaushik Ganguly is known for making films that explore various aspects sexuality, like ' ...
won the award for best director for ''Apur Panchali'' in the 44th
International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...
(IFFI) in November 2013. The director mentioned in an interview that he found similarities between certain parts of the life of Subir Banerjee and the iconic character Apu. In the film, actor
Parambrata Chatterjee Parambrata Chattopadhyay (born 27 June 1980) is an Indian actor and director. Parambrata started his career with Bengali television and films. He has acted as the fictional character Topshe from Feluda under Sandip Ray's direction. He made his ...
portrays a younger Subir Banerjee, while Ardhendu Bannerjee plays the role of the aged Banerjee.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Subir Indian male film actors Living people Indian male child actors Male actors from Kolkata Male actors in Bengali cinema Satyajit Ray Bengali Hindus Year of birth missing (living people) 1940s births