Subir Banerjee Subir Banerjee Subir Banerjee is an Indian actor who played Apu in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film "Pather Panchali" ("Song of the Little Road", 1955), the first installment of "The Apu Trilogy". 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 spotted a boy playing on the roof of a neighbouring building of their apartment. This boy, Subir Banerjee, was eventually cast for the role
Pather Panchali the progress of Ray's project. Huston saw excerpts of the unfinished film and recognised "the work of a great film-maker". Because of Huston's positive feedback, MoMA helped Ray with additional money. Including the delays and hiatuses in production, it took three years to complete the shooting of "Pather Panchali". The realist narrative style of "Pather Panchali" was influenced by Italian neorealism and the works of French director Jean Renoir. In 1949 Renoir came to Calcutta to shoot his film "The River" (1951). Ray, a founding member of the Calcutta Film Society (established in 1947), helped him scout for locations in