Chunibala Devi in an international film festival - The Manila Film festival, for her role of Indir Thakrun. She died in Kolkata, of influenza, in 1955, before the release of Pather Panchali, although Ray had been to her house to show her a projection. Chunibala Devi Chunibala Devi, born circ. 1875 — 1955 in Kolkata, was an Indian character actress best known for her performance in Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali", where she played the old aunt, Indir Thakrun, to Apu and Durga. Formerly a theatre actress, Chunibala Devi made her film debut with Bigraha in 1930, though after her second film, Rikta
Pather Panchali pond. Apu and his parents leave the village on an ox-cart. Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's novel "Pather Panchali" is a classic bildungsroman (a type of coming-of-age story) in the canon of Bengali literature. It first appeared as a serial in a Calcutta periodical in 1928, and was published as a book the next year. The novel depicts a poor family's struggle to survive in their rural ancestral home and the growing up of Apu, the son of the family. The later part of the novel, where Apu and his parents leave their village and settle in Benaras, formed the basis of "Aparajito"