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
The Apu Trilogy In 1999, "The Village Voice" ranked "Pather Panchali" at No. 12 (tied with "The Godfather") in its top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list, based on a poll of critics, while "The Apu Trilogy" was ranked separately at No. 54 in the same poll. If the votes are combined, "The Apu Trilogy" would be ranked at #5. In 2000, an audience poll of best Asian films conducted by "MovieMail" ranked "The Apu Trilogy" at No. 2 on the list. "Pather Panchali" was included in various other all-time greatest film lists, including "Time Out" magazine's "Centenary Top One Hundred Films"