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 shot on location with an amateur cast. The international success of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (1950) and Bimal Roy's 1953 film "Do Bigha Zamin" (which was shot partly on location and was about a peasant family) led Ray to believe that "Pather Panchali" would find an international audience. Ray also had more indigenous influences, such as Bengali literature and the native Indian theatrical tradition, particularly the "rasa" theory of classical Sanskrit drama. Darius Cooper describes the complicated doctrine of "rasa" as " predominantly on feelings experienced not only by the characters but also conveyed in a certain artistic way to the