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
Satyajit Ray Renoir about his idea of filming "Pather Panchali", which had long been on his mind, and Renoir encouraged him in the project. In 1950, D.J. Keymer sent Ray to London to work at its headquarters office. During his three months in London, Ray watched 99 films. Among these was the neorealist film "Ladri di biciclette" ("Bicycle Thieves") (1948) by Vittorio De Sica, which had a profound impact on him. Ray later said that he came out of the theatre determined to become a film-maker. Ray decided to use "Pather Panchali" (1928), the classic "Bildungsroman" of Bengali literature, as the basis