Kanu Banerjee

Kanu Banerjee (Kanu Bandyopadhyay) (20 June 1905 – 27 January 1983) was an Indian actor and director of Bengali cinema and theatre. He is best known for his portrayal of Harihar Ray, father of Apu, in Satyajit Ray's classic Pather Panchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956), part of the Apu Trilogy. He was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. He first appeared as an amateur artiste with Sisir Kumar Bhaduri in Biraj Bou (1934) as Netai at Naba Natyyamandir. In 1955, he also appeared as saint Ramakrishna in Prafulla Chakraborty’s biographical film Bhagaban Sri Sri Ramakrishna.

In 2012, his memoirs titled, Hariharer Panchali, based on his long interview published in Sharadiya (Durga puja) magazine Baro Maas in 1979 and other interviews was published by Sutradhar and released by Sandip Ray, son of Satyajit Ray, at Nandan theater in Kolkata. Previously, on 20 June 2012, on the occasion of his 108th birth anniversary, his statue was unveiled on Banamali Chatterjee Street in Tala neighbourhood of North Kolkata, where he used to stay.