Karuna Banerjee

Karuna Banerjee Bengali করণ বযনরজ was a Bengali actress best known for her role in Satyajit Rays The Apu Trilogy 19551959 as the long suffering mother Sarbajaya She was nominated for Best Actress at the 1959 BAFTA Awards for her performance in Aparajito 1956 the second part of The Apu Trilogy She appeared in a number of other films after that including Rays Devi 1960 and Kanchenjungha 1962 She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College an affiliated womens college of the University of Calcutta Banerjees acting career expanded over more than two decades in Bengali cinema and theatre She is best known for her memorable performance as Sarbajaya the mother in the first two parts of Satyajit Rays The Apu Trilogy Pather Panchali 1955 and Aparajito 1956 Her performance in the latter earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 1959 BAFTA Awards She acted in a few more films including two more by Ray two by Mrinal Sen and one by Ritwik Ghatak that was never officially released