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Karuna Bannerjee

Karuna Bannerjee

Actor · Died November 13, 2001, aged 81 · Khulna, Bangladesh

Karuna Banerjee (Bengali: করুণা ব্যানার্জী) was a Bengali actress best known for her role in Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) 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 Ray's Devi (1960) and Kanchenjungha (1962). She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated women's college of the University of Calcutta. Banerjee's 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 Ray's 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.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
December 25, 1919
Died
November 13, 2001 (aged 81)
From
Khulna, Bangladesh
Works as
Actor
Titles
4 on MovieCove · 10 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Down 19% in 30 days

What are Karuna Bannerjee's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
48%
Bonds
25%
Society
15%
Power
12%
Family bonds2 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this themeComing of age2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 0 · Serious 1 · Dark 3

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 4 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 0 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 2

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

A split, not a type: Resolved 3 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1

Roles they play

1 analyzed role

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Melancholic
4
Bittersweet
2
Tense
1
Contemplative
1
Dread
1
Other
2

How their films linger

Bittersweet3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Karuna Bannerjee's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on The Criterion Channel (3).

Subscription and free streaming for Karuna Bannerjee's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

10 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

  • Apur Panchali(2013)

    as (Archive Footage)

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • Calcutta 71 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

    Actor

  • Interview (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)

    Actor

  • Kanchenjungha (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)

    as Labanya Roy Chaudhuri

  • The Goddess(1960)

    as Harasundari

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Headmaster (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)

    as Labanya

  • Shubha Bibaha (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)

    as Meja-boudi

  • Manmoyee Girls' School (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)

    Actor

  • Aparajito(1956)

    as Sarbajaya Roy

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • Pather Panchali(1955)

    as Sarbajaya Roy

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films

Career shape

Star power in the 84th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 10 titles from 1955 to 2014.

Biggest box office

Pather Panchali (1955)

$136K worldwide

Highest rated

Aparajito (1956)

Midcredits 99th

Most popular right now

Pather Panchali (1955)

Film career

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting10 of 10: 10 only acting, 0 with another role

By decade

1950s5 · acting1960s2 · acting1970s2 · acting2010s1 · acting

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Karuna Bannerjee's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 98th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 97th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

97thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

97thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

79thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 4 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4

Shape of the crowd

None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 3 are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved3
  • Crowd Pleaser1

Most loved · actor

Aparajito (1956)

Midcredits 99th · 90% liked

Reviewers score the acting 86/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 88, detractors 60. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Karuna Bannerjee work with?

People who share at least 2 of Karuna Bannerjee's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Satyajit Ray shares the most, 3.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors