Victor Banerjee

Victor Banerjee
Born	Partha Sarathi Banerjee 15 October 1946 Calcutta India
Years active	1977 - Present
Spouse	Maya Bhate Banerjee

Victor Banerjee (Bengali: ভিক্টর ব্যানার্জী, Hindi: विक्टर बनर्जी) (born 15 October 1946) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi, Bengali and English language films. He has also appeared on a number of TV series on Indian television. He has worked for prominent directors like Jerry London, Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Ram Gopal Varma, Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Mrinal Sen and David Lean.

Early life

Banerjee was born to a of Bengali Hindu family and is a descendant of Womesh Chandra Banerjee, a leading intellectual, a prominent man of his time and the first president of the Indian National Congress (1885).

He had his schooling in St. Edmund's, Shillong, and graduated in English Literature from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta.

Career

In 1984, he acted as Dr. Aziz Ahmed in David Lean's film of A Passage to India, bringing him to the attention of Western audiences. Victor was nominated for BAFTA award for this role in 1986. He won two other awards for this role: Evening Standard British Film Award and NBR Award (National Board Review, USA).

He acted in Merchant Ivory Productions Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures, Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari and Ghare Baire and in Mrinal Sen's Mahaprithivi.

Though in recent years he has largely been involved with Bollywood, he is also affiliated with the Bengali film industry. He also plays 'character actor' roles from time to time in the British cinema. He was also cast in the role of Jesus by director Steven Pimlott in the 1988 production of the York Mystery Plays.

Life

When not in Calcutta, he is to be found in the hill station of Landour in the Lower Western Himalaya in northern India. His wife's name is Maya Banerjee. He has two daughters, Dia and Keya.

He has dabbled from time to time in human rights and labor issues. He helped form the Screen Extras Union of India and campaigned for the rights of Garhwali farmers. He also campaigned for the creation of Uttarakhand in a speech entitled "Uttarakhand: A People Denied" and has been credited with starting the movement that eventually led to the creation of the Uttarakhand Solidarity Network. He has also dabbled in Indian politics, and was once a parliamentary candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from West Bengal.

Filmography

• Dui Prithibi (1970) (dir. Piyush Bose)
• Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) (English Title: The Chess Players) (dir. Satyajit Ray)
• Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978) (dir. James Ivory)
• Pikoo (1981) (dir. Satyajit Ray)
• Kalyug (1981) (dir. Shyam Benegal)
• Jaipur Junction (1982)
• Arohan (1982)
• Doosri Dulhan (1983)
• Protidan (1983)
• Ghare Baire (1984) (English Title: The Home and the World) (dir. Satyajit Ray)
• A Passage to India (1984) (dir. David Lean)
• Foreign Body (1986) (dir.Ronald Neame)
• Dadah Is Death (1988)
• Mahaprithivi (1992)(dir. Mrinal Sen)
• Bitter Moon (1992) (dir. Roman Polanski)
• True Adventures of Christopher Columbus (1992) (TV Series)
• Antarghaat (2002)
• Bhoot (2003)
• Joggers' Park (2003)
• Bow Barracks Forever (2004)
• Yatna (2005)
• It Was Raining That Night (2005)
• My Brother…Nikhil (2005)
• Amavas (2005)
• Home Delivery (2005)
• Ho Sakta Hai (2006)
• Bradford Riots (2006) (TV)
• The Bong Connection (2006)(dir. Anjan Dutta)
• Chaurahen (2007)
• Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007)
• Apne (2007)
• Tahaan (2008)(dir. Santosh Shivan)
• Sarkar Raj (2008)(dir. Ramgopal Verma)
• Blemished Light (filming) (dir. Raj Amit Kumar)

External links

• Victor Banerjee at the Internet Movie Database