Kali Banerjee

Kali Banerjee (20 November 1921 – 5 July 1993) was an Indian film actor, who worked in the 1950s-70s in Bengali cinema. Most known for his work with film directors like Satyajit Ray's Parash Pathar (1958) and Ritwik Ghatak's Nagarik (1952) and Ajantrik (1958).

Starring in many commercial ventures in the 60s',his association with the serious film-makers is what has given the late actor an imperishable place in the history of Bengali cinema. He brought out a convincing portrayal of a young Chinese vendor Wang in the street of Kolkata in time of India's freedom struggle in Mrinal Sen's Neel Akasher Neechey (1959).

He acted in Satyajit Ray's Aparajito (1956), Parash Pathar (1958), Teen Kanya (1961), but it was his association with Ritwik Ghatak, with whom he worked in Nagarik (1952), Ajantrik (1958) that the cinephiles mostly enjoy and want to commemorate.

He played a Bahurupi in Bari Theke Paliye. Then there was Ajantrik, where he was flawless in the portrayal of an idiosyncratic driver Bimal who is love with his car. Besides these Arthouse films,he acted with aplomb in the films such as * Kabuliwala (1956), Badsha, Kinu Gowalar Goli, Gurudokkhina and the Hindi films such as Bawarchi (1972) directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

He acted as the leading character 'Totla Ganesh' (stammering Ganesh) in Satyen Bose's popular hit comedy Barjatri (1951) (English title: The Marriage Procession). The Bengali movie-goer fondly remembers his understated comedy and excellent comic timing in the film.