Victor Banerjee

Victor Banerjee
Victor Banerjee in 2013
Born	(1946-10-15) 15 October 1946 Calcutta,India]]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Maya Bhate Banerjee
Children	Keya Banerjee, Dia Banerjee

Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked for directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Montazur Rahman Akbar and Ram Gopal Varma. He won the National film award for best supporting actor for the film Ghare Baire.

Early life and education

Banerjee was born in a Zamindari Bengali Hindu family. He is a descendant of the Raja Bahadur of Chanchal (Malda District) and the Raja of Uttarpara.

Banerjee completed his schooling from St. Edmund's School, Shillong. He did his graduation in English literature from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta; and completed his post graduation in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University.

He turned down a scholarship to Trinity College in Dublin, which had offered to him, through the Irish Christian Brothers, to admit him as an operatic tenor.

Personal life

He was the lead tenor in the Calcutta Light Opera Group production of The Desert Song, and also played Jesus in Bombay Theatre's first ever musical production, Godspell.

He has a daughter who is a VFX supervisor.

Film career

In 1984, Banerjee portrayed Dr. Aziz Ahmed in David Lean's film of A Passage to India, bringing him to the attention of western audiences. He was nominated for a BAFTA award for the role in 1986, and won the Evening Standard British Film Award and NBR Award (National Board Review, USA) for it. In April 1985, at a special event in Louisiana where John Travolta and Loretta Swit were also honoured, Banerjee received the "Show-a-Rama Award" from the Motion Picture Association of America as "New International Star".

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. On the set of Gunday starring Priyanka Chopra, Mr. Banerjee has said that he feels "all work is a challenge and therefore fun".

Though has been involved with Bollywood in recent years, Banerjee is primarily affiliated with the Bengali film industry. He also plays character roles from time to time in the British cinema.

He was also cast in the critically acclaimed role of "Jesus" in the 1988 production of the York Mystery Plays, by director Steven Pimlott.

Banerjee is the only person in India who has won the National Award in three categories: As a cinematographer, for his documentary Where No Journeys End (which, in competition with 3100 entries from 27 countries, also won the Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival); as a director, for his documentary The Splendour of Garhwal and Roopkund; and as an actor (Best Supporting Actor) for his work in Satyajit Ray's Ghare Baire.

Filmography

• Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977, dir. Satyajit Ray) (English Title: The Chess Players) - Prime Minister
• Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978, dir. James Ivory)
• Dui Prithibi (1980, dir. Piyush Bose)
• Pikoo (1981, dir. Satyajit Ray)
• Kalyug (1981, dir. Shyam Benegal)
• Jaipur Junction (1982)
• Arohan (1982)
• Doosri Dulhan (1983)
• Protidan (1983)
• Tanaya (1983)
• Ghare Baire (1984, dir. Satyajit Ray) (English Title: The Home and the World)
• A Passage to India (1984, dir. David Lean) - Aziz
• Pratigya (1985)
• Pratikar (1987)
• Ekanta Apan (1987)
• Foreign Body (1986, dir.Ronald Neame)
• Dadah Is Death (1988)
• Aagoon (1988, Dir. Self)
• Madhuban(1988, Dir. Ajoy Kar)
• Debota (1989)
• Akrosh (1989)
• Byabodhan(1990)
• Lathi (1996, dir.Prabhat Roy)
• Mahaprithibi (1991, dir. Mrinal Sen)
• Bitter Moon (1992, dir. Roman Polanski)
• True Adventures of Christopher Columbus (1992, TV Series)
• Moner Moto Mon (1998, dir. Montazur Rahman Akbar) (aka Raja Rani)
• Antarghaat (2002, Dir. Tathagata Bhattacherjee)
• Bhoot (2003)
• Joggers' Park (2003)
• Bow Barracks Forever (2004, dir. Anjan Dutt)
• Yatna (2005)
• It Was Raining That Night (2005)
• My Brother... Nikhil (2005)
• Amavas (2005)
• Home Delivery (2005)
• Bradford Riots (2006) (TV)
• Ho Sakta Hai (2006)
• The Bong Connection (2006, dir. Anjan Dutt)
• Chaurahen (2007)
• Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007)
• Apne (2007)
• Tahaan (2008) (dir. Santosh Shivan)
• Sarkar Raj (2008) (dir. Ramgopal Verma)
• Sobar Upore Tumi (2009) (dir. F. I. Manik)
• Gumshuda (2010) (dir. Ashoke Viswanathan)
• Gosainbaganer Bhoot (2011) (dir. Nitish Roy)
• Meherjaan (2011) (dir. Rubaiyat Hossain)
• Delhi in a Day (2012) (dir. Prashant Nair)
• Ekhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare (2012) (Assamese film; dir. Bidyut Kotoky)
• Tor Naam (2012)
• Shabdo (2013) (Kaushik Ganguly)
• Kagojer Nouka (2013)
• Santiniketane (2013) (dir. Ashoke Viswanathan)
• Gunday (2014)
• Children of War (2014) (dir. Mrityunjay Devvrat)
• Jeeya Jurir Xubax (2014) (Assamese film; dir. Sanjib Sabhapandit)
• Unfreedom (2014) (dr. Raj Amit Kumar)
• Chakra (2016) (dir. Zubeen Garg)
• Fever (2016)
• Dev Bhoomi (2016) (dir. Goran Pascaljevic)
• Dev Love Express
• Pensando en el
• The Answer (2018)
• High Life (2018) (English language film)
• Sannyasi Deshonayok (2020)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Film	Category	Result	Ref.
1984	National Board of Review Awards	A Passage to India	Best Actor	Won
1985	Evening Standard British Film Awards		Best Actor	Won
1986	BAFTA Awards		Best Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated
1985	National Film Awards	Ghare Baire	Best Supporting Actor	Won

Political career

Banerjee unsuccessfully contested the 1991 Lok Sabha election in Calcutta North West from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He got 89,155 votes and stood third.

As an active member of the BJP, he was critical of Mulayam Singh Yadav's order to shoot the Karsevaks who had once climbed the Babri Masjid prior to its demolition.

He has been highly critical of what he called Navjot Singh Sidhu's pacifist attitude to terrorism exported from Pakistan.

External links

• Victor Banerjee on IMDb