Victor Banerjee

Victor Banerjee (born 15 October 1946) is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked with directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, and Montazur Rahman Akbar. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Ghare Baire. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2022 for his contribution to cinema by the Indian Government in the field of art.^[1][2]

Victor Banerjee
Banerjee in 2013
Born	(1946-10-15) 15 October 1946 (age 78) Jalal Pur, Bengal Province, British India (present-day West Bengal, India)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Maya Bhate Banerjee
Children	2
Honors	Padma Bhushan (2022)

Early life and education

Banerjee was born in a Zamindari Bengali Hindu brahmin family.

Banerjee completed his schooling from St. Edmund's School, Shillong. He completed his graduation in English literature from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta; Banerjee was a Western Classical Radio Jockey at All India Radio. He then finished his post graduation in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University.

Personal life

While in Calcutta, Banerjee performed in plays for the British Council, British Women's Association and the theatre group Amateurs. He was the lead tenor in the Calcutta Light Opera Group production of The Desert Song,. During his time in Bombay he performed for the Cambridge Society, director Arun Sachdev and also played Jesus in Bombay Theatre's first ever musical production, Godspell. He also played senior division hockey and football in the Bengal League in the 1960s.

He has a daughter who was a VFX supervisor for 16 years.^[3]

Art aficionado

Banerjee established The Calcutta Art Gallery in the late 1970s which was the first commercial art gallery in the city.^[4]

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.^[5] 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, Banerjee received the "Show-a-Rama Award" from the Motion Picture Association of America as "New International Star."^{[citation needed]}

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, Banerjee has said that he feels "all work is a challenge and therefore fun."^[6]

He was also cast in the critically acclaimed role of God in the 1988 production of the York Mystery Plays, by director Steven Pimlott. He was the first Asian to play a lead role in British Theatre.^[7]

In 1991, BBC and CBC of Canada produced a documentary titled Return Journey, directed by John McGreevy. Banerjee, Plácido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa and Jackie Stewart were featured as celebrities who refused to live away from their home countries.

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 Apon (1987)
• Foreign Body (1986, dir. Ronald Neame)
• Dadah Is Death (1988)
• Aagoon (1988, Dir. Self)
• Madhuban(1984, Dir. Ajoy Kar)
• Debota (1989)
• Aakrosh (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) (Indo-Bangladesh joint production; also known as Raja Rani in India)
• Dada Thakur (2001 film)
• Manush keno Beiman (2002)
• Deva (2002 film)
• Antarghaat (2002, Dir. Tathagata Bhattacherjee)
• Bhoot (2003)
• Joggers' Park (2003)
• Bow Barracks Forever (2004, dir. Anjan Dutt)
• Bandhan (2004 film)
• Parinam (2005 film)
• 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)
• Bandhu (2007 film)
• Chaurahen (2007)
• Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007)
• Apne (2007)
• Tahaan (2008) (dir. Santosh Sivan)
• Sarkar Raj (2008) (dir. Ram Gopal Varma)
• 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)
• Shantiniketan-e (2013) (dir. Ashoke Viswanathan)
• Gunday (2014)
• Children of War (2014) (dir. Mrityunjay Devvrat)
• Jeeya Jurir Xubax (2014) (Assamese film; dir. Sanjib Sabhapandit)^[8]
• Unfreedom (2014) (dr. Raj Amit Kumar)
• Chakra (2016) (dir. Zubeen Garg)
• Fever (2016)
• Dev Bhoomi (2016) (dir. Goran Pascaljevic) Won Best Picture Award at the Bari International Film Festival in Italy
• Love Express (2016) (dir. Rajiv Kumar Biswas)
• Pensando en el
• The Answer (2018). Starred as Paramahansa Yoganand, the film won a record 17 major International Awards & 48 Nominations.
• High Life (2018) (English language film)
• Joseph – Born in Grace (2019) dir Susant Mishra
• Sannyasi Deshonayok (2020)
• Raktabeej (2023)
• Raktabeej 2 (2025)

Awards and nominations

Civilian Awards

• 2022 — Padma Bhushan — India's third highest civilian award.^[9]

Film awards

Year	Award	Film	Category	Result	Ref.
1986	BAFTA Awards	A Passage to India	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated	[10]
1986	Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards	Ghare Baire	Best Actor	Won
1997		Lathi		Won
1985	Evening Standard British Film Awards	A Passage to India	Best Actor	Won
1984	National Board of Review Awards		Best Actor	Won	[11]
1985	National Film Awards	Ghare Baire	Best Supporting Actor	Won	[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

He has been highly critical of what he called Navjot Singh Sidhu's pacifist attitude to terrorism exported from Pakistan.^[15]