Education
She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated women"s college of the University of Calcutta.
She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated women"s college of the University of Calcutta.
She was nominated for Best Actress at the 1959 British Academy of Film and Television Arts 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). Karuna Banerjee (aka Karuna Bandhyopadhyay) had an acting career of 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 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. She went on to act in a few more films, including two more by Ray, one by Mrinal Senator, and one by Ritwik Ghatak that was never officially released.