Uma Sen, whose portrayal of Durga in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (Bengali) still moves the audience to tears, passed away at a nursing home in Calcutta on November 18. She was 83. Uma never acted in any other film.
Uma used to act in stage plays during the days of her schooling. Ray’s assistant, Ashish Burman, discovered her at a Calcutta school and informed Ray who promptly arranged a meeting with her father.
Uma lacked the rustic quality needed to play Durga when she first appeared before the filmmaker. Ray’s wife undertook the task of dressing her up as Durga. “This is Durga,” Ray exclaimed at Uma’s transformed appearance.
As news of Uma Sen’s demise spread, many remembered her heart-breaking death scene in Pather Panchali with Apu’s innocent question, “Didi ghumochhe (Is didi sleeping)?” Subir Bandyopadhyay, who played Apu, mourned her loss and said, “We sat together (to watch Pather Panchali for the first time) and wept profusely while watching her die on screen.”