He lived a short life, but on his own terms. Much ahead of his times, multi-faceted genius Rituparno Ghosh had put his brave foot forward to defy all societal norms. Via his craft, charisma and physicality, Ghosh became the most potent face of the marginalised LGBT community’s struggle to find space in the mainstream. A powerhouse of talent, Ghosh did all the talking through his illustrious body of works. Be it direction, acting, songwriting, scripting, poetry, editing, columns, Ghosh left his signature touch everywhere.
While his films openly dealt with bold issues, his brand of sensible cinema dished out unmatching lyricism and visual aestheticism. The musical milieu of his movies have an aura of mysticism and a magical ring which is inexplicable in words but emphatically felt through heart. “At times, his set-designs would seem as a perfect picture post-card. But that would not necessarily be a forced, intended act of purpose. The subtlety factor would just seep in to fall in all proper places,” says veteran Tollywood artiste Dipankar Dey who played many roles in Ghosh’s Unishe April, Utsab, Titli, Abohoman and Chitrangada.
Reviving a class-driven repertoire of urban-oriented flicks for the Bengali intellectual households, Rituparno was immensely successful in pulling back the loyal audiences to cine-theatres which had seen a huge dip in footfalls from the 1980s till early-1990s, post the demise of Tollywood’s evergreen matinee idol, Uttam Kumar.
Tollywood then saw a big slump in business. At this critical juncture, Ghosh barged in like a stormy breeze from the big, bubbling ad-world to lift the substance-starved industry. Rituparno visibly bridged the gap between single-screen film-buffs and multiplex cineastes.
Blessed with a flair for humour and sensitivity, Ghosh carefully wove complex human relationships in his thought-provoking movie mosaic.
“Himself an incredible collector of rare artefacts, Ritu would nurture and nestle all his creations like his own brood as if he would breathe life into them,” reminisces actress-filmmaker Aparna Sen about the young director, who was conferred a dozen National Awards.
Rituparno’s meaningful films have over a period of time become a prominent fodder for scrutiny and discussion at every animated chit-chat session. His own combat with identity, gender and alternate sexual-orientation was beautifully reflected in Memories in March (he enacted a homosexual character, directed by Sanjay Nag), Arekti Premer Golpo (he played the famous folk-play artiste Chapal Bhaduri and also doubled up as a gay filmmaker in the movie, directed by Kaushik Ganguly) and Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish.
Chitrangada is touted as an autobiography on the marquee by the versatile artiste. Almost mirroring his own lifestory, the movie toyed with the concept of hormonal replacement therapy or sex-change treatment to embrace womanhood that the dreamer-director so wistfully longed for through his life. From the sweet childlike innocence of his directorial launchpad Hirer Angti, based on reputed Bengali writer Shirshendu Mukhopa-dhyay’s eponymous novel to Satyanweshi, adapted from the noted Bengali litterateur Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s sleuth-series on the exploits of detective Byomkesh Bakshi, this master extraordinaire paved a meaty legacy.
Rituparno’s silver-screen classics have been widely featured in all leading cine-fests around the globe.
Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Academy Award-winner Satyajit Ray constantly influenced and inspired him.
He not only reinterpreted Tagore’s immortal dance-drama Chitrangada giving it his own spin but also canned a yet-to-release documentary based upon the bard’s autobiography, commemorating his 150th birth anniversary. This highly ambitious project sponsored by the screening committee of Central Government of India will soon unfold his unique version of Tagore’s life and works.
While there is a keen urgency to wrap up the post-production work of his parting shot Satyanweshi, the key trio of his core team — comprising of cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay, editor Arghakamal Mitra and composer Debojyoti Mishra — is desperately keeping its fingers crossed to render justice to the ace filmmaker’s last hurrah with a lot of credence.
“We’ve been working with Ritu for almost two decades now and have seen his passion and eccentricity from near proximity. So we are kind of acquainted with the poignant, introspective ambience he always looked to create in his films and translate the same on the 70 mm. After the great music-maestro Salil Chowdhury, of whom I had the good fortune to be a close associate, Ritu was yet another virtuoso to share an inseparable bonding with,” muses Mishra, who is accredited with the scores of Rituparno’s nine films.
Was he a loner? Many say yes. But then so many of us, aren’t we? We do live as individual islands floating around amidst a crowd of strangers, some of whom are known to be our friends and families.
More than strutting out as a gender-bender, Ghosh wanted to question and transgress the age-old rules of convention which may not have a straight answer to defend with. We’ll miss you Rituda. May your soul rest in peace. Amen.