Rituparno Ghosh

Rituparno Ghosh (; 31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his second feature film Unishe April which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Having won 19 National Awards, along with his contemporaries Aparna Sen and Goutam Ghose, Rituparno heralded contemporary Bengali cinema to greater heights. Ghosh died on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata after a heart attack. Ghosh was one of the openly homosexual personalities in Indian cinema.

Ghosh was influenced by the works of Satyajit Ray and was an avid reader of Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore's works are frequently referenced to in his films. He also made a documentary titled Jeevan Smriti on the life of Tagore. In his career spanning almost two decades, he won 12 national and numerous international awards. His unreleased Bengali movie Sunglass (also known as Taak Jhaank) was honoured and released at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival.

Personal life Rituparno Ghosh was born in a Bengali family on 31 August 1963 in Kolkata. His birth name was Souranil Ghosh. His father, Sunil Ghosh, was a documentary film maker and painter. He completed his schooling at South Point School, and earned a degree in economics from the Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He also had a master's degree in economics from the same university. He was one of the few openly LGBT figures in Indian cinema and is considered an icon of the queer community of India.

Advertising Before his career in film, Rituparno Ghosh worked at the Response India advertising agency and became known as an especially effective copywriter in Kolkata. He was particularly noted for composing succinct, appealing one-liners and slogans for ad campaigns in Bengali during the 1980s. At the time, the trend in Kolkata was to translate all-India advertisement campaigns originally composed in English and Hindi into Bengali. Ghosh won recognition for his ability to initiate campaigns in Bengali. Among his noted ad campaigns were Sharad Samman and Bongo Jiboner Ango for the antiseptic ointment, Boroline, and others for Frooti, the largest-selling mango drink in India. Some commentators noted that his power to appeal to consumers through ad campaigns helped make his films appealing to wider audiences, particularly to middle class Bengalis. In 1990, Rituparno received his first break in documentary filmmaking when his own agency, Tele-Response, a member of the Response family of companies, was commissioned to make a documentary on Vande Mataram for Doordarshan.

Film career

Direction

1992–2003

Ghosh made his directorial debut in the feature film Hirer Angti which was released in 1992, a family-friendly film

His second film, Unishe April, starring Aparna Sen, Debashree Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dipankar Dey, with a soundtrack composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta, was released in 1994, and won two National Film Awards in 1995, including Best Feature Film. It portrayed the relationship of an award-winning dancer and her emotionally abandoned daughter, who aspires to be a doctor. Dahan was based on the true story of a woman who was molested on a street in Kolkata, and of another woman, a witness who came forward to bring legal action against the perpetrators, but became frustrated by the callousness of society, including the victim's family.

Bariwali, released in 2000, starring Kirron Kher, Rupa Ganguly and Chiranjeet Chakraborty, portrayed a lonely and withdrawn middle-aged woman (Kirron Kher) who rents out her large house for film production and fantasises about the charming and very much married director, who flirts with her but, predictably, disappoints her. Kher won National Film Award for Best Actress. In the 1999 film Asukh, Ghosh dealt with the relationship between a young film star and her father who must depend unwillingly on his daughter's earnings. The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.

2004–2013

In 2004, Ghosh's first Hindi film, Raincoat, an adaptation of the short story, The Gift of the Magi (1906), by O. Henry was released. In this film he worked with Aishwarya Rai again. The shooting of the film was completed in 17 days. It was later adapted in English by Mithaq kazimi.

In 2005 the Bengali film, Antar Mahal was released. The film was set in British India and revolved around a land-owning or zamindari family. Jackie Shroff played the Zamindar. Soha Ali Khan and Roopa Ganguly played the Zaminder's wives.

Acting career

Rituparno Ghosh made his first screen appearance in an Oriya film, Katha Deithilli Ma Ku, which was directed by Himanshu Parija and released in 2003. In 2011, he acted in two Bengali films— Arekti Premer Golpo directed by Kaushik Ganguly, which dealt with queer relationships, and Memories in March directed by Sanjoy Nag.

Chitrangada (2012) was Ghosh's last film to be released. Loosely based on Rabindranath Tagore's work 'Chitrangada',

Other activities

Television

Rituparno Ghosh hosted two celebrity chat shows, Ebong Rituporno on ETV Bangla and Ghosh & Co. on Star Jalsha. He was the scriptwriter of Gaaner Opare. Ghosh had planned a 13-episodes long television series based on Miss Marple, featuring the character of Ranga Pishima from his film, Shubho Mahurat. Titled Tahar Namti Ranjana, it remained unfinished on his death. Star Jalsha telecasted the only finished episode from the planned series posthumously in June 2013.

Literary career

Rituparno Ghosh was the editor of the Bengali film magazine, Anandalok from 1997 to 2004. He was also the editor of Robbar magazine of Sangbad Pratidin from 2006 till his death.

Death

Rituparno suffered from diabetes mellitus type 2 for ten years, and pancreatitis for five years. According to Rajiv Seal of Fortis Hospitals, who had been his physician for almost two decades, Rituparno was also facing complications from hormone treatments after abdominoplasty and breast implants operations.

Ghosh died at his Kolkata residence on 30 May 2013, following a massive heart attack. His attendants, Dileep and Bishnu, found him lying unconscious in bed. Nilanjana Sengupta, wife of actor Jisshu Sengupta, sent for Nirup Mitra, who declared Ghosh dead. Ghosh was 49 years old.

Many Bengali film actors and directors went to Ghosh's residence to pay tribute. In the afternoon his body was taken to Nandan and kept outside the Nandan complex for some time to allow his fans to see him one last time. Thousands of people came to Nandan to pay homage. He was given gun salute by Kolkata Police before cremation.

Reactions and tributes

Bengali film industry Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee said "I cannot believe that Rituparno is no more. It is very difficult to accept this news. We lost a very promising film director at a very early age." Konkona Sen Sharma, who acted in Ghosh's Titli and Dosar, said that Ghosh's death was a great personal loss for her. For actress Bipasha Basu it was heartbreaking news, difficult to believe. Soha Ali Khan described Ghosh as one in the vanguard of Bengali cinema who created a link between Satyajit Ray and a new school of Bengali filmmakers.

Cinematic vision

Rituparno Ghosh was one of the most acclaimed film directors of India, and was himself an admirer of Satyajit Ray. His films glorified womanhood and closely and sensitively portrayed women's lives, feelings and sufferings. According to Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, Ghosh had wonderful understanding of the female psyche. In his last films he addressed issues of homosexuality and gender. He directed and as well as acted in such films which tried to reject the concept that homosexual relationship is all about a physical relationship. He said in an interview in 2010— "There is much more to such relationships. Same-sex relationships, too, are extremely soulful, emotional and have the same pathos that any heterosexual relationship has."

Bengali film director Mrinal Sen said that whenever he thought of direction, the name that came to mind was Rituparno Ghosh. According to Sen, Ghosh's contribution to Indian cinema will be remembered forever. Chatterjee praised Ghosh for his brave and empathetic treatment of "alternative sexuality" as actor in Arekti Premer Golpo and Memories in March, and as director-actor in Chitrangada. In the film Asukh (1999) Tagore played an invisible role. In 2012, Ghosh made a documentary based on Tagore's autobiography, 'Jiban Smriti', for the Government of India Ministry of Culture.

In an interview in August 2012, Ghosh spoke about Tagore— "What comes through is what a lonely man Tagore was – from childhood to old age. There is no one in his life to share even his success with him. It's the journey of a lonely traveller. What I haven't captured in the documentary is what a fun-loving, humorous man he could be. I show him as a profound thinker, a guru – but then this was perhaps necessary for an audience which is not at all familiar with Rabindranath." 2002

Bengali

Bengali National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress – Raakhee National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali

Bengali National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali - 2004

Hindi National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi 2005

Bengali

Bengali National Film Awards – Special Jury Award – Prosenjit Chatterjee

Bengali 2007

English National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress – Shefali Shah

Bengali

Bengali National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali

Bengali National Film Award for Best Direction – Rituparno Ghosh National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali National Film Award for Best Actress – Ananya Chatterjee

Bengali Directed by Kaushik Ganguly, dealt with queer relationship

English National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English

Hindi 2010-11

Bengali Television series aired by Star Jalsha; aired 251 episodes. 2011

Bengali He dubbed for Amu Chatterjee 2012

Bengali National Film Awards – Special Jury Award

Bengali Unfinished 13-episodic television series reviving Ranga Pishima's character from Shubho Mahurat. Star Jalsha telecasted the only finished episode posthumously. Telecasted posthumously by Doordarshan.

Bengali Released posthumously.

Hindi Released posthumously at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival inauguration in 2013. Awards

Award Year Film Category StatusNational Film Awards 1995 Unishe April National Film Award for Best Feature Film 1998 Dahan National Film Award for Best Screenplay and National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2000 Asukh National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2001 Utsab National Film Award for Best Direction 2003 Shubho Mahurat National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2004 Chokher Bali National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2005 Raincoat National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi 2008 The Last Lear National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English 2009 Sob Charitro Kalponik National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2010 Abohoman National Film Award for Best Direction National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali 2012 Chitrangada National Film Awards – Special Jury Award Bombay International Film Festival 1999 Asukh FIPRESCI Prize (Special Mention) 2002 Titli FIPRESCI Prize (Jury Prize) 2003 Shubho Mahurat Best Indian film Berlin International Film Festival 2000 Bariwali NETPAC Award Kalakar Awards 1997 Unishe April 5th Kalakar Award for Best Director 2011 Arekti Premer Golpo 19th Kalakar Award for Best Actor Tele Cine Awards 2011 Arekti Premer Golpo 11th Tele Cine Awards special award for Extraordinary Performance in an Exceptional Character Pusan International Film Festival 1996 Unishe April New Currents Award Locarno International Film Festival 2003 Chokher Bali Golden Leopard 2005 Antarmahal Golden Leopard International Film Festival of Kerala 2005 Antarmahal Golden Crow Pheasant Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 1998 Dahan Crystal Globe 2004 Raincoat Crystal Globe Deauville Asian Film Festival 2010 Abohoman Best film— Lotus Chicago International Film Festival 2003 Chokher Bali Gold Hugo