NOTED filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh on Thursday (May 30) died of cardiac arrest at his south Kolkata residence. He was 49.
Winner of 12 national and some international awards, Ghosh was suffering from pancreatitis and died of heart attack at 7.30 am, his family said.
Ghosh shot to fame by his direction of a children’s film ‘Hirer Angti’ in 1994. His film ‘Unishe April’ won a national award in 1995.
His other widely acclaimed films include ‘Dahan’, ‘Asukh’, ‘Chokher Bali’, ‘Raincoat’, ‘Bariwali’, ‘Antarmahal’ and ‘Noukadubi’.
As news of his death spread, a pall of gloom descended on Tollywood. Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee deeply mourned Ghosh’s death, saying, “I cannot believe that Rituparna is no more. It is very difficult to accept this news. We lost a very promising film director at a very early age.”
Many film actors and actresses thronged his residence to pay their last respects.
State Commerce and Industry minister Partha Chatterjee visited his home on Thursday morning.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday condoled the death of Rituparno Ghosh, saying it was a very sad day for Bengal.
“We are stunned. In his sudden demise, Bengal has lost an eminent filmmaker. It is a very sad day for us,” Banerjee, who visited Ghosh’s residence on Thursday morning, said.
To enable people to pay their last respect to the director, his body would be kept at Nandan film complex from 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m., she said.
Thereafter, the body would be taken to the Tollygunj Technician studio before cremation, the chief minister said.
Education minister and theatre personality Bratya Basu said he was rendered “speechless” by the news and the loss was a personal one.
He recalled that the director had expressed his desire to see his latest play.
Basu said he was a pioneer not only as a director and actor, but also in his contribution to society, noting that with his films like ‘Heerer Angti’ and ‘Unishe April’ he had created a new genre of films in Bengal.
As an actor, his path-breaking role of a transgender in ‘Chitrangada’ portrayed the plight of a section of people which had remained neglected by society.
Same sex relations, a taboo in Bengali society although accepted in the West, was for the first time revealed through his life and work and invested with a rare dignity for the first time in Bengali society, the minister said.
Credited for ushering in a new wave in Bengali cinema by his trailblazing films like ‘Unishe April’ and ‘Dahan’, director-turned-actor Rituparno Ghosh was known for glorifying women besides exploring the touchy
subject of same sex relationships.
As someone who had a different take on sexuality, life, filmmaking and equally adaptive to the trends and changes of contemporary filmmakers, Ghosh blazed the turf of Bengali film industry with his works.
Ghosh played an important role in the revival of the film industry post the nineties with his arty and sensitive films like ‘Unishe April’, ‘Dahan’, ‘Chokher Bali’, which were not essentially melodramatic.
Born on August 31, 1963, Ghosh grew up in Kolkata. His father was a documentary filmmaker and so he was exposed to the world of art and cinema right from childhood. He started his career as a creative artist in an advertising agency, and later shifted to films. He made his directorial debut in 1994 with children’s film ‘Hirer Angti’.
His second film ‘Unishe April’ starring Aparna Sen and Debashree Roy won him his first of the 12 National Film Awards.
