Thursday, May 30, 2013

Adieu, Rituparno!

The usher of a new wave in Bengali films towards the end of the '90s, the master film maker Rituparno Ghosh, has passed into the mist of time owing to a massive cardiac arrest. He was 49.

To quote a generally popular feeling, he shall always be remembered for his sensitive portrayal of human relationships and the way he glorified women, their inner feelings, their passion and their sufferings. And he was a master at film making, by excelling in every department of the art, as amplified below by the national awards that he'd in his kitty:-

        (a) Unishe April                   -         Best film.
        (b) Utsab, Abahoman          -         Best director.
        (c) Dahan                            -         Best screenplay.
        (d) Raincoat                        -         Best Hindi film.
        (e) The Last Lear                -         Best English film.
        (f)  Chitrangada                   -         Special jury award.
        (g) And of course, many of his films won awards in the category of the best Bengali films.

He shall also be remembered for exploring and beautifully putting across the touchy subject of same sex relationships. He was neither apologetic about his sexuality nor about his cross dressing and in fact, had played pivotal gay roles in a few films. How can one ever forget the manner in which he'd given his own meaning to Sharbari Datta kurtas and long duppattas, the kajal and lip gloss and his walking on the ramp at a fashion week in earstuds and necklaces?

Chitrangada, his last released film, was autobiographical. In it he'd enacted the character of Rudra Chatterjee and the narrative hovered around the time spent at the hospital after having undergone a surgery for sex change.

RIP Rituparno. My humble salute and prayers to the master story teller! We're gonna miss you!!


Tailpiece.

1. I'd always wondered as to whether there was a touch of angst of the troubled woman in his body, that had helped him in his sensitive portrayals of women in his films. The authenticity of his characters have been vouched for by his female fans in no uncertain terms!

2. And yes, I'm looking forward to see his just completed 'Satyanweshi' ! 

No comments:

Post a Comment