Remembering Ritwik Ghatak on 101st birth anniversary

Today marks the 101st birth anniversary of filmmaker, script writer and actor Ritwik Kumar Ghatak. To mark the day, different cultural organisations have chalked-out elaborate programmes to pay tributes to the filmmaker.

Ritwik Ghatak was born on 4 November 1925 in Rajshahi, Bangladesh.  Following the partition of India, Ritwik Ghatak and his family moved to Kolkata. In 1958, he completed his graduation from Krishnath College in Baharampur. Later he got admission at Calcutta University for MA degree, but he did not complete the course, because he found writing was more worthwhile than having a degree at the university. 

Ritwik Ghatak became a celebrity through the publication of his play titled “Nabanna”. 

In 1951, he joined the Indian People’s Theatre Association. Next year, he made film “Nagarik”. He made a theatrical production titled Dalil in 1952, which won the first prize at the Indian People’s Theatre Association Exhibition held in Mumbai in 1953. In 1955, he formed a theatre troupe named Group Theatre and staged his play titled Sanko.

Ritwik Ghatak entered the film industry with Nimai Ghosh’s “Chinnamul” (1950) as an actor and assistant director. “Chinnamul” was followed in two years by Ghatak’s first completed film, “Nagarik” (1952), both major breakthroughs for Indian cinema. Ghatak’s early work sought theatrical and literary precedent in bringing together a documentary realism, a stylised performance often drawn from the folk theatre, and a Brechtian use of the filmic apparatus. 

Ritwik Ghatak’s first commercial venture was “Ajantrik” in 1958. It was one of the earliest Indian films to portray an inanimate object, an automobile, as a character in the story. Besides, his commercial success as a script writer was for Hindi film Madhumati, one of the earliest films to deal with the theme of reincarnation, directed by film maker Bimal Ray. This film earned the Best Story award from the Filmfare.

Ritwik Ghatak made eight full-length films. His film “Meghe Dhaka Tara” deals with the struggling life of a refugee family. In it, the elder daughter of the family shoulders responsibilities of the poverty-trodden family. Her sacrifices included all bizarre acts, even her valued person.

He displayed the city Kolkata in the eye of a runaway boy in the film “Bari Theke Paliye”. In the film “Komal Gandhar”, he reflected his personal life and outlook. His film, “Titas Ekti Nadir Naam”, topped the list of best 10 films rated by the British Film Institute. His last film was the autobiographical “Jukti Takko Aar Gappo” in 1974.

Ritwik made a good number of documentaries and short films, including “Adivasis”, “Scissors”, “Fear”, “Rendezvous Civil Defence”, “Scientist of Tomorrow”, “Amar Lenin” and “Puruliar Chhau”.

The noted filmmaker breathed his last on 6 February 1976 in Kolkata.