{"id":89849,"date":"2020-05-30T12:08:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T06:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=89849"},"modified":"2020-05-30T12:08:38","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T06:38:38","slug":"looking-at-society-through-the-lens-of-rituparno-ghosh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/looking-at-society-through-the-lens-of-rituparno-ghosh","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Society, through the Lens of Rituparno Ghosh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rituparno<\/a>
Rituparno Ghosh: An amazing film maker and 12 times National Film award winner.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was an era in Bengali cinema, characterized by Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak\u2019s films inspired from \u2018Italian Neorealism\u2019 right after World War II, followed by French and Japanese New Wave cinema. But, over a period of time, that sublimity in Bengali cinema somehow got dissolved with the rise of absurd modus operandi of mainstream cinema \u2013 songs and dance and conventional story lines – which provoked the Bengali’s very own substantial parallel cinema. And that transition led elite Bengalis or so called \u2018bhodrolok\u2019 to distance themselves from the world of bioscope.<\/p>\n

Then came the era of Rituparno Ghosh like a breath of fresh air. This avant-garde<\/em> director helped not only Bengali but Indian cinema as a whole get back in the reckoning on the global map. Ritu da (as he was widely known), transitioned from a copywriter in advertising to films with all his heart and soul, putting aesthetic and human sensibilities into his craft. And that reflects from his very first film ‘Hirer Angti<\/em>‘ (diamond ring) in 1992, continuing to his last film ‘Satyanweshi<\/em>‘ in 2013.<\/p>\n

In his lifetime, Ghosh touched upon diverse subjects. However, all his films were tied together through some kind of similarity like an intricate thread.<\/p>\n

Ghosh breathed his last on May 30, 2013, of cardiac arrest. His sudden demised came as a shock not only to the Bengali film industry but the film fraternity globally.<\/p>\n

As a tribute to this maestro, let’s look at his best films which make you perceive cinema, and society, differently.<\/h1>\n

(please click Next > to know the names of films)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Unishe April<\/em> (April 19)<\/h1>\n
\"Unishe<\/a>
Unishe April<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sarojini, played by Aparna Sen is a successful dancer, who is not able to balance work and life together. Which creates a tiff between herself and her doctor husband. And that affects their daughter Mithu, played by Debashree Roy. Synchronous to Berman’s ‘Autumn Sonata’, Unishe April<\/em> is the story of a relationship between a working mother and a daughter who is a byproduct of an unhappy marriage. The film also talks about the power equation of man and woman, especially when the woman is successful. The character of Sarojini in this film is anything but conventional, who barely fits in the ideal definition of a mother, wife or a widow.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Titli<\/em> (Butterfly)<\/h1>\n
\"Titli\"<\/a>
Titli<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Titli<\/em>, played by Konkona Sen Sharma develops an adolescent crush on a Bollywood star Rohit Roy, played by Mithun Chakraborty. What will transpire when she finds out that this infatuation is unrealistic, not because of age or the fact of him being a superstar, but because of a twist of faith which is somehow associated with her mother Urmila, played by Aparna Sen. The film is extremely poetic in nature in terms of importance of the first drop of rain, Darjeeling, monasteries, a road journey etc. But this film has its own layer of complexities in the virtue of its simplicities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Antarmahal<\/em><\/h1>\n
\"Antarmahal\"<\/a>
Antarmahal<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Based on a short story of Tarashankar Bandyopadhya’s ‘Pratima’<\/em>, Ghosh has shown the place of women inside the interior of feudalism. Bhubaneswar Chowdhary, who is an oppressive Zamindar played by Jacky Shroff, and the caricature of crudity (as shown in Bollywood films), is in line to win the Raibahadur title from the British Crown. And in order to impress, he decides to put the face of Queen Victoria in the body of Maa Durga. At the same time, he also wants a heir, which he failed to get from his elderly wife Mahamaya, played by Rupa Ganguly. So, he gets married to Jashomati played by Soha Ali Khan, and thrashes both the women inside the desolate palace to justify their existence as women by giving birth to a descendant. The film attracted controversy because of its sexual subjugation and extreme realism in the depiction of Zamindars and oppression. But kudos to Ghosh’s sensibility, nowhere did he utilise sexually explicit posters in the promotion of the film. As he said, \u201cSexuality should not be a selling point.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Memories in March<\/em><\/h1>\n
\"Memories<\/a>
Memories in March<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arati Mishra, played by Deepti Naval comes to Kolkata for the cremation of her son Siddhartha who met with an accident on the eve of an office party where he consumed a considerable amount of alcohol. There she meets her son’s colleague Arnob played by Ghosh himself and finds out about his love affair with her son through Sahana, played by Raima Sen and accuses him of seducing her son. The film deals with various aspects at the same time – a mother suffering from befuddlement due to son’s untimely demise, as well as sudden exploration of his sexuality. Eventually though, the hatred turns into a jovial relationship, alongside a mother’s grief in coming to terms with her son’s demise and homosexuality.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. Chitrangada: A Crowning Wish<\/em><\/h1>\n
\"Chitrangada:<\/a>
Chitrangada: A Crowning Wish<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The film is taken from a segment of Mahabharata and talks about dealing with one’s own sexuality in the backdrop of a Tagore play. Rudra Chatterjee played by Rituparno Ghosh is a choreographer who is preparing his team for a stage performance, and there he meets Partho played by Jishu Sengupta, falls in love and wants to have children with him. But in India, same-sex couple is not allowed to adopt children; hence he pronounces the words \u201csex change surgery\u201d for the first time and his life is never the same again. Chitrangada is believed to be a third film from the trilogy; the first two being ‘Arekti Premer Golpo’<\/em> and ‘Memories in March’<\/em>. And is believed to be an extension of Ghosh\u2019s own personality. Somehow his appearance reflects his inherent desire which is a mirage to Tagore’s Chitrangada.<\/p>\n

Rituparno Ghosh’s films have a special place for women. His unorthodox and unconventional views often disturb the orthodox mindset of a common man. Maybe that is why his films are not easily acceptable in the society or treated as a secluded form of art.<\/p>\n

Bengalis have stood by the concept of Tomar ar Amar<\/em> (yours and mine) to a great extent. And that is how class conflict is restricted not only to the society but has a great impact on the arts as well. On the one hand, art is considered to be democratic. On the other hand, Ghosh’s films were secluded, with the justification of being made for just the noble class. Though it is agreed that his films did not have mass appeal, nevertheless they contain basic human sensibilities that are forlorn from the blanket of a patriarchal world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was an era in Bengali cinema, characterized by Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak\u2019s films inspired from \u2018Italian Neorealism\u2019 right after World War II, followed by French and Japanese New Wave cinema. But, over a period of time, that sublimity in Bengali cinema somehow got dissolved with the rise of absurd modus operandi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19872,"featured_media":101106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11411,11315],"tags":[11338,11337,9135],"class_list":{"0":"post-89849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-india","9":"tag-film-director","10":"tag-rituparno-ghosh","11":"tag-writer"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101101,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89849\/revisions\/101101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}