Ritwik Ghatak

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Ritwik Ghatak, before 1950

Ritwik Kumar Ghatak ( Bengali : ঋত্বিক কুমার ঘটক , Ṛtbik Kumār Ghaṭak ? / I ; born November 4, 1925 in Dhaka ; † February 6, 1976 in Kolkata ) was an Indian film director and screenwriter of Bengali films . Audio file / audio sample

Life

Born as a Hindu in the predominantly Muslim east of Bengal , he fled to West Bengal in India in 1947 . There Ghatak joined the Communist Party (CPI) and wrote plays for the theater.

His first feature film Nagarik was shot in 1952/53, but was not released until posthumously in 1977. His second was the comedy Ajantrik . Thereafter Ghatak dealt repeatedly with the tragedy of the Indian, especially the Bengali partition in the course of Indian independence and the accompanying loss of homeland. His refugee trilogy, made between 1960 and 1962, includes three of his most famous films. Of these, only Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960) was also commercially successful. In the following decade, Ghatak could not find a producer for his film ideas and he switched to documentaries. During this period of artistic sideline, Ritwik Ghatak drifted more and more into desperation and alcohol abuse.

After the independence of the state of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1972, Ghatak went to his old homeland on invitation and there shot Titash ekti nadir nam based on the story of the same name by Adwaita Mallabarman about life in a fishing village. It is a reflection on the Bengali river landscape and culture. The film most clearly reflects Ghatak's style. In the autobiographical film Jukti takko ar gappo , which was released in 1974 , he plays an alcoholic refugee in the war of independence who wanders through West Bengal with two equally affected people .

Ritwik Ghatak died in 1976 of tuberculosis and alcohol abuse. His cinematic work received due attention only after his death. Today, like his Bengali colleagues Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen , he is one of the most important Indian directors of auteur films .

Filmography

  • 1953: Nagarik
  • 1958: Ajantrik
  • 1959: Bari Bar Paliye
  • 1960: The Hidden Star (Meghe Dhaka Tara)
  • 1961: Komal Gandhar
  • 1962: The Subarnarekha River (Subarnarekha)
  • 1973: A river called Titash (Titash Ekti Nadir Nam)
  • 1974: Insight, Strife and a Story (Jukti Takko Ar Gappo)

literature

  • Ritwik Ghatak: Cinema and I. Ed .: Ritwik Memorial Trust. Rupa & Co., Calcutta 1987

Web links

Commons : Ritwik Ghatak  - collection of images, videos and audio files