One of the pioneers of Bengali independent cinema in the last two decades and National- award winning actor- director Rituparno Ghosh passed away in his Lake Gardens residence here in Kolkata on the 30th of May, 2013 at 7:30 a.m. He died of a cardiac arrest in his sleep. I happened to be an Intern with the Kolkata Bureau of CNN- IBN at that time and in a bid to cover this 'breaking news' I was rushing to the master craftsman's house at 10, the same morning. The day, needless to say, was such an enthralling experience for me. My acquaintance with Ritu Da's films had previously been few and far between. I had of course, watched his movies like Unishe April, Titli, Dosar, Bariwali, Chokher Bali, Utsav,Abohomaan, Noukadubi, Aarekti Premer Galpo, Shob Choritro Kalponik, Khela, Chitrangada, Memories in March among others, but to completely understand the nuances of his genre of cinema had not been my cup of tea back then.
It was shocking for a cinema enthusiast like me to come to terms with the fact that Rituparno Ghosh had passed away at the prime age of 49. He has gifted Bengali cinema with visual delights and poignant stories. This extremely well read (read educated) film director was the torchbearer of independent Bengali cinema after Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He had a lot many stories to tell his audience and a lot is still left unsaid. His way of life had raised eyebrows across Bengal but he was by far one of the most courageous and up front human beings who had the guts to talk about alternate sexuality in a way in which it had not been talked about before. Bengali cinema lost one of its most prominent stalwarts and an irreplaceable talent.
I stood in front of Ritu Da's house ' Tasher Ghar', which was swarming with people, mostly journalists from the Print and Electronic Media and stars of the cinema fraternity. I thought of Ghosh's tweet just a couple of days before his death. " Wrapped up the shoot of Satyanewshi, a crime thriller in the molten glow of the pensive falling afternoon."- the self- proclaimed bad student of cinema had tweeted. Just two days later, on a rainy early morning, he left us silently wanting for more. I thought of the jovial film maker in him, who had never shied away from coming in front of the camera for various chat shows. He was a child at heart, I feel, who had for the most part of his life been a loner. This diligent craftsman lived all by himself after both his parents passed away together.
Every channel, national and regional alike broke the news at the same time, as celebrities from Tollywood started pouring in at his residence. I stood gaping at the immense crowd and mob behavior, while still doing my most important job at the moment, Reporting. I was soon joined by the Principal Correspondent and my boss who instructed me to get as much public reaction and celebrity reaction as possible. In about a second, my perspective on the death of a high profile and somewhat controversial celebrity had changed. I was not a passive audience anymore, I was involved in the matter as an active opinion generator. I became the messenger between those who sat in front of the television and those who were climbing tree-tops and terraces of the adjacent buildings to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor/ actress. There was not even a second to ponder about this diligent craftsman and I didn't get a moment to even eat. I was there at Ghosh's residence till 2 in the afternoon, by when I had learnt that his body would be taken to Nandan where it would remain til 6 p.m. for the public to pay their last respect to the genius.
Yet again we were there, camera in hand, reporters going live on air from the Nandan premises as the chief minister of West Bengal Shri. Mamata Banerjee came along with Partha Chatterjee of the Trinamul Congress. I got the opportunity to interview the chief minister briefly for my channel before I thrust the boom in front of other Congress leaders, actors, directors, music directors, editors etc. of Tollywood. One thing about Ghosh's persona that was shared by all those who knew him closely was his down -to-earth and sociable, amicable nature. There was silent mourning by some, heavy tears by others both of which did not escape our camera. What, if this isn't, is the power of the paparazzi, the media as we call it! Crowds flocked to Nandan by the thousands as the police force fought hard to maintain securtiy by employing various crowd control measures. The media dashed at each and every famous face and there was on more than one occasion a stampede.
Gradually as the crowd started moving inside Nandan-1 in a single line to see the body, in was one heck of an affair. I was pretty tired and it became hard for me to keep my eyes open. But I still didn't have a second to spare as I kept on communicating with the OB van people and connecting wires everywhere. Yes, the event was to be a live telecast and had to first reach the Control Room in Delhi. As Cameramen climbed on top of each other to capture Prosenjit Chatterjee, Sujoy Ghosh and Indraneil Sengupta among others, our Principal Correspondent was continuously on her phone giving minute to minute updates to her seniors in Delhi. The air was pretty stuffy and I could hardly turn my body. I was struggling to see what was going on in front of me when I suddenly heard the microphone blaring. Someone announced that Ritu Da's body would be taken to the Technician's studio in Tollygunge before his last destination- the crematorium in Shiritee.
I was quickly directed to reach the Technician's studio with a cameraman and place the boom in a favourable position so as to get the right visuals. The need of the hour then was to travel along the same route as Ritu Da's body would - just that we had to reach the destinations before his body did. I realized how important this was to my channel as its competitors had also sent their interns for live coverage and updates. For a moment everything seemed all so very silly, I mean Why could'nt I just be one of those people in the crowd who moved in the line and stared at Rituparno Ghosh? I had just got one glimpse of the man who has mesmerized me with the language of his cinema and his larger than life vision. His calm face evoked the feeling that he was just in a deep sleep and would wake up the moment someone shook him hard. As I climbed into my office car with the cameraman and we set out for Tollygunge, crowds looked at us with starry eyes in Nandan, just as they had been staring at every car that was passing through the entrance gate, to get a glimpse of their favorite Tollywood actors and actresses. There were mainstream cinema directors as well as parallel cinema directors all under one roof, united by a magnum opus of a loss.
The rest of the day passed in capturing visuals of the mourning mob. We went to the Shiritee crematorium where the Kolkata Police gave a gun salute to Ritu Da's body before it was burnt to ashes. A man, who had been shooting for his upcoming film just two days before, was reduced to nothing but ashes. We didn't know how to accept this truth. The world was tweeting about it, but only those people present at the crematorium knew how passionate this man was about his craft. India had more than anything lost a truly, genuinely courageous man. A man whose command over the world of independent and parallel cinema was one to reckon with and reflect upon. The classes and the masses were both affected by his films and he realized it the most among others. What remains significant is the fact that there is perhaps no one to fill this huge void created by Ritu Da's sad demise. We will for sometime stop expecting a certain kind of gift that his cinema provided us with. Once we go to the movies again, will we continue to be disturbed by the realities of life that Rituparno Ghosh explored in his films?
The crew of cameramen and journalists, technicians and intern reporters left soon after their work was over. Once in my car, I began to ponder about what had happened throughout the day. He was there, just there... but he just vanished in a day. ! I decided to see the rest of the 6 movies made by him that I had, I know not how, missed.
I do not know if Ritu Da's innumerable critics have finally been silenced or not. They must have been. Then again, only time will tell us about this...Meanwhile, a previously recorded version of a talk show in Bengali ( in the adda format) with Rituparno Ghosh as the host, titled Ghosh And Company is being aired on Star Jalsha every Sunday at 11.30 a.m. The minds of his school of cinema's enthusiasts would be flooded with memories...not on 'pensive falling afternoons' but on some melancholic and sultry summer mornings.
We will never fully be able to bid adieu to you as you shall remain in our minds forever, Ritu Da. May Your Soul Rest In Peace.
