RITUPARNO GHOSH NO MORE................(31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013)

Ghosh was born on 31 August 1963 in Kolkata. Both his parents were related to films, his father Sunil Ghosh was a documentary film maker and a painter.He completed his schooling from South Point High School, and obtained a degree in economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. It is painful yet true that Rituparno Ghosh would not move in and out in his brisk motion as all have seen him and was so very much used to it....in the set and arrange the last bit of arrangements with the expertise hands. Rituparno Ghosh, one of the country's best and versatile filmmakers in the post-Satyajit Ray generation, mastered depiction of human relationships which he often dissected with a surgical knife against contemporary or periodical social contexts.Rituparno was the finest ever critique of human relationships. It was his years in the advertising world that taught Mr Ghosh the art of innovation, experimentation, precision, communication and detailing within a short time and space - qualities which helped him when he ventured into films. In 1992, Ghosh made his first film -- Hirer Angti - a movie for children -- but it never got released. However, he shot into prominence two years later with Unishe April, which was inspired by Ray's Jalsaghar (The Music Room). Unishe April - based on the tensions in the relationship between a dancer mother and her doctor daughter - bagged the national award for best feature film and won Debashree Roy the honours in the best actress category. Three years later came another acclaimed film Dahan showing the trials and tribulations of two contemporary women - one of them molested by goons, and another who had rushed to help her. Other award-winning Bengali movies from Ghosh's stable included Bariwali, Asukh, Utsab, Shubho Mahurat, Chokher Bali, Dosar, Shob Charitro Kalponik and Abohoman. Keeping aside the awards it was ever more striking how he could dive into the depth of a woman's heart and bring out the craving........ the sorrow..........the inner most feelings so perfectly......It is certainly a pity that his actresses lost a close friends and we lost a soul who portrayed them royally with his artistic touch and bloom them into cinema........... In 2007, Ghosh made his only English movie The Last Lear. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, it revolved around a retired Shakespearean theatre actor. He directed two Hindi movies - Raincoat (2004) - that got a National Award and Sunglass (2012). Unlike some celebrated filmmakers, who chose to work with newcomers rather than established stars, Ghosh had a great ability to get the best out of matinee idols like Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, and Rakhee Gulzar. A case in point was how he handled Sharmila in Shubho Maharat. "You have to refer to sequences from other films she has acted in, in order to draw an emotion in a given scene," he had said. He boldly portrayed women's desires in almost all his films, but chose to call himself a "Womanist and not a feminist". Ghosh had battled his sexuality and identity - somewhat of a woman wrapped in a man's body - through his life, but chose to get frank towards the end after his parents died. He also acted in queer characters in three movies - Chitrangada, Arekti Premer Golpo and Memories in March. A learned man, Ghosh for years edited the popular Bengali film magazine Anandalok, worked at a senior position in a television channel and conducted popular talk shows. He wrote lucid and fluent prose, and his Bengali column in a local daily was widely read. In the past few years, Rituparno suffered a double blow. First, his mother passed away and a few years later his father followed, leaving Ritu alone in their ancestral home. His only brother Indranil, happily married and with children, had distanced himself from him, leaving the filmmaker alone to grapple with his changing personality and the ensuing trauma.In the last few years, Rituparno became increasingly isolated from all his close friends as he sought to get himself a feminine physique to match his sexuality. Among his many achievements, Ritu must be credited with being the first filmmaker to come out of the closet. The process of coming out started years ago.

Death Marana re tuhu momo prano saman Ghosh suffered from diabetes mellitus type 2 for ten years, and pancreatitis for five years.He also experieced insomnia and had been taking pills. According to doctors' reports, he was facing physical complexities by a hormone replacement therapy that he required after an abdominoplasty and breast implants he got before the making of Arekti Premer Golpo, in which he played the role of a homosexual film-maker. Ghosh died following a massive heart attack at his Kolkata residence on 30 May 2013. His attendants, Dileep and Bishnu, found him lying unconscious in bed. Nilanjana Sengupta, a neighbour of Ghosh, called Doctor Nirup Ray, who declared Ghosh dead. Ghosh was 49 years old. Reactions and tributes Bengali film industry Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee said "I cannot believe that Rituparno is no more. It is very difficult to accept this news. We lost a very promising film director at a very early age." Konkona Sen Sharma, who acted in Ghosh's Titli and Dosar, stated Ghosh's death was a great personal loss for her. Actor Arindam Sil requested to observe the day as a day of national mourning. Bollywood film industry Amitabh Bachchan remembered Ghosh was the only director who worked with all members of Bachchan family. He wrote in a tweet, Ghosh was a sensitive artistic minded gentle human being.

Director Shyam Benegal told, Ghosh's death was a "huge tragedy". Soha Ali Khan told Ghosh was a vanguard of Bengali cinema who linked between Satyajit Ray and a new school. To Arjun Rampal, Ghosh was "a master of his craft" and a wonderful man. Cinematic vision Ghosh was one of most acclaimed film directors of India. He claimed himself as an admirer of Satyajit Ray. The films of Ghosh glorified womanhood and portrayed women's lives, feelings and sufferings. According to Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, Ghosh had wonderful understanding of the women psyche. In last few films he dealt with topic like homosexual relationship. An article in the newspaper Live Mint categorised the cinematic career of Ghosh into three phases: in his early films, he tried to portray Bengali middle-class lives, their aspirations and desires; in the second phase of his career he mainly worked with Bollywood actors and made films in Bengali as well as Hindi and English; in the third and the last phase of his career he mainly dealt with sexuality in his movies. Rituparno Ghosh had deep interests in classics and made multiple films of Rabindranath Tagore's works. According to film-maker Goutam Ghosh His films, with their sensitive portrayal of human relationships, anguish, trauma and love in a fast-changing, post-liberalization India charmed audiences. His brilliant story-telling reflected contemporary society like never before. While his death creates a tremendous void that can never be filled, Rituparno's work blazed a trail that has paved the way for an entire generation of filmmakers who have dared to be different. It was Rituparno who gave them the courage. He looked at ordinary middle-class relationships from an angle that had never been explored. For example, the mother-daughter relationship in 'Unishe April' was so refreshing, yet realistic in a society that was going through a churning. Goutam Ghose also felt that Rituparno Ghosh was the best film director of his generation. He directed and as well as acted in such films which tried to reject the concept that homosexual relationship is all about physical relationship. He told in an interview in 2010— "There is much more to such relationships. Same-sex relationships, too, are extremely soulful, emotional and have the same pathos that any heterosexual relationship has."

Ghosh's exploration of Tagore's works: Ghosh was a researcher and admirer of Rabindranath Tagore. He made three films directly based on literary works of Rabindranath Tagore— Choker Bali (2003), Nokuadubi (2010) and Chitrangada (2012). In the film Asukh (1999) Tagore played an invisible role. In 2012, Ghosh made a documentary based on Tagore's autobiography Jiban Smriti for the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In an interview in August 2012, Ghosh told about Tagore— "What comes through is what a lonely man Tagore was — from childhood to old age. There is no one in his life to share even his success with him. It's the journey of a lonely traveller. What I haven't captured in the documentary is what a fun-loving, humorous man he could be. I show him as a profound thinker, a guru — but then this was perhaps necessary for an audience which is not at all familiar with Rabindranath." YET HE HAD TO GO....................