Rituparno Ghosh (Bengali:[ˈritupɔɾnoɡʱoʃ]^ⓘ; 31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indianfilm director,actor, writer and lyricist.^[1] After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his second feature filmUnishe April which won theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film. Having won 19 National Awards, along with his contemporariesAparna Sen andGoutam Ghose, Rituparno heralded contemporaryBengali cinema to greater heights.^[2][3] Ghosh died on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata after a heart attack.^[4][5] Ghosh was also one of the openlyhomosexual personalities in Indian cinema.

Rituparno Ghosh
Ghosh atMAMI festival in 2010
Born	(1963-08-31)31 August 1963 Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Died	30 May 2013(2013-05-30) (aged 49) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Ritu
Occupations	Director actor writer lyricist
Years active	1992–2013

Ghosh was influenced by the works ofSatyajit Ray and was an avid reader ofRabindranath Tagore. Tagore's works are frequently referenced to in his films.^[6] He also made a documentary titledJeevan Smriti on the life of Tagore.^[7][8] In his career spanning almost two decades, he won 12 National and numerous International awards.^[9] His unreleased Bengali movieSunglass (also known asTaak Jhaank) was honoured and released at the19th Kolkata International Film Festival.^[10][11]

Rituparno Ghosh was born in a Bengali family on 31 August 1963 inKolkata. His birth name was Souranil Ghosh. His father, Sunil Ghosh, was a documentary film maker and painter.^[12] He completed his schooling atSouth Point School, and earned a degree in economics from theJadavpur University, Kolkata.^[13] He also had a master's degree in economics from the same university. He was one of the few openlyLGBT figures in Indian cinema and is considered an icon of the queer community of India.^[14][15][16]

Before his career in film, Rituparno Ghosh worked at the Response India advertising agency and became known as an especially effective copywriter in Kolkata. He was particularly noted for composing succinct, appealing one-liners and slogans for ad campaigns in Bengali during the 1980s. At the time, the trend in Kolkata was to translate all-India advertisement campaigns originally composed in English and Hindi into Bengali. Ghosh won recognition for his ability to initiate campaigns in Bengali. Among his noted ad campaigns wereSharad Samman andBongo Jiboner Ango for the antiseptic ointment,Boroline, and others for Frooti, the largest-selling mango drink in India. Some commentators noted that his power to appeal to consumers through ad campaigns helped make his films appealing to wider audiences, particularly to middle class Bengalis.^[17][18]In 1990, Rituparno received his first break in documentary filmmaking when his own agency, Tele-Response, a member of the Response family of companies, was commissioned to make a documentary on Vande Mataram for Doordarshan.

Ghosh made his directorial debut in the feature filmHirer Angti which was released in 1992, a family-friendly film^[19] based on a novel written byShirshendu Mukhopadhyay about inheritance and conjuring tricks, and starringMoon Moon Sen,Basanta Choudhury, and others^[20]

His second film,Unishe April, starringAparna Sen,Debashree Roy,Prosenjit Chatterjee andDipankar Dey, with a soundtrack composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta, was released in 1994, and won two National Film Awards in 1995, including Best Feature Film. It portrayed the relationship of an award-winning dancer and her emotionally abandoned daughter, who aspires to be a doctor.^[21] This film received both critical acclaim and commercial success.^[4] His next film,Dahan, released in 1997. won Ghosh the National Film Award for Best Screenplay^[22]Dahan was based on the true story of a woman who was molested on a street in Kolkata, and of another woman, a witness who came forward to bring legal action against the perpetrators, but became frustrated by the callousness of society, including the victim's family.^[23]

Bariwali, released in 2000, starring Kirron Kher, Rupa Ganguly and Chiranjeet Chakraborty, portrayed a lonely and withdrawn middle-aged woman (Kirron Kher) who rents out her large house for film production and fantasises about the charming and very much married director, who flirts with her but, predictably, disappoints her. Kher won National Film Award for Best Actress. In the 1999 filmAsukh, Ghosh dealt with the relationship between a young film star and her father who must depend unwillingly on his daughter's earnings. The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.^[21]

Ghosh won the National Award for Best Direction forUtsab, released in 2000. The film dealt with the decadence of a large family whose members now live away from the ancestral home, and meet only during the traditionalDurga puja held on the premises. The 2002 filmTitli was another narrative about a mother-daughter relationship—the teenage daughter has a crush on an older film star who, years ago, had an affair with the mother.^[20][21]

The 2003 filmShubho Mahurat, awhodunit based onAgatha Christie's book,The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, starred the veteran actressesRakhee andSharmila Tagore, alongsideNandita Das, in major roles. The same year, Ghosh released his filmChokher Bali, based on a novel written byRabindranath Tagore, in which Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai worked with the director for the first time.^[24]

In 2004, Ghosh's first Hindi film,Raincoat, an adaptation of the short story,The Gift of the Magi (1906), byO. Henry was released. In this film he worked with Aishwarya Rai again. The shooting of the film was completed in 17 days.^[21] This film received National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi award.^[21] It was later adapted in English by Mithaq kazimi.

In 2005 the Bengali film,Antar Mahal was released. The film was set in British India and revolved around a land-owning or zamindari family.Jackie Shroff played the Zamindar.Soha Ali Khan andRoopa Ganguly played the Zaminder's wives.^[21]

Ghosh's 2007 film,The Last Lear, revolved around the life of a retired Shakespearean theatre actor, withAmitabh Bachchan in the lead role,^[21] and withPreity Zinta andArjun Rampal playing supporting roles.^[25]

The 2008 film,Khela, wasManisha Koirala's debut film in Bengali cinema.^[21] Later the same year,Shob Charitro Kalponik, starringBipasha Basu and Prosenjit, was released, and won the National Award for Best Film in Bengali.

In 2009, Ghosh's filmAbohomaan, starringJisshu Sengupta,Ananya Chatterjee, Dipankar Dey, and Mamata Shankar, was released, and won him theNational film award for Best Director inBengali for this film.^[21]

Just before he died, he had finished production work on his last film,Satyanweshi, based on Bengali detectiveByomkesh Bakshi.^[13][26]

Rituparno Ghosh made his first screen appearance in anOriya film,Katha Deithilli Ma Ku, which was directed by Himanshu Parija and released in 2003.^[27] In 2011, he acted in two Bengali films—Arekti Premer Golpo directed byKaushik Ganguly, which dealt with queer relationships,^[28] andMemories in March directed bySanjoy Nag.

Chitrangada (2012) was Ghosh's last film to be released. Loosely based on Rabindranath Tagore's work 'Chitrangada',^[21] this film received the special jury award at the 60th National Film Awards.^[25]

Rituparno Ghosh hosted two celebrity chat shows,Ebong Rituporno onETV Bangla andGhosh & Co. onStar Jalsha. He was the scriptwriter ofGaaner Opare.^[29][30][31] Ghosh had planned a 13-episodes long television series based onMiss Marple, featuring the character of Ranga Pishima from his film,Shubho Mahurat.^[32] TitledTahar Namti Ranjana, it remained unfinished on his death. Star Jalsha telecasted the only finished episode from the planned series posthumously in June 2013.^[33][34]

Rituparno Ghosh was the editor of the Bengali film magazine,Anandalok^[35] from 1997 to 2004. He was also the editor^[36] ofRobbar magazine ofSangbad Pratidin^[37] from 2006 till his death.

Rituparno suffered fromdiabetes mellitus type 2 for ten years, andpancreatitis for five years.^[19] He experiencedinsomnia and had been taking medication for it.^[38] According to Rajiv Seal of Fortis Hospitals, who had been his physician for almost two decades, Rituparno was also facing complications from hormone treatments after abdominoplasty and breast implants operations^[19]

Ghosh died at his Kolkata residence on 30 May 2013, following a massive heart attack. His attendants, Dileep and Bishnu, found him lying unconscious in bed. Nilanjana Sengupta, wife of actor Jisshu Sengupta, sent for Nirup Mitra, who declared Ghosh dead.^[39] Ghosh was 49 years old.^[4]

Many Bengali film actors and directors went to Ghosh's residence to pay tribute. In the afternoon his body was taken toNandan and kept outside the Nandan complex for some time to allow his fans to see him one last time. Thousands of people came to Nandan to pay homage.^[19] Then his body was taken to Tollygunge Technician Studios, where West Bengal's Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee spoke of him in tribute.^[19][40] From Tollygunge, Ghosh's body was taken to Siriti cremation ground where his funeral took place.^[40] He was given gun salute by Kolkata Police before cremation.^[41][42]

Bengali film industry

Bengali actorSoumitra 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."^[43]Konkona Sen Sharma, who acted in Ghosh'sTitli andDosar, said that Ghosh's death was a great personal loss for her.^[23] ActorArindam Sil requested to observe the day as a day of national mourning.^[39]Dev said he was speechless after getting the news.^[39]Rituparna Sengupta described Ghosh as a creative genius who had enriched the Bengali film industry emotionally and culturally.^[44]

Bollywood film industry

Amitabh Bachchan remembered Ghosh as the only director who had worked with every member of the Bachchan family. He tweeted, "Ghosh was a sensitive artistic minded gentle human being."^[45] For actressBipasha Basu it was heartbreaking news, difficult to believe.^[39] Film directorShyam Benegal said, Ghosh's death was a "huge tragedy".^[46]Soha Ali Khan described Ghosh as one in the vanguard of Bengali cinema who created a link between Satyajit Ray and a new school of Bengali filmmakers.^[44] ToArjun Rampal, Ghosh was "a master of his craft" and a wonderful man.^[44] ActressKirron Kher remembered his childlike wonder and added, "In the film world, which is replete with ignorant people, Ritu was a very well-read man. He had a library of his own and would study religiously. His knowledge was unparalleled."^[44]

International film industry

The Indian consulate in Bangladesh held a retrospective and Afghan-American director Mithaq Kazimi wrote his reactions via his personal blog and commented on Ghosh's influence beyond India on a number of newspapers.^[47]

Rituparno Ghosh was one of the most acclaimed film directors of India, and was himself an admirer ofSatyajit Ray. His films glorified womanhood and closely and sensitively portrayed women's lives, feelings and sufferings.^[3][48] According to Bollywood actorAnupam Kher, Ghosh had wonderful understanding of the female psyche.^[44] In his last films he addressed issues of homosexuality and gender.^[3]

An article in the newspaperLive Mint categorised Ghosh's cinematic career in three phases: In his early films, he tried to portray Bengali middle-class lives, their aspirations and desires;^[20] in the second phase, he mainly worked with Bollywood actors and made films in Hindi and English as well as Bengali;^[20] in the third and the last phase his movies mainly dealt with sexuality.^[20]

Rituparno Ghosh had deep interests in the classics and made multiple films of Rabindranath Tagore's works. According to film-makerGoutam Ghose—^[49]

His films, with their sensitive portrayal of human relationships, anguish, trauma and love in a fast-changing, post-liberalisation 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 refreshing, yet realistic in a society that was going through churning.

Goutam Ghose also felt that Rituparno Ghosh was the best film director of his generation.^[49]He directed and as well as acted in such films which tried to reject the concept that homosexual relationship is all about a physical relationship. He said 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."^[29]

Bengali film directorMrinal Sen said that whenever he thought of direction, the name that came to mind was Rituparno Ghosh. According to Sen, Ghosh's contribution to Indian cinema will be remembered forever.^[44] The independent film critic Saibal Chatterjee, in an article in The Hindu, described the way Ghosh mixed the literary traditions of Bengal with modern-day sensibility, thereby transcending the confines of region.^[50] Chatterjee praised Ghosh for his brave and empathetic treatment of "alternative sexuality" as actor inArekti Premer Golpo andMemories in March, and as director-actor inChitrangada.^[50]

Ghosh was a researcher and admirer ofRabindranath Tagore. He made three films directly based on literary works of Rabindranath Tagore—Choker Bali (2003),Noukadubi (2010) andChitrangada (2012).^[51] In the filmAsukh (1999) Tagore played an invisible role.^[52] In 2012, Ghosh made a documentary based on Tagore's autobiography, 'Jiban Smriti', for the Government of India Ministry of Culture.^[53]

In an interview in August 2012, Ghosh spoke 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."^[52]

• Anjan Das
• Subrata Sen
• Kaushik Ganguly
• Srijit_Mukherji

• Rituparno Ghosh atIMDb