The birth centenary of filmmaker, script writer and actor Ritwik Kumar Ghatak will be celebrated today.
To mark the day, different organisations will pay tributes to the filmmakers organising programmes.
Bangla Academy will organise a seminar at the Poet Shamsur Rahman Seminar Room of the academy at 4:00pm.
Besides, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies and Bangladesh Short Film Forum will jointly organise a programme at the National Art Gallery of BSA in Dhaka at 5:00pm.
Born on November 4, 1925, following the partition of India, Ritwik Ghatak and his family moved to Kolkata. In 1958, he completed his graduation from Krishnath College in Baharampur. Later he got admission at Calcutta University for MA degree, but he did not complete the course, because he found writing was more worthwhile than having a degree at the university.
Ritwik Ghatak became a celebrity through the publication of his play titled Nabanna.
In 1951, he joined the Indian People’s Theatre Association. Next year, he made film Nagarik. He made a theatrical production titled Dalil in 1952, which won the first prize at the Indian People’s Theatre Association Exhibition held in Mumbai in 1953. In 1955, he formed a theatre troupe named Group Theatre and staged his play titled Sanko.
Ghatak’s first commercial venture was Ajantrik in 1958. It was one of the earliest Indian films to portray an inanimate object, an automobile, as a character in the story. Besides, his commercial success as a script writer was for Hindi film Madhumati, one of the earliest films to deal with the theme of reincarnation, directed by film maker Bimal Ray. This film earned the Best Story award from the Filmfare.
Ritwik Ghatak made eight full-length films. His film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ deals with the struggling life of a refugee family. In it, the elder daughter of the family shoulders responsibilities of the poverty-trodden family. Her sacrifices included all bizarre acts, even her valued person.
He displayed the city Kolkata in the eye of a runaway boy in the film ‘Bari Theke Paliye’. In the film Komal Gandhar, he reflected his personal life and outlook. His film, Titas Ekti Nadir Naam, topped the list of best 10 films rated by the British Film Institute. His last film was the autobiographical ‘Jukti Takko Aar Gappo’ in 1974.
Ritwik made a good number of documentaries and short films, including Adivasis, Scissors, Fear, Rendezvous Civil Defence, Scientist of Tomorrow, Amar Lenin and Puruliar Chhau.
The filmmaker passed away in Kolkata on February 6, 1976.
