RITUPARNO REMEMBERED

Writer-director Sangeeta Dutta, whose latest film Bird of Dusk—a tribute to the late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh— was recently screened in Delhi, insists that she did not want to make a conventional documentary, preferring a fluid treatment with several layers, just like Rituparno’s cinema.

Q Why was it important for you to make this film?

We were friends from our Jadavpur University days. Also, I had worked as associate director in six of his films, including Chokher Bali (2003). After editing a book on him— Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art (Routledge, 2017)—I felt the need to make this documentary. In India, archiving is a big problem and in showbiz, public memory is very short.

Q. Was Ghosh instrumental in reincarnating the Bengali cinema?

Bengali cinema celebrates 100 years this year. So it is appropriate to release this film now. Bengali cinema has a long history and a pan-Indian market with its rich, literature-based content and some very fine talent. There was a lull after the death of actor Uttam Kumar. The audiences had turned away from commercial cinema. At this point, Rituparno arrived with his middle-class aesthetic and drew the audience back to the big screen; he was prolific and his projects were starstudded. Chokher Bali gave the Bengali film industry a new lease of life.

Q. What is the most fascinating aspect of his cinema?

Ritu’s art of storytelling was unique, his characterisation incisive and his visual aesthetics enduring. Within the middle-class milieu, he brought in questions pertaining to sexuality, marital rape, incest. He hid behind the feminist lens, and his empathy for the marginalised was a repetitive motif. Ritu wrote his scripts and lyrics, directed, painted, designed costumes and sets and created fashion statements. For me, Chokher Bali will remain his most enduring project.

Q. Did you encounter any difficulty getting the interviews?

People were very generous. I am especially grateful to Aparna Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore. There were others who I had reached out to—Aishwarya Rai, whose secretary kept promising dates till I ran out of patience; and a Tollygunge actor whose career was shaped by Ritu, but who was too busy to respond.

Q. How difficult was it to produce this film? How was the audience response?

Birds of Dusk is an independent documentary, no producer was willing to invest in it. We put in our own funds. The film has travelled across the international circuit for almost a year, won awards in San Francisco and Chicago. We have released it in Bengal and received a tremendous response.

“No producer was willing to fund Birds of Dusk... It won awards in San Francisco and Chicago”