I was shocked at the news of Rituparno Ghosh's untimely death early this morning. He was a pioneer filmmaker who created a distinct genre of Bengali movies that brought back the Bengali audience to the movie hall. He created a market for Bengali movies in the early nineties, at a time when the entertainment industry was expanding with Indian liberalisation, thus, setting a trend for a new generation of film makers to experiment with new subjects involving complex relationships.
As a story teller, he was sensitive to human relationships, sometimes challenging the gender bigotry in some of his recent films. His background as an advertisement copywriter helped him to treat the complex subjects in a simple, yet appealing style.
In his recent films like Memories in March and Chitrangada, Ghosh became more expressive of the societal standard of gender sensibilities. He was a conscious director, who maintained a fine balance between the subject of the film and its commercial viability. He followed the middle path with serious films for a niche audience, which is loosely called as the 'Art house' film, yet his producers were able to break even. It's a loss to the film fraternity not only in Bengal and India, but across the world.
