Ritwik Ghatak was an Indian filmmaker and also a playwright poet and writer of short stories. Ghatak started his creative career as a poet and a fiction writer. Then he began writing for the theater and became involved with Gananatya Sangha and Indian People's Theatre Association. Later he moved to film direction. He also wrote more than 50 essays on film. Satyajit Ray wrote that these essays "cover(ed) every possible aspect of the cinema". [1]
| Year | Film | English Title | Actors | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Ajantrik | The Unmechanical / The Pathetic Fallacy | Kali Banerjee, Gangapada Basu, Satindra Bhattacharya, Kajal Gupta, Gyanesh Mukherjee Anil Chatterjee, Tulsi Chakrabarti | 23 May 1958 |
| 1959 | Bari Theke Paliye | The Runaway | Kali Banerjee, Master Parambhattarak Lahiri, Gyanesh Mukherjee, Keshto Mukherjee. Jahor Roy, Satindra Bhattacharya, | 24 July 1959 |
| 1960 | Meghe Dhaka Tara (Partition Trilogy) | The Cloud-Capped Star | Anil Chatterjee, Supriya Choudhuri, Bijon Bhattacharya, Gita Ghatak, Gyanesh Mukherjee, Dwiju Bhawal, Niranjan Roy, Gita Dey | 14 April 1960 |
| 1961 | Komal Gandhar (Partition Trilogy) | E-Flat | Supriya Choudhuri, Abanish Banerjee Gita Dey, Anil Chatterjee, Bijon Bhattacharya, Chitra Sen, Mantu Ghosh, Satindra Bhattacharya | 31 March 1961 |
| 1965 | Subarnarekha (Partition Trilogy) | Golden Line | Abhi Bhattacharya, Madhabi Mukherjee, Bijon Bhattacharya, Jahor Roy, Satindra Bhattacharya, Gita Dey, Ritwik Ghatak | 1 October 1965 |
| 1973 | Titash Ekti Nadir Naam | A River Called Titash | Rosi Samad, Kobori Sarwar, Rawshan Zamil, Fakirul Hasan Bairagi, Prabir Mitra, Ritwik Ghatak | 27 July 1973 |
| 1977 | Nagarik | The Citizen | Kali Banerjee, Prabha Devi, Satindra Bhattacharya, Shobha Sen, Gangapada Basu, Anil Chatterjee, Ketaki Dutta, Kesto Mukherjee, Gita Shome | Produced in 1952. Released on 20 September 1977 |
| 1977 | Jukti Takko Aar Gappo | Reason, Debate and a Story | Ritwik Ghatak, Tripti Mitra, Saoli Mitra, Bijon Bhattacharya, Gnanesh Mukherjee, Sugato Burman, Ananya Ray, Master Ritoban Ghatak, Jahar Roy, Utpal Dutt | 30 September 1977 |
| Year | Film | Director | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Musafir | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Script |
| 1958 | Madhumati | Bimal Roy | Story & Script |
| 1960 | Swaralipi | Asit Sen | Script |
| 1962 | Kumari Mon | Chitrarath | Script |
| 1963 | Deeper Nam Tiya Rong | Gurudas Bagchi | Script |
| 1965 | Rajkanya | Sunil Banerjee | Story & Script |
| 1968 | Heerer Prajapati (Hindi) | Santi P. Choudhury | Script |
| Year | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Tathapi | Manoj Bhattacharya |
| 1951 | Chinnamul | Nimai Ghosh |
| 1962 | Kumari Mon | Chitrarath |
| 1962 | Subarnarekha | Ritwik Ghatak |
| 1973 | Titash Ekti Nadir Naam | Ritwik Ghatak |
| 1974 | Jukti Takko Aar Gappo | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Article | First published | Year |
|---|---|---|
| A New Chapter in Acting | Chalachitra, Autumn issue, Page 93–101 | 1950 |
| A Draft on Cultural Line | Indian People's Theatre Association | 1 June 1951 |
| A Film Festival in Calcutta" Soviet Film Grand Concert: Bicycle Thief | Parichay, March, Year 21, Vol–2, No–3 Page 70–79 | 1952 |
| Soviet Film In Bengali | Parichay November, Year 24, No–5, Page 517–526 | 1954 |
| About Oraons (Chotonagpur) | Ritwik, October 1977, Page 189–201 | 1954–1955 |
| Some Thoughts on Ajantrik | Indian Film Reviews, Page 22–23 | December, 1958 |
| One Long Boundary Wall | Chalachitra, Annual number, Page 117–119 | 1959 |
| Various Weapon: Editing | Ritwik Page 183–187 | Unknown |
| Speech About Cinema; Artists of Bengal | Chitrabikshan Jan–Apr, 1976 | 1958–60 |
| A Book review: Theory of Film | Indian Film Culture, Vol–1, No–1, Page 47–50 | April–June, 1962 |
| Music in Indian Cinema And The Epic Approach | Artist, January–March, Vol–1, No–1, Page 37–38 | 1963 |
| An Interview On Film Script | Chalachitra Autumn issue, Vol III, Page 47–50 | 1963 |
| Human Society, Our Tradition, Film Making and my Efforts | Chalachitra Autumn issue | 1963 |
| Art and Integrity | Dainik Basumati Autumn issue | 1963 |
| Editorial | Artist July–September, Vol–1 No–3 | 1963 |
| Nazarin and Louis Buñuel | Chalachitra Winter Page 41–44 | 1963 |
| The Film and I | Montage Vol–II No–3 | 1963 |
| Nazarin– a review | Kino Vol–I No–1, Page 23–26 | January, 1964 |
| Experimental Cinema | Amrita, Autumn issue | 1964 |
| The Mother Land and Artist's Duty | Parichay Autumn issue | 1964 |
| Assessing a Film | Chalachitra Autumn issue, page 18–20 | 1964 |
| Experimental Cinema | Lecture, Film and Training Institute | 16 September 1964 |
| On Komal Gandhar | Chitrapat, Vol–I, No–I, Page 23–24 | 1965 |
| The Director's Message in Bengali Cinema | Chirakalpa Summer issue, Vol–I, No–I | 1965 |
| Understanding Cinema | Angik, Summer issue | 1965 |
| A Book review: Theory of Film– An Attitude to Life and an Attitude to Art | 1965 | |
| It is not possible to accept what Box Office demands | Statement column, Jugantar | 13 August 1965 |
| The Past and Present of Bengali Films, Interview | Chalachitra Page 24–25 | October 1965 |
| A Book Review: Theory of Film; Nature of Film | Lecture F.T.I.I of Pune | 30 September 1965 |
| Bengali Cinema, Literary Influence | Film Fare | 1965 |
| Sound in Film | Parichay, Chatushkala issue, Year 35 | 1965 |
| Plays and the Present Age | Jatiya Sahitya Parishad, Page 9–12 | 12 April 1966 |
| On Subarna Rekha | Chitrapat Vol–2 No–2, Page 26–27 | August 1966 |
| My Film | Film, Autumn issue | 1966 |
| Art, Cinema and the Future | Ananda Bazar Patrika | 1966 |
| The Third International Film Festival in India | Chitralekha Vol– I, No– 4, Page– 13–16 | Winter 1966 |
| Experiment in Cinema and I | Unpublished | Unknown |
| The Future of Film | Movie Montage Vol–1 No–1 Page–1 | 1967 |
| My Coming into Films | Film Forum Festival, Souvenir, 17–20 July | 1967 |
| Sound in Film | Film Forum Festival, Souvenir, 17–20 July | 1967 |
| From a Statement | Chitrayan Page–34 (August, 1977) | 1967 |
| What is the True Form of Cinema | Lecture | 29 September 1967 |
| Experimental Film and I | Chitrabikshan | October, 1967 |
| Cinema and the Subjective Factor | Chitrakalpa Vol–2 No–1, Page 5–7 | October, 1967 |
| Thinking about Cinema | Movie Montage Special issue, Vol–I, No–2, Page 49–53 | 1967 |
| Interview | Movie Montage Vol–I, No–2, Page 54–58 | 1967 |
| Documentary Film | Sahitya–Patra Sept–Nov issue, Page 117–121 | 1967 |
| The Position of Cinema in the Society | Movie Montage Vol–I, No–3, Page 3–4 | 1967 |
| Bengali Society and Bengali Cinema | Madhyanya Oct–Dec issue, Vol–II, No–3, Page 147–150 | 1967 |
| Filmic Rhythm and Structure | Chalachitra Sept–Dec issue, Page 9–10 | 1967 |
| Prognosis for Today's Cinema | Desh December issue, Vol– 35, No–9, Page 885–886 | 1967 |
| The So-called Crisis in Bengali Cinema | Abhinay-Darpan May–June issue, Page 32–34 | 1968 |
| Some Stray Thought Some Perceptions | Ritwik October 1977, Page 5–10 | 1968 |
| The Film I Want to Make About Vietnam | West Bengal Youth Festival, Commemorative Volume | 1968 |
| Dance in Cinema | Nupur Dance Academy, Souvenir | 1968 |
| On The People's Theatre Movement | Abhinay Darpan, May–June issue, Page 2, 7–8 | 1969 |
| If I Could Make Films Again | Antarjatik Angik | 1969 |
| Obscenity and Films | Assam Bani Patrika | 12 December 1969 |
| The Present and Future of Indian Film Making | Abhinay March–April issue, Vol–I No–2 & 3, Page 138–148, 201–204 | 1970 |
| Interview by Ajay Basu | Abhinay May issue, Vol–I, No–4 | 1970 |
| What Ails Indian Film Making | Amrita Bazar Patrika, Sunday issue | 10 May 1970 |
| Interview | Chitrabhash | July 1970 |
| Our beloved Ganga–da, The Quite Man | Gangapada Basu Commemorative volume, page 44–38 | 3 Jan 1972 |
| If There Be Any One Person In India Who Comprehends The Film Medium, Then He is Satyajit Ray | Cine Technique | March, 1972 |
| Interview | Chatrapat No–9, Page 37–38 | 1972 |
| Thoughts about Ajantrik | Ajantrik Angik Winter–spring issue, Page 55–60 | Unknown |
| Interview– Titash and others by Tulu Das | Unknown | 1973 |
| Ritwik Ghatak, an interview | Chitrabikshan August–September, 6th year, No 11–12 | 1973 |
| Brecht and Ourselves | Natyachinta Volume–2, Page 9 | 1973 |
| An Interview by Muhammed Khashru | Dhrupadi Vol–IV, Page 148–169 | 13 May 1974 |
| People I Have Seen Both The Bengal | Unknown | September, 1974 |
| Dialectics in Films | Amrita | 1974 |
| My Views | Amrita | 1974 |
| Two Aspects, The Mind, Day Dreams, The Eye, Movement In Film | Chalachitra Autumn issue, Page 14–23 | 1974 |
| Face to Face with Ritwik Ghatak | Chitrabikshan | September, 1974 |
| Bijon Bhattacharya– Giver of New Life | Natyadarpan Vol–1, No–1, Page 13–15 | May 1975 |
| An Interview by Prabir Sen | Jalim Singh's Journal | 1975 |
| Recent plays | Moumachi | 1975 |
| The Emergency– Ritwik Ghatak's Works at the Censor's Mercy | Chitrabikshan July–Sept, 10th Year, No. 10–12, Page 9–10 | 1975 |
| Let There Be Sound | Chitrabikshan Jan–Apr issue, Page 216 | 1976 |
| Film Making | Chitrabikshan Jan–Apr issue, Page 225–226 | 1976 |
| Symbol | Shabda | Unknown |
| On Drama | Agyatabas No–17, Page 49–50 | 1976 |
| Cinema, Literature and My Films | Chitrabikshan | November, 1976 |
| La Dolce Vita and Felini | Chitrapat, Special issue | 1976 |
| On Bergman | Chitrapat, Special issue | 1976 |
| My Thoughts on Cinema | F.F.S.I Ritwik Retrospective Souvenir | 1976 |
| What It Means To Make Films In India | Unknown | Unknown |
| An Interview | by Kalpana Biswas | 1976 |
| An Interview | Film Miscellany | 1976 |
| An Interview | Swarabarna | 1976 |
| Excerpt of an Article | Movie Montage No–18 Page– 57 | November 1976 |
| On Memory of Pramathesh Barua | Unknown | Unknown |
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 1960 film written and directed by Ritwik Ghatak, based on a social novel by Shaktipada Rajguru with the same title. It stars Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Gita Dey, Bijon Bhattacharya, Niranjan Roy, and Gyanesh Mukherjee. It was part of a trilogy consisting of Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961), and Subarnarekha (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of Bengal during the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it.
Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theatre Group" in 1949. This group enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the "Epic theatre" period, before it immersed itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became an apt vehicle for the expression of his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays such as Kallol (1965), Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob (1964), Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted in over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in a career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films such as Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk (1991), Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1992) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy Hindi comedies such as Gol Maal (1979) and Rang Birangi (1983). He also did the role of a sculptor, Sir Digindra Narayan, in the episode Seemant Heera of Byomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan in 1993, shortly before his death.
Madhabi Chakraborty is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film Dibratrir Kabya. She has acted in some of the most critically acclaimed films in Bengali cinema and is considered one of the great actresses of Bengali cinema.
Mani Sankar Mukherjee is an Indian writer in the Bengali language, who also served as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He grew up in Howrah district of West Bengal.
Parallel cinema or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
Jukti Takko Aar Gappo is a 1974 Bengali film directed by auteur of Indian cinema Ritwik Ghatak. Jukti Takko Aar Gappo was Ritwik Ghatak's last film. The film was believed to have a cinematography way ahead of its time. The film won National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974.
Nagarik, also spelled as Nagorik, was the first feature-length film directed by legendary Indian director Ritwik Ghatak. Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death. On 20 September 1977, it finally premiered at the New Empire theatre in Kolkata, India. Ghatak directed only eight feature films, but is generally regarded as one of the auteurs of Indian cinema and virtually unsurpassed as a creator of powerful imagery and epic style by directors such as Satyajit Ray and of transcendental power and extraordinariness by critics such as Derek Malcolm.
Ajantrik is a 1958 Indian Bengali film written and directed by revered parallel filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. The film is adapted from a Bengali short story of the same name written by Subodh Ghosh.
Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is an Indian film industry of Bengali-language motion pictures. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932. It was a historically important film industry, at one time the centre of Indian film production. The Bengali film industry is known for producing many of Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global Parallel Cinema and art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining prominence at the Indian National Film Awards as well as international acclaim.
Abhi Bhattacharya was an Indian actor of Hindi and Bengali cinema, who is most remembered for his roles in films of the 1950s and the 1960s, such as Yatrik (1952), Jagriti (1954), Anuradha (1960), Subarnarekha (1965) and Amanush 1975. In his four decade long acting career he performed in more than 150 films in Hindi and 21 in Bengali. Abhi Bhattacharya worked with eminent film directors of India such as Ritwik Ghatak, Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy and Satyen Bose.
Amar Lenin is a 1970 black and white documentary film directed by film director Ritwik Ghatak made for Government of West Bengal in the centenary year (1970) of the birth of Vladimir Lenin.
Bedeni, also known as Arup Kotha (1951–52), is an unfinished Bengali language film directed by filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. This was the first movie in which Ritwik worked as a director.
Kato Ajanare (1959) is an unfinished Bengali drama film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The storyline was based on a Bengali novel written by Mani Shankar Mukherjee with the same title. The film was shot on a 20-day schedule. The shooting was complete, except the court scene. The film was discontinued and abandoned for mainly financial and some other problems.
Kato Ajanare is a Bengali novel written by Mani Shankar Mukherjee. This was Shankar's first novel which mainly deals with author's memories of Mr. Barwell, a renowned Barrister of the Calcutta High Court.
Kumar Roy (1926–2010) was a Bengali theatre actor, director and playwright. In 1983 he won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He was associated with the group Bohurupee. In 1989 he directed the re-creation of the classic play Nabanna (1948). He was the President of the PashchimBanga Natya Akademi from 2006 till his death in 2010. Kumar Roy was also Professor of Drama at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and Visiting Professor at Sangeet Bhavan, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 2013 Indian Bengali film directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee and made under Shree Venkatesh Films banners. The film is inspired from the life and works of Bengali film director Ritwik Ghatak. The entire film is in black and white except the last scene which has been shot in colour. In this film Saswata Chatterjee plays the character of Nilkantha Bagchi and Ananya Chatterjee plays the role of Durga, Nilkantha's wife. The film was released on 14 June 2013. Besides giving an account of Ghatak's life, the film also depicts the socio-political environment of contemporary West Bengal during the Tebhaga and Naxalite movements.
Kala Bhavana is the fine arts faculty of Visva-Bharati University, in Shantiniketan, India. It is an institution of education and research in visual arts, founded in 1919, it was established by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Shyamal Ghoshal was a Bengali film and television actor. He was recognized for his work in Bengali cinema.