Ritwik Ghatak: Life, Works & Philosophy ― (Part 4 of 4)

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

Ritwik joined the Pune Film and Television institute as a visiting professor at the end of 1966 and later became a vice principal. He was attached to two cinemas named 'Fear' and 'Rendezvous' during the tenure of his teaching here. Ritwik placed his teaching life over his film career. He says, 'I feel, the few films that I made in my life, if kept in one side of weighing balance and the teaching on the other, then the teaching would be heavier. Because today my students are everywhere, Kashmir to Kerala, Madras to Assam. The little contribution I could make for them was much important than making my own cinema.'

প্রিয়তমা তোমার জন্য

চেয়ে দেখ প্রিয়তমা,

কত বছর গেল কেটে,

হাতে হাত রেখে―

ভালবাসা দিয়েছি জমা।

তোমায় নিয়ে জলকন্যা,

স্বচ্ছ পানিতে পা ডুবিয়ে,

চোখে চোখ রেখে―

থেকে গেছি দু'জনের দুজনা।

Ritwik Ghatak: Life, Works & Philosophy ― (Part 3 of 4)

PART 1 | PART 2

Ritwik used to say about the philosophy of cinema, 'Film-making is not an esoteric thing to me. I consider film-making – to start with – a personal thing. If a person does not have a vision of his own, he cannot create'. The personal experience is evident in his cinemas, he wished to express in very many ways his inner agony of becoming refugee as a result of partition. In own words of Ritwik ,'I could neither accept the partition of Bengal in any ways― Nor do I today. Whatever happened in history will not alter and I won’t venture to do this impossible task. The cultural segregation caused by politics and economics was a thing to which I never reconciled myself as I always thought in terms of cultural integration'.

Ritwik Ghatak: Life, Works & Philosophy ― (Part 2 of 4)

PART 1

Ritwik made three documentaries in 1955. The life journey of Oraon tribal community 'Oraon', the life of the tribal of Bihar 'Adivasiyon Ka Jeevan Srot' and the spectacular places of Bihar 'Bihar Ke Darshaniya Sthan'. He married Surma Devi after returning from Bihar. She was also a theatre worker and they came to know each other through theatre. After some days, Ritwik found a job at Filmistan Studio of Bombay with the help of Salil Chowdhury. To start with, Ritwik used to stay with Hrishikesh Mukherjee and wrote the screenplay of the cinema 'Musafir' under his direction. The best commercial success of Ritwik's life came from the screenplay of the cinema 'Madhumati' made by Bimal Roy in 1958. It was the first line cinema made with the concept of reincarnation. Later he wrote screenplays for some other films that includes 'Swaralipi'(1960), 'Kumari Mon'(1962), 'Dwiper Naam Tiarong'(1963), 'Rajkonna'(1965) and 'Hirer Projapoti'(1958). In spite of his business in writing essays and screenplays the constant pressure of writing screenplays for commercial style cinemas of Bombay gradually became unbearable for Ritwik. So he left the job of ensured income of Bombay and reverted to Calcutta.

Ritwik Ghatak: Life, Works & Philosophy ― (Part 1 of 4)

The pair of lips holding a bidi of leaf, a bottle of local liquor in the hand. Head full of messy hair like a bewildered person, bristly face due to lack of use of razor. Dressed with dirty paijama-panjabi with Shantiniketani bag in the shoulder. A black framed spectacles with a sharp look in the eyes blended with sarcasm. 'Who is he'- this question from anyone, will meet a direct answer from him without any deception ― 'I am a drunkard. Broken intellectual'. This is the self-perception of legendary film-maker Ritwik Ghatak through his own lens.

Full name was Ritwik Kumar Ghatak. Was born in Dhaka, on 4th November 1925. Father's name was Suresh Chandra Ghatak, Mother was Indubala Devi. There was an existing practice of culture and literature in the family. His father Suresh Chandra Ghatak, despite being a district magistrate, used to write poems and dramas. Renowned writer Manish Ghatak(Pen name 'Jubanashwa') was Ritwik's elder brother. Ritwik Ghatak acquired I.A. from Rajshahi College in 1946 and B.A. from Baharampur Krishna Nath College in 1948. Though he completed his M.A. course in English from Calcutta University, for some reasons he could not sit for the examination. Ghatak family was forced to repatriate to Calcutta due to the famine of 1943, second world war and moreover the partition of India in 1947. Ritwik could never forget the inner pain of being a refugee leaving his motherland and it was the biggest catalyst of developing his philosophy of life that was repeatedly evident in his later works.

ঋত্বিক ঘটকের তথ্যচিত্র - ওস্তাদ আলাউদ্দিন খাঁ

একটা গল্প দিয়েই শুরু করি। কোন এক দেশে দুইজন লোকের মধ্যে খুব প্রতিযোগিতা লেগে থাকত। এর মধ্যে একজন বহুদিন ধরে গুরুর সেবা-যত্ন করে জ্ঞান আহরণ করার পর অপরজন আর ঠিক পেরে উঠছিল না। তখন সে তপস্যা করতে মনস্থ করল। অতঃপর তাঁর তপস্যায় প্রীত হয়ে নেমে এলেন এক দেবতা। লোকটি বর চাইল যে তার জ্ঞান যেন তার প্রতিযোগীর সমান-সমান হয়। যথারীতি বর পূর্ণ হল। এরপর সে গেল অপরজনের সাথে লড়াই করতে। কিন্তু তবুও নানান কথার মারপ্যাঁচে সে আর পেরে ওঠে না। তখন রাগের বশে দেবতাকে স্মরণ করে সে বলতে লাগল, এ আমায় কি জ্ঞান দিলেন গুরুদেব? আমি তো ওকে হারাতে পারছি না। সেই দেবতা তখন হাজির হয়ে উত্তর দিলেন, তোমাদের দু'জনের জ্ঞান সমান হতে পারে কিন্তু অপরজনের যে জ্ঞানসাধনা আছে সেটা তো তোমার নেই। তাই তোমার পক্ষে ওকে পরাজিত করা সম্ভব নয়। এই গল্পের মূল প্রতিপাদ্য বিষয়টি হচ্ছে যে সাধনা করে অর্জন করা জ্ঞান সর্বদাই শক্তিশালী।