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Right from the foreword of the book READING RITUPARNO,where
the author Dr.Shoma A Chatterji, gives us the insight of what a treat this book
will be for readers and her honesty and loyalty to all,she mentions,who have
helped her to write this book and her life,if I may so!!
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She makes it very clear ‘ THIS IS NOT A FEMINIST FILM
STUDY,BUT A STUDY OF THE FILMS OF RITUPARNO’.
Apart from SUNGLASS and SATYANNESHI,all of Rituda’s films
have been,if I may say,redrawn,re-analysed,re-comprehended and revised,in a manner
which none...and I repeat...none... of the books about Ritu da have been able
to do,till date!! It is a must keep for all book lovers,all readers of cinema
or otherwise.
The author gives us a thought provoking chapter on the
‘voice’ that Ritu da gave to his male and female characters...which was if not
always very strong...but definitely pronounced! Here she chain reacts ‘voice’
of legendary characters from other legendary films in Indian cinema to agreat
effect too!
We come to know with utter dismay that Ritu da had plans to
start work on a ‘Kabuliwala’ remake...’Mahabharata’...’Devi
Chowdhurani’...’Chokhj’...’Red Carpet’ ...but alas!
CHAPTER 1...THE 1
An excellent study and thorough research of ‘Feminist Men’
in Indian history is followed by other directors in Indian cinema who have
given women their ‘voice’!
Starting with Rituda’s UNISHE APRIL,she peels out layer
after layer after layer of the mother-daughter relationship,that we revelled
in...in 3 extra-ordinary angles...THE MARXIST READNG...THE FEMINIST
READING...THE SOCIOLOGICAL READING. One feels,after reading interpretation of
the film,that one is seeing a new film all totally!!
Next comes ASOOKH...a father daughter relationship,which I
personally didn’t like as a film on the whole,thought after reading her
analysis,one understood the finer points...truely in many ways,it was a sequel
to UNISHEY APRIL.
Then comes BARIWALLI...Was just wondering how brilliant and
controversy free it would be,if Rakhiji would have been casted as Bonolata!!...
Then comes DAHAN...one of my personal favourites...It is a
real life story of Ananya Chatterjee(Jhinuk in the film),journalist,who saved a
housewife from rapists! It is such a thought provoking film on the evils of
molestation and rape that our society is tarnished with,made all the more
provoking with her analysis!
CHAPTER 2...RELATIONSHIPS REDEFINED:
On explaining relationships in Indian cinema,the author
throws light on 4 landmark film DEEWAR...JAI SANTOSHI MA...HUM AAPKE HAIN KAUN...JODHA
AKBAR...all different in their genres but strongly connected with their tales
of relationships and its depth!
Among Rituda’s films on this,first comes UTSAV...another
personal favourite...a masterpiece!The detailing,as she points out too...is a
highlight in the film and it show’s Rituda’s class and eye for perfection!
Then comes TITLEE... and a deadly combo of Ritu da and
Mithun da in the film had me run to the theatres on the first day first show,I
remember!?This was Ritu da’s own story and for the 1
Then comes KHELA...released around the same time when
KHELA,a superhit daily soap on Zee Bangla,in which,I played an integral part,
was on air...quite a co-incidence! I remember Ritu da had met me in a party and
exclaimed “Khela t etui khub bhalo korchhish”...I was ecstatic,but I replied
back in mock anger “kintu tomar Khela te jayga holo na to!!” He laughed back
and said “hobe...kono na kono Khela te hobe”....! I missed out working with him
in ABOHOMAAN,as I was in Mumbai at that time for the audition of KHELENGE HUM
JEE JAAN SE...though I always felt Ritu da never really got over the shock of
meeting the 92kg me, the 1
Next comes SHOB CHORITRO KALPONIK...An excellent eye opener
to every humanbeing that how we do take our relations for granted...it is after
we have broken or eroded it,we realize we could have done much better to try
and build it!! Such wonderful explaination by the author of the synopsis,adding
every detail of the script,the scenes,the treatment...you are bound to go back
to your dvd shelf and watch it all over again...!
Then comes ABOHOMAAN...I think this is my most favourite
Rituda movie...for several reasons... because of not being able to be a part of
it by accident...for Momo di’s stunning performance as Deepti(I could not get
through Momo di’s phone during the shoot of ABOHOMAAN...she always calls
back...but she didn’t...I was perplexed ...later she revealed how distant she
had purposely kept herself from everyone that she loved...because she wanted to
shed that inherent sweetness of Mamata Shankar and become that saucy
,bitter,rude Deepti...and how!!!She still laments about a standout ,face-off
scene between Deepti and Shikha,played by Ananya,which got edited...perhaps to
keep the dignity of Deepti’s character intact...!I called her up during the
screening, as the show was on,just to let her hear the audience clapping at
Deepti’s stance towards her husband’s affair...a verbal slap of the strongest
form on Aniket(played by Tito da) came upon.when he asked Deepti to divorce
him..and she replies “keno?divorce debo keno?I will live with you,beside you
forever,just to remind that ‘I’ was there!!That is going to be your ultimate
punishment’.......sublime...getting goose flesh...as I am writing this...Ritu
da ...the masterclass in script...in dialogues...in subtle moments...and the
author truely brings out the real Rituparno Ghosh through this book! The author
also reflects upon the fact that humanbeings are unfaithful in general...most
of them forget favours...their roots...their mentors...I can vouch for
that...they ‘DO’!
CHAPTER 3: ADAPTATIONS OF CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY
LITERATURE:
The author gives us a resourceful background of adaptations
in Indian
To start with Ritu da’s literary adaptations it is SHUBHO
MAHOROTH..an adaptation of Agatha Cristie’s The Mirror Cracked From Side to
Side...a thriller from Ritu da was there to surprise everyone...not a personal
favourite though...in a section the author draws in Madhuja Mukherjee’s review
of the film,whch reflects my thoughts too...this film has not been rightly
given a glorious analysis,but no one can take away the genius from Ritu da and
the honesty of the unbiased author!
Then comes RAINCOAT... the adaptation of The Gift of
Magi...the author rightly points out ‘Rituparno manipulates both time and
space,that takes it to a different level of experience’... an interesting
anecdote here that I must add...I was shooting for a daily soap ‘Sonar Bangla’(2004)
based on Sirajudaulla’s life...where Parambrata was Siraj... and me
Next comes in the children’s film by Rituda,his first film
HIRER ANGTI,adapted fromSree
Then comes the very adult oriented DOSAR...a marvel in black
and white...another adaptation of the story by Mr.Mukhopadhyay...a good
director knows how to exploit the strong points of an actor and how to make the
weak points his/her strong points...and DOSAR is an example!...Haven’t ever
liked the Megastar Bumba da so so so much as Kaushik in DOSAR !Spellbound!!The
use of Visual metaphor,as the author points out has been always a strength in
Ritu da’s films and DOSAR makes no exception!The author gives a sensational
thought about the name of the film...which means ‘comapanion’...one starts thinking
who is actually whose companion!!
Then comes a very resourceful and interesting read on the
adaptations of Sree Tarashankar Bandopadhyay’s literary work on Indian
screen...out of which Ritu da chose Protima to adapt as ANTARMAHAL...the daring
ANTARMAHAL...a very interesting part when the author asks Ritu da...why didn’t
he take Shanti da,a brilliant actor himself,who had dubbed for Mr.Jackie
Shroff’s character,which was unconvincing,as he knew nothing about the culture
of the Zamindari system in Bengal...and his body language said it all...!The
author criticizes the film for taking too many liberties from the literature!
Then comes adaptation of William Shakespeare’s
CHAPTER 4: RE READING TAGORE CHOKHER BAALI,NOUKADUBI AND
CHITRANGADA-THE CROWNING WISH
A very very interesting background has been created by the
author,about the successful and unsuccessful and pathetic adaptations of
Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore’s literary works in the history of Indian
Cinema...a must read...before she ventures into Ritu da’s adaptation.
First comes CHOKHER BAALI...but before that there is a
stunner...Kobiguru’s personal letter to the director Mr.Satu Sen,who adapted
Chokher Baali,into a film in 1938,after he saw it!!
Rituda made his CHOKHER BAALI hundred years after it was
written and had departed from the original story in a number of aspects....the
author points out many anomalies...namely Behari’s characterization and
ambiguity in tme frames...it shows the indepth study by the author,a lover of
cinema with a keen eye ,a truely educated eye of a critic! An excellently
written historic document of widowhood in India
Then comes NOUKADUBI/KASHMAKASH,which according to the
author,the most cinema friendly story by Tagore.The hindi version was a
disaster because of different actors dubbing for it,who knew nothing about the
nuances of Tagore and I support the author 100%! Here again it is not an
adaptation but an ‘inspiration’ which makes it detach a lot from the original
story! The departures from the original as pointed out by the author,makes you
think,what the film was or what it could have been if it was not detached fro
the original!Truely it is Rituda’s one of the best ode to Tagore!
Then comes CHITRANGADA...I completely agree with the author
when she says ‘A director known for his beautiful sense of imagery and
characterization and music does not need to fall back on Tagore,because his
individual argument was stronger than the Tagorean allusions’! A daring
film...a topic which no Indian film has ever touched...sex reassignment...!
Then comes JEEBON SMRITI...the documentary on Tagore...here
again I completely agree with the author when she says ‘Ghosh’s decision to be
the anchor of the film and his own entry into the frame along with unit members
was an unwarranted decision’
A very interesting observation by the author about the
colour codes of Rituda’s 3 Tagore films...
CHOKHER BAALI-mellow tints of ochres,rusts,browns and a lot
of red
NOUKADUBI-blue and tints of grey
CHITRANGADA-bright red to grey to rainbow of colours
CHAPTER 5:THE 5
Perhaps this was the most interesting section for me as a
reader...because I had seen Rituda ,the actor close on,worked with him,however
briefely,but that was enough for me to keep that scene in AREKTI PREMER GOLPO
forever ,as my prized treasure! The author asks ‘can anyone write the script of
his own life?’... she answers it herself with an ‘yes’!
The author gives a us a peak into the alternative form of
relationships in history,Androgyny...etc..and how cinema has dealt with this
alternative form of sexuality! Three very interesting references of film that
dealt with alternative sexuality are Subah...BomGay...Sancharam...makes one crave
to see these films...! The author rightly points out that there is an
undercurrent of ‘exchange’ in every relationship...personal or
professional...which has been dealt with in this film!
Then comes MEMORIES IN MARCH...Rituda as the actor only...I
agree when the author says ‘The film is more about love experienced and shared
than about the gay persona’
Then comes CHITRANGADA-THE CROWNING WISH...dealing with the
daring theme of sex reassignment ...the author gives us an indepth view of how
Rituda trained himself for this very difficult role,not shying away to
criticize him too,for being over indulgent in the film...a brilliant line by
Rituda as narrated to the author in an interview sums it up all...”I consider
myself privileged because of my gender fluidity!I get to decide whether I want
to stand in a man’s or a woman’s queue or neither of the two”....
THIS BOOK WILL BE A COMPANION FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE,IN MY
HAPPY MOMENTS WITH RITUDA’S FILMS AND WITH THE SAD MOMENTS WHEN I REALIZE THAT
RITUDA IS NOT PHYSICALLY PRESENT WITH US!...THANK YOU DR SHOMA A.CHATTERJI....
KHELA KHELA DIYE SHURU...KHELA KHELA DIYE SHESH
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