Rituparno Ghosh Birth Anniversary Special: 10 Movies Of The Legendary Filmmaker That More Than Just Incredible Pieces Of Cinema

Rituparno Ghosh, the avant-garde filmmaker, the man who has been credited in bringing the similar laurels to Bengali Cinema as did Satyajit Ray, would have been 57 today. We would have still felt the touch of finesse in his movies, reveled in the craft and rejoiced with the deftly written characters. But he was snatched away from us in 2013. Now all we have are his movies, the incredible pieces of cinema that reflected who he was as a person, his thoughtprocess, beliefs and above all, a true mirror for a lot of family issues that we casually propagate. Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti 2019: From Chokher Bali to Bioscopewala, 5 Popular Screen Adaptations of the Nobel Laureate’s Works

This is what used to separate Ghosh from any other filmmaker. He used to use premises from around him for his movies with much inclination towards womanhood. He was perhaps one of those rare directors who used to see and present the world through the eyes of a woman. A genius of a filmmaker and hence, on his birth anniversary today, here're 10 movies of his which deserve to be celebrated always.

Hirer Angti (1992)

For a director who is more known for his movies with female protagonists, Ghosh began his journey with suspense. Based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's story, the movie, that uses the backdrop of Bengal's favourite festival Durga Pujo, progresses like a mystery and is considered a Children's film. But it can easily pass off as a film that tries to bare the insecurities of people living under one roof for years.

Unishe April (1994)

A personal favourite, Unishe April explains the complicated dynamics of a famous mother and her young daughter battling everything from depression to abadonment issues. A night of no electricity puts all their thoughts out in the open and is beautifully summarised in the film. This was Ghosh's first National Award win for Best Film. It also earned Debashree Roy the Best Actress National Film Award for playing the daughter.

Dahan (1997)

A rousing movie on marital rape, Dahan was the most uplifting movie of those years. Even the possibility of something like a husband raping his wife was dismissed then. Today we do talk about it but Ghosh had broached the topic in the 90s. The biggest takeaway of this film as it unfurled was Society as the biggest villain of our lives. And who constitutes it? Us! It's a vicious cycle and we will never get out of it unless we change it.

Bariwali (1999)

A lonely middle-aged female owner of a mansion gets drawn to a director who ultimately leaves her back in her lonely world, a brave and bold concept. Trust only Ghosh to not just understand the pain of a lonely woman but paint his canvas perfectly with it. Women always had rules to follow whatever maybe the age but it's not how nature works.

Utsab (2000)

Durga Pujo again becomes the backdrop of this family drama that talks about skeletons in the closet and some incest. Imagine a movie of such nature in the 2000! Ghosh smartly leaves breadcrumbs at every interval that lead to the deepest and darkest secret of the family hidden since ages. He brilliantly unmasks the characters and their dark realities making it one hell of a film! Giving credence to each and every character when it's a multistarrer truly reveals what a genius he was.

Shubho Mahurat (2003)

For this movie, Ghosh shifts his focus to mystery, suspense and some old school clue hunting. Based on Agatha Christe's Miss Marple mystery, The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side, the film has heavyweights in the cast from Rakhee, Sharmila Tagore to Nandita Das and Tota RoyChowdhury. It's one of the best thrillers you have ever watched. Ghosh's brilliance was of weaving a Bengali narrative around an English story!

Chokher Bali (2003)

This may not be one of Ghosh's best works as we feel he kind of got lost in the grandeur of his huge cast including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Prosenjit Chatterjee, but Chokher Bali still manages to address a few social evils that were casually accepted by the society. Ghosh has been a Tagore fan like half of West Bengal and this movie was on one of Bard's literature. Every character was grey here while the use of lights was the narrator of lustful ambitions and a widow's cravings for love.

Raincoat (2003)

O Henry's The Gift Of Magi gets a Bengali revamp, complete with broken lovers, a mansion in disrepair, rainy Kolkata afternoon and forbidden romance. Aishwarya returns for yet another Ghosh movie and this time she has Ajay Devgn for company. This was Ghosh's first Hindi film. A moment has been turned into a movie and within that moment, a lot is said, heard, felt and viewed. It's difficult to imagine anybody else giving such a deep Bengali touch to a O Henry story.

Dosar (2006)

Not many would agree to this pick and we think we know why. Dosar doesn't really end the way you would want it to but it does try to explain the logic. It's upto us whether or not we accept the same and move on. It's a movie about marital infidelity. The end could easily rile up many but Ghosh balances it out with clever plot points which you may have missed. The wife supports an extra marital affair of her friends calling the husband of her friend a 'monster' but the moment tables are turned, she realises the evil of the same. You need to let the lull pace to grow on you, everything becomes clearer from there.

Shob Choritro Kalponik (2008)

A woman caught in an unhappy marriage goes through a massive dilemma of whether or not to stay in it forms the crux of the tale. Ghosh's penchant of bringing out the deepest inseciurities of women out in the open has always been his biggest USP. Bipasha Basu's character tries hard to make her marriage work alone while dealing with her famous poet husband's, played by Ghosh fave Prosenjit Chatterjee, indifference and neglect towards her. This will resonate with many wives. Thus, a moment of indiscretion seems legit to many but the movie never attempts to justify it, leaving the audience to make up their minds.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2020 08:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).