Beloved Ritwik,
Beloved Ritwik,
I will thank you before anything else, for making me a winner, unlike Sita and Neeta, who lost out in the great gamble of survival in every aspect of their lives. I, Anusuya am therefore privileged, to represent the optimism that you propagated throughout your entire life, which most mistook it to be otherwise. Your words still reverberate in my ears, “I will never lose hope, because I have succeeded in tapping the momentum of history. History never forgives anyone. One cannot say, when and how will he arrive. But he will come, that’s for sure.”
You had etched us out so lovingly, all three of us trying to overcome the fatal blow of partition, and striving hard to recover from the bruises of being a refugee. Neeta, your cloud-capped star, single-handedly running the entire household, getting familial disputes and lover’s neglect and subsequent betrayal in return, all amidst the poverty that has turned her mother sour, rendered her father spineless and strangulated her to death, made me feel so privileged, although in my life things were falling apart. At least I could pretend before others, at least I was secured, unlike Sita whom destiny shamelessly raped again and again in public. Sita always yearned to reach the El Dorado beside River Subarnarekha, where she could cry her heart out to her brother, whom she had to desert to be with the troubled Abhiram. I found my escapism through my art, through theatre, my inner conflicts could be camouflaged without failure- but nothing escaped your eyes. I am glad you understood us, understood us so well, that the world knows the story of our lives today.
I was so glad, that you chose Neeta as the representative of your beloved proletariat class, pardon me Ritwik, if I sound too sexist, but it amazed me that at someone acknowledged that dark, shy girl, who, although wearing torn slippers, the same saree to her workplace everyday, who didn’t take a leave from work because she feared she would be penalized in a job which she got after so much hassle. Whenever you remarked that, the country needed girls like her, to save her from a fast downfall…..I had silently thanked you a lot. Sita, representing your notion of innocence, fast sublimating from an animal called human, paid the penalty for being vulnerable with her life. It gave me so much reassurance to see at least you were there, lamenting her loss…..the loss of a lost palm striving to clutch on to her world that was escaping from her clenched fist like water. I do not know why did you make me feel brave, although I used to cry before everyone, why did you champion me, although I was impractical, why did you make me a winner, although I was a loser before others. I can only stammer my thanks to you.
The bird which chirped outside Bhrigu’s window, does not sing anymore, can’t say where has it gone. I don’t see the child begging for alms anymore…can’t say whether that’s good or bad. But one thing is still unaltered…….the murky sky…. that used to intrigue you and Bhrigu so much. I did not go looking for Neeta’s or Sita’s families…the girls must be long forgotten….everyone is not like you. It would sadden you, when you’ll see that no one bothers to talk about us anymore…probably they take us to be emotional fools…who never learned to be practical….or maybe they didn’t find our lives romantic enough that would require any artistic treatment……how I miss you, Ritwik…..I always wanted to ask you, Ritwik….what made you so positive towards life…..you had suffered so much…..you were so tired….tired of being misunderstood…..or should I daresay…not understood at all……I don’t know….. whether I could ever read you……you are a self-declared confused representative of the decrepit society of a country being pulled in a thousand directions…….maybe that is why it is so difficult to know you …….
Eagerly waiting for you to come back……we all are…
-Yours Truly
Anasuya
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Climax of “MEGHA DHEKE TARA” haunted me for weeks, the hopelessness of the lead protagonist in the end was awesome.. and the last words she utters ” MAI JEENA CHAHTI HOON DADA” in the deserted vally of Darjeeling echoed whole night and gosh i wept bitterly whole after watching the flick…and mind you that was the first time i watched Ritwik and loved him….and i felt nostalgic and melancholic jus reading your post…
thanks Sulakshana!!
always read abt him, desperately trying to get to watch any of his films.
meghe dhaka tara is first in the line.
also, looking for a book with a collection of his essays on cinema. ‘rows and rows of fences’ – is that it?
Yes Kalki…it’s called ‘Rows and Rows of fences’ and it’s available at the U-Special Bookstore in Delhi University. Where in Mumbai, i have no idea (and i feel it will be difficult to find it here…the best chance is Prithvi Book Store.)
watch his Jukti, Takko Ar Gappo……….amazing movie……..left me stunned
hey nice work ther …
i’hv heard a lot abt ghatak from the writer herself …
@varun im not from mumbai
ive found the book online at indiaplaza.in . but its out of stock. il check at the popular book stores in my city, im sure i can find that.
i heard about ‘cinema and I’ , a book of his essays etc. now they seemed to have reintroduced the book as rows of fences. is that right or ‘cinema and I’ has something that rows doesnt have? any idea?
@sulakshana sad part is that i cant get those films. ive never seen his dvd in any store. even if its available, im sure it would be too expensive. i hope moserbaer takes over his films and releases then at low cost like they always do. that’s one service they can do to good cinema.
There is one website that sells his movies in DVD with subtitles… I am not sure of the address but if you search for it you can get it.
I still haven’t finished the movies yet. But, they are simply superb. Thanks for the article!
Very nice write up
. In this age of films, where who wore bikini and how sexy she looked makes more news than the film’s story, I think Ghatak’s films are bound to be not understood.
I first saw Meghe Dhaka taara as a 14 year old. And it hasn’t stopped haunting me. The last scene, the scream still echoes in my ears…..
By the way, for those looking for DVDs of Mr.Ghatak’s films, try :
www.bdbazar.com
That’s where we got our collection from.