Filmmakers talk of Ghatak influence

Pune: Looking at Ritwik Ghatak's cinema as irrational or melodramatic is not right, said National Award-winning filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli during the Vijay Tendulkar Memorial Lecture at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) on Monday.
The organizers are celebrating the 90th birth year of Ghatak and are showcasing a retrospective of his films like Amar Lenin, Bari Theke Paliye, Komal Gandhar, Meghe Dhaka Tara, Rendezvous and Subarnarekha.Kasaravalli was joined by Jahnu Barua and Subhash Ghai.
"There were other filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Each had his language. Ghatak's perspective was that of an affected person. He never practiced any restraint or was politically correct. Through his films, he wants us to hear his cry. His technique was brilliant," Kasaravalli said.
He said Ghatak's films inspired him. Barua called him a fanatic humanist. "Ghatak witnessed terrible events during the Bengal famine and Partition. He could never recover from the trauma of which he was an observer. People used to tell me stories of Ghatak and I felt guilty that I did not know the filmmaker. He made a film with FTII students and those images I still remember," he said.