Ritwik Ghatak — tour de force
Joy Bimal Roy | Feb 06
We have had countless guests in Godiwala Bungalow but the memory of one stands out above the rest. Sometime in the early ’70s a Bengali gentleman landed up unannounced at home. He looked like he had seen better days. His entire demeanour was one of defeat, someone at the end of his tether. His clothes looked as though they hadn’t been washed in a long time and he also appeared to be a bit tipsy… And then he invited us to see a special show of his film Ajantrik in the Films Division auditorium. I was so overwhelmed by the film that I wept at the end and even at a young age sensed that Ritwik Ghatak was a tour de force and a master of cinema. I was not surprised to hear many years later that he was more popular than Satyajit Ray in France.
[spacer size=”20″]
Society, cinema, & the critic
Anirban Lahiri | Feb 01
The critic tries to look at the ideology — its origin, cycles, products, reformation…
… What does the audience want? Is the audience a homogeneous one? What do different audiences want? Why do they want that? Who refurbishes demands in their mind? What is the role of the critic today?