EntertainmentPosted at: Nov 12 2025 6:52PM


Ritwik Ghatak dispensed with so called narrative: Ashoke Vishwanathan

Kolkata, Nov 12 (UNI) Auteur Ritwik Ghatak completely reinvented the language of cinema, discarding traditional storytelling methods to create something deeply original, says noted filmmaker Ashoke Vishwanathan.
Speaking at a seminar "Centenary Tribute to Ritwik Ghatak & Beyond" during the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), Vishwanathan said "Ritwik Ghatak has dispensed with so-called narrative."
Tracing Ghatak's tenure at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, he recalled that the master director initially joined as Vice Principal and taught there continuously for six months. "Even after that, he continued as a guest lecturer. He was invited to the institute around 1964, possibly through an initiative by the Government of India, some say it was Mrs. Indira Gandhi's suggestion, and others say it was Satyajit Ray's recommendation."
Reflecting on the iconoclastic filmmaker's contribution to Indian cinema, Vishwanathan said, "In films like Jukti Takko Aar Gappo, Meghe Dhaka Tara and Subarnarekha, Ghatak had already moved away from conventional storytelling. They were emotional cues, carrying pain, memory and rhythm."
Speaking about Ghatak's craft, Vishwanathan said the director had a way of making sound feel alive. "In Meghe Dhaka Tara, the sound of a whip is not part of the story's reality, it's psychological, symbolic. Even the simmering rice or the melancholic songs in Subarnarekha echo hunger, memory and loss."
He further noted that Ghatak was one of the earliest Indian filmmakers to engage with caste and class realities. "Through Subarnarekha, he looked at the lives of Dalits not with pity but with profound empathy, setting himself apart from many of his ideological peers."
He elucidated that Ghatak's approach was deeply personal, shaped by his experiences of Partition and displacement.
Vishwanathan concluded with a warm tribute: "Ritwik Ghatak was spontaneous, selfless and utterly giving. His cinema was never about himself, it was about all of us. That's what makes him immortal." UNI NST SSP
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