And/Or

And/Or

Ritwik Ghatak - I Know…

Subhash Ghai, Acting 1965

If you ask me to write a book on FTII or on the Mumbai film industry or on the mainstream cinema of India, I can scribble my whole experience within seven days but if you ask me to write a paragraph on Ritwik Ghatak, I need seven months to write, and still wouldn’t be able to define this great film-maker in one paragraph.

Whatever film I have been making or watching is immaterial, as the person whom I can never erase from my mind is Ritwik Ghatak, who was forced to the post of vice-principal in FTII during my tenure there. A great teacher in the class, a child-like friend in the FTII canteen and a master in the studio. His energy, aggression and command over cinematic technique, imbued with spirituality and aesthetics, is incomparable to any cinema maker I have met till date.

He was the first one who made me drink liquor, abused me, patronized my untapped talent and me as well, and asked me to discover talent within myself. I was his favourite… he was not mine, till I took a megaphone as a director in my first commercial venture Kalicharan without being a formal student of direction or being an assistant to any film director. That was the day when I remembered his lines, “Go with your instinct and honesty to tell a story through a cinema technique which has no rule but one, that you must make the audience believe your biggest lie as the biggest truth. Cinema is nothing but cheating. Break all the rules but after knowing the rules of film-making.”

Till today, Ghatak and his words, his movies, his teachings are fresh in my mind, always reminding me that I’m still a student of cinema and I have a lot to discover. Whatever I’ve done till now is bullshit and I’m still scratching my head to learn, at least now, how to make a good film.

Thank you, Ghatakda, for staying in my heart and mind and keeping my head on my shoulders. In the Film Institute, you planted the Wisdom Tree, which has become the symbol of every student’s dream to make a memorable movie and keep trying whether he attains it or not.

“An exciting journey is more important than the destination, because one lifetime is not enough to know the art of cinema at its zenith.” These were the last words of the great master of Indian cinema Ritwik Ghatak, that I remember and cherish always.

David Dhawan, Editing 1976

The biggest influence on my career, knowingly or unknowingly, has been that of Ritwik Ghatak. I joined the Film Institute in 1974. Everyone is new (to Cinema) when they join the Institute, and most come attracted by the stars. But I came to learn Filmmaking, my choice of specialization was Editing.

One evening as I was coming out of the canteen, I came to know that a Bengali film was being screened in the Main Theatre. The film was Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960). It had already started when I entered the auditorium, and several students were watching. I kept standing, thinking that I’ll leave in 15 minutes. But I just couldn’t get away and saw the whole film. I remember, it wasn’t even subtitled. The best part about the film was that it was made on such a tight budget. The soundtrack was amazing. He had conveyed so much through sound. I still remember his use of the sound of the whip to express the emotion of the protagonist, Supriya Chowdhury. As she climbs up the stairs and sees her boyfriend with another woman, you hear the sound of bangles tinkling. But as she climbs down there is the sound of a whiplash with every step. And then, the letter that she hides from her brother and their conversation in the last scene is so moving. I was so emotional as I came out of the MT. I cried so much that I couldn’t even eat that day. And I thought, “This is Cinema and this is a Filmmaker.”

I regard Ghatak as one of our best film-makers ever. He did not bore as some Art Films tend to do, nor did he just make films for the audience. He was a commercial Filmmaker with his own distinct style.

I never met Ghatak, though he did come to the Institute once when I was a student. But I know he was a very strong person. He was also very humane, and very good with depicting human relationships. Do you remember that moment in the film when the protagonist’s chappal breaks? I saw the film in 1974 but I can still relate to you the entire episode.

I greatly admired Ghatak’s portrayal of human relationships, and tried to incorporate it in my films. He handles relationships in a way that’s completely natural, such as the relationship of the brother and sister in Meghe Dhaka Tara. His use of sound too was amazing. Even today if you use sound the way he did, it would uplift the scene and take it to another level.

These articles have been taken from the ‘wisTreefest Bulletins’ that were published daily during the Wisdom Tree Film Festival, Pune 2003.