KOLKATA: Noted filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh today died of cardiac arrest at his south Kolkata residence.
He was 49.
Winner of 12 national and some international awards, Ghosh was suffering from pancreatitis and died of heart attack at 7.30 am, his family said.
Ghosh shot to fame by his direction of a children’s film ‘Hirer Angti’ in 1994. His film ‘Unishe April’ won national award in 1995.
His other widely acclaimed films include ‘Dahan’, ‘Asukh’, ‘Chokher Bali’, ‘Raincoat’, ‘Bariwali’, ‘Antarmahal’ and ‘Noukadubi’.
As news of his death spread, a pall of gloom descended on Tollywood. Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee deeply mourned Ghosh’s death, saying, “I cannot believe that Rituparna is no more. It is very difficult to accept this news. We lost a very promising film director at a very early age.”
Many film actors and actresses thronged his residence to pay their last respects.
State Commerce and Industry minister Partha Chatterjee visited his home this morning.
Rituparno Ghosh was born in Kolkata on August 31, 1963. His father was a documentary filmmaker and he grew up in a world of movies. He went to Kolkata’s South Point School and then studied economics at Jadavpur University.
After a short stint in advertising, he directed his first film Hirer Angti starring Moon Moon Sen. His second film Unishe April, starring Aparna Sen and Debashree Roy, won the National Award for Best Feature Film.
Rituparno Ghosh followed up the critical and commercial success of Unishe April with a string of acclaimed films including Dahan starring Rituparna Sengupta and Indrani Haldar, Bariwali starring Kirron Kher, Titli starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Shubho Mahurat starring Raakhee and Sharmila Tagore.
The blockbuster Chokher Bali starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in one of her most acclaimed roles. She also starred in his Hindi language film Raincoat with Ajay Devgn.
Rituparno Ghosh directed Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta in English film The Last Lear. His swan song was Chitrangada which won a special jury National Award this year. The film, which Rituparno Ghosh also starred in, was seen as semi-autobiographical and mirrored the director-actor’s own struggle with gender and identity.
Rituparno Ghosh also acted in the films Arekti Premer Golpo and Memories In March. He made a successful foray into television as the host of two celebrity chat shows.
Just two days before he died, Rituparno Ghosh tweeted in typically poetic manner about his 20th film, Satyanewshi: Wrapped up the shoot of Satyanewshi, a crime thriller in the molten glow of the pensive falling afternoon. –PTI
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