Contents
Ritwik Ghatak
Turning the displacement of Bengal’s Partition into powerful cinema, especially The Cloud-Capped Star.
Ajantrik · The Cloud-Capped Star
- Born
- 4 November 1925
- Birthplace
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Died
- 6 February 1976
More people
Ritwik Ghatak
Ritwik Ghatak brought theatre, music and startling sound effects to films about fractured families and lost homelands.
Early life
Bengali origins
Born in Dhaka, then in British India, and later lived in Calcutta.
Theatre movement
Worked with the Indian People's Theatre Association before his major film career.
Career
- 1952
First feature completed
Made Nagarik, which remained unreleased until after his death.
- 1958
Cinema breakthrough
Released Ajantrik and wrote the story for Madhumati.
- 1960s
Partition films
Made a group of dramas centred on displacement and belonging.
- 1970s
Final work
Filmed in Bangladesh and completed his last personal, argumentative feature.
Selected work
Ajantrik
A taxi driver's attachment to his old car becomes a human drama.
The Cloud-Capped Star
A refugee family's demands consume a young woman's life.
A River Called Titas
A fishing community faces change and fragmentation.
Beyond work
Teaching
Taught at the Film and Television Institute of India, influencing a later generation.
Family
Writer Mahasweta Devi was his niece.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗NFDC-NFAI: Ghatak retrospective ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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