Ritwik Ghatak, born on
4 November 1925, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was a noted Bengali filmmaker and script
writer. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray and
Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of
social reality, partition and feminism. Although their roles were often
adversarial, they were ardent admirers of each other's work and, in doing so,
the three directors charted the independent trajectory of parallel cinema, as a
counterpoint to the mainstream fare of Hindi cinema in India. Ghatak received
many awards in his career, including National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award
for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award
from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The
Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
