Ritwik Ghatak made a documentary on Ustad Alauddin Khan

Often termed one of the pioneers of parallel cinema movement in India, Ritwik Ghatak used to tell riveting stories on the Bengal partition, of which he was himself a victim. Ghatak’s works are still a testament to the social, personal and political turmoil he faced in life. But how many of you know he had directed a documentary?
The Sangeet Natak Akademi sponsored documentary saw Ustad Ali Akbar Khan as the music adviser.However, it raised few eyebrows during its release as Ritwik Ghatak’s name was absent on the credits section but was later included in the online database.

In 1976, during an interview the ace filmmaker revealed how excited he was to be a part of this project and his work experience with Ustad Alauddin Khan. “He was my Guru, yet really crazy. On behalf of the Sangeet Natak Academy, I was appointed to make a documentary film on his life and I came to know so many things about him which I didn’t even know earlier. Alauddin Saheb himself shared the stories with me. He used to love me,” said Ritwik Ghatak during that interview.