Rituparno Ghosh and his memorable National Award-winning films

Rituparno Ghosh, often termed as the young avant-garde director of Bengali cinema in the 1990s, literally heralded the present Renaissance of Bengali films. He ushered a movement in which filmmakers such as Anjan Dutt, Koushik Ganguly, Srijit Mukherji and others pulled Bengali industry back into the elite class of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Ghosh even guided Bengali cinema back on the global map of cinema. These directors despite not having mass appeal formed a niche multiplex audience who reintroduced the rich culture of Bengali literature, especially poetry. Here is a list of Rituparno Ghosh’s memorable Bengali films that won National Awards.

This National Award winning film (Best Feature Film in Bengali) follows two parallel narratives. The present portrays Rohini (brilliantly essayed out by Debashree Roy), a renowned actress who is emotionally vulnerable and addicted to sleeping pills. She is trying to cope with her mother’s illness but ends up forming a subtle schism with her father (Soumitra Chatterjee). Flashbacks, on the other hand, highlight the slow disintegration of her relationship with her fiancé as he gets involved with a younger upcoming actress, which ends up clarifying her present vulnerability.

It’s been one of the most important films by Rituparno Ghosh which even received Golden Lotus Award for Best Director. On the backdrop of Durga Puja, the film is a nice commentary showing many emotional currents passing among a family and relatives. Some of the industry’s big names like Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamta Sankar and Prosenjit Chatterjee played key roles alongside Rituparna Sengupta. The charming actress excelled in her role as the younger daughter of the family.

A veteran actress dies while she was giving an interview to renowned entertainment journalist Mallika Sen played by Nandita Roy. Due to the mystery surrounding the death, it becomes a police investigation and unlocks many facades of Bengali film industry’s celebrated and forgotten faces. The journalist plays a symbolic bridge between all the incidents and her Ranga Pishima who solves the murder mystery just sitting at her place in this supreme Bengali adaptation of Agatha Christie's popular work 'The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side'. 'Shubho Mahurat' bagged two National Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Rakhee) and Best Feature Film in Bengali categories.

Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s famous novel of the same name, Rituparno Ghosh superbly did justice to every character in the story as it won National Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. The plot weaves around a widow Binodini’s mental growth. You can also relate to all the shades of traditions that suppress a woman’s sexuality and the unique bonding between two women which stand still against all odds and prevents things from falling apart.

It’s Rituparno’s first National Award-winning film. The complexity of a mother-daughter relationship is superbly picturised in this Rituparno Ghosh directorial. The complexity between Sarojini (Aparna Sen) and her late husband is literally the harsh picture of our society. The same thing happens to Aditi as her boyfriend doesn’t want her as a wife because she is a daughter of a dancer. Aparna Sen excelled in her role. Both the personalities of a professional dancer and motherly love has superbly bloomed in the character Sarojini. Debashree Roy as the daughter Aditi amazed the audience winning a National Award for Best Actress.

The last film of Rituparno which grabbed the National Award for Best Direction was ‘Abohoman’. He initially planned to make it in Hindi, but finally made it into a Bengali one casting Dipankar De and Mamata Shankar in the lead. This Rituparno directorial is all about the relationship between a filmmaker with his wife, actress and his muse. As the story progresses, these three relationships start to interchange as the climax of the movie left open for interpretation. ‘Abohoman’ won three National Awards – Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress (for Ananya Chatterjee).