Cinema and I

by Ritwik Ghatak

This book is a representative volume of Ritwik Ghatak's writings on cinema.

These articles were originally written in English.

In addition to the text the book offers an exhaustive filmography, production stills and details of his involvement with IPTA, as well as a list of his written works.

Genres: Film, India, Nonfiction

149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 1987

About the author

Ritwik Ghatak (Bengali: ঋত্বিক কুমার ঘটক) was a 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. 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.

Ghatak was not only a film director, he was a theorist, too. His views and commentaries on films have been parts of scholarly studies and researches. As a filmmaker his main concentration was on men and life and specially the day-to-day struggle of ordinary men. He could never accept the partition of India of 1947 which divided Bengal into two countries. In almost all his film he dealt with this theme.

Filmmaking was not only art for him. In his opinion it was only a means to the end of serving people: It was only a means of expressing his anger at the sorrows and sufferings of his people.

Reviews

[Dany · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is the nuances I am after, the elusive, fleeting nuances. They contain the life-spark.”

[Arunabh Chaliha · Rating 5 out of 5]

"From moment to moment, you realize sudden shocks, that is your innermost feelings and unnamed emotions that are being given voice to. You, in a word, have a revelation." - Ghatak

I can't believe I love this book so much. Ghatak bears his heart out in the pages this book holds the potential to guide a whole generation of young filmmakers. A book with anything but pure and deep personal thoughts and philosophies.
Coming across this book was one of the happiest accidents of the year. It reaffirms my love for cinema with more vigour. I can't reckon how many more times am I going to read the book over the next few years! An absolute gem of a book.
Coming from a filmmaker, who is known for his experimentations and imaginations, his views on films seem very critical and logical which fascinated me quite a bit! His short views and points of many films, eg, 'La Dolce Vita' is absolutely astonishing!

[Farhana · Rating 4 out of 5]

মুভির দর্শক হিসেবে আমি খুবই মন্দ । ঋত্বিক নির্মিত কোন মুভি এখনও দেখা হয় নি :(
সবসময়ই ভাবি একদিন মন দিয়ে মুভি দেখা শুরু করব কিন্তু আমার আর ধৈর্য হয় না । কিন্তু চলচ্চিত্র বিষয়ক লেখাগুলো পড়তে ভালো লাগে ।

এর আগে ঋত্বিক ঘটকের লেখা কিছু ছোট গল্প পড়েছিলাম । দেশ বিভাজন , সাংস্কৃতিক বিচ্ছেদ তার মনে যে দাগ কেটেছিল সেই melancholy বা বিরহের সুর তার সমস্ত কাজে ছড়িয়ে রয়েছে ~

রিভিউ এর বাকি অংশ মুভি দেখবার ভবিষ্যৎ ধৈর্যের অপেক্ষায় তোলা রইল ।

[Nahar Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book by one of the cinema's master film makers Ritwik Ghatak.