Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh dies of a heart attack

Award winning Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passed away in Kolkata with heart attack said to be the reason of his death.

Born on August 31, 1963 in Kolkata, he fast rose on to become one of the reputed film makers in Bengal as well in India. Winner of multiple National Awards and several acclaimed international awards, he is one of the few directors in India to have worked with the entire Bachchan clan - right from Amitabh Bachchan  (The Last Lear) to Jaya Bachchan (Sunglass) to Abhishek (Antar Mahal) to Aishwarya (Chokher Bali). Aishwarya also worked with him in his Hindi venture “Raincoat” with Ajay Devgun. Sunglass is the only film that is yet to be released  as it had some distribution issues.

Rituparno Ghosh came to prominence with his 1994 film 'Unishe April'. The iconic filmmaker enthralled audiences with his celluloid gems and gave Bengali cinema a new language in the post-Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen era. He brought back discerning Bengali film audience back to cinema houses with his gems namely Unishe April, Dahan, Titli, Bariwali, Dosar, Nauka Dubi and others. 

Rituparno Ghosh was also a gay icon who lived his life in his own terms in recent years, often dressing boldly to boast his effeminate bearing. Of late, he had even started donning the hat of an actor and acted with Indraneil Sengupta in “Aarekti Premer Golpo” (Another Love Story) and with Deepti Naval in “Memories in March”. His last released film was Chitrangada where he also acted essaying the role of a gay dancer. He also hosted two celebrity chat shows, namely 'Ebong Rituporno' and 'Ghosh & Co'. 

One of the most innovative Bengali filmmakers in recent times, he had recently roped in director Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani) in his Bengali film 'Satyanweshi' in which Sujoy is playing Byomkesh Bakshi. May his soul rest in peace.