Subhash K Jha (DNA; June 3, 2013)
They were to Bengali cinema what Rajesh Khanna and Hrishikesh Mukherjee were to Hindi cinema. Plus a lot more. Rituparno Ghosh and Prosenjit Chatterjee did seven Bengali films together. Offscreen they were very close friends who often fought over trivial and not-so trivial matters. And now on Rituparno’s death, the grief-stricken Prosenjit plans a film on him. “I should write a book on him. But that is not my domain. So I will do something onscreen. Of course, I’ll preserve and restore his 19 films. But I’ll also make a film on him.”
Lately, Prosenjit and Ritu had grown distant because of the latter’s insistence on undergoing potentially life-threatening hormonal operations. Prosenjit warned Ritu not to mess around with his body. But the director, adamant on changing his gender, wouldn’t listen. This issue created a rift between the two life-long friends. Rituparno also insisted on making gay-centric films which further distanced Prosenjit professionally and personally.
Exclaims Prosenjit, “But look at the irony, Ritu finally did a non-gay film Satyanweshi after three years, where my wife Arpita plays the female lead. So I was connected to Ritu in what we didn’t know would be his final work. Regrettably I didn’t get time to visit the sets of Satyanveshi. But my wife would constantly BBM pictures from the locations.”
Working with Ritu
Prosenjeet was unable to work in any of Rituparno’s films since 2009 because the director’s work gravitated towards an expression of his homosexuality.
“Not that I minded playing a gay character,” clarifies Prosenjit. “But those films were about Ritu’s character. They were made to express his viewpoint and anguish. I felt I had no place in them, although he and the director Kabeer Kaushik offered me his lover’s role in Arektir Premer Golpo. But that was a film about his character. I had nothing to gain as an actor. People started gossiping about my refusal to play a homosexual character. But if I get to do a film like Tootsie or Brokeback Mountain I’d happily play gay. I’ve taken risks during my career.”
Gender bender
Prosenjeet warned Ritu against undergoing gender-transformation surgeries. “I told him not to do anything that would jeopardise his health. We all needed him. But he didn’t listen.
My fights with him were on this issue. He was taking health risks that would suit a 20-year-old. He went through operations that affected his health. I tried my best to dissuade him. But he didn’t listen. Now I regret it. All of us, his friends should have tied him up bodily and prevented him from doing this to himself.
Will miss you, friend
He would’ve been making pathbreaking films for the next 25 years. The good thing was, during recent months he had snapped out of the homo-centric cinema and was making a film that had nothing to do with sexuality.” Pondering over the loss Prosenjit says, “I used to tell my wife if something happens to me she should immediately go to Rituda to guide her. Now he’s gone. We had our share of fights. But we were always there for one another. Our friendship went far beyond work. I will be grateful to him all my life. It will take me a long time to get over the loss.”