Ritwik Ghatak's life on celluloid

The turbulent personal life of filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, which often finds an echo in his own films, is being brought alive on the big screen by actor Saswata Chatterjee.
The 42-year-old actor says he is very excited for bagging the role in director Kamaleswar Mukherjee's film, which is the "most intense" in his career.
"My role is the most intense in my career so far. It is not very easy to act carefree Ritwik Ghatak, especially his typical grimaces and gestures," Saswata told PTI.
He said wearing props like retro-shaped big sized black framed spectacle, similar to the one worn by Ghatak, before shots helped him get into the groove.

"Also my denture had to be customised to bring a typical look, with hints of a scowl and once I wore the make-up it became easier for me to bring alive the inimitable Ghatak who once had to spend days at a sanitorium for his chronic illness," he said.
Saswata says his role of 'Nilkantho', a character in the classic "Jukti Takko Gappo" essayed by Ritwik himself in that movie, is modelled on a particular stormy phase of the director's life.

"I watched all Ghatak films before, but I again watched 'Jukti Takko Gappo' to understand his body language to correctly portray the actor-director," he said.

Saswata said he was fascinated by the performance of his co-actor Ananya Chatterjee as Durga, Nilkantho's wife, in the movie.
"In one particular scene there was this blank look in her eyes. It was simply amazing. Working with such actors increases your appetite for good acting," he said acknowledging Ananya's performance.
He is also all praise for the director of the movie Kamaleswar, who had earlier directed him in "Uro Chithi", saying "his understanding of the shots is very out-of-the box".
Saswata will also be seen in "C/O Sir" by Kaushik Ganguly.