Scalpel Of Truth In The End Credits

“Tara dim, tara dim, bijuri ghana ghore...byakula hiya dhund tohra.” (Dark clouds gather...the distant thunder rumbles...my restless heart is searching for someone...where are you)

—Rituparno Ghosh.

Music composer Debojyoti Mishra’s own restless heart was in need of a familiar presence by his side. Mishra was at the editing table, trying to sync his tunes with these lines from a song Rituparno Ghosh wrote for Satyanweshi, his last film which he left unfinished when he died suddenly on May 30.

“But I knew Ritu was gone forever. I would have to do this without him. I realised how dependent we music directors are on directors, especially those like Ritu, who are there with you at every stage, taking interest in the smallest detail.” Mishra was trying to revive memories of all those lost days when “Ritu would give me some guidance, some instruction about what he wanted”. Admitting “absolute helplessness” as he tried to pick up the pieces and do his part in completing the unfinished film, Mishra, who scored the music for Satyanweshi (based on a story featuring the fictional ace detective, Byomkesh Bakshi) like many of Ghosh’s films, said, “It was like trying to keep the ship afloat without the captain”. The one instruction about the movie’s score that kept resonating in Mishra’s mind was the director’s wish that “the theme music must be ‘shorbonasher’ (apocalyptic)”. While the news of Ghosh’s untimely death came like an apocalyptic bolt from the blue for the film industry in Bengal, it crushed those who were working with him at that time. That is, the cast, crew and production unit of Saty­anweshi. “I was shattered,” says Arpita Chatterjee, who plays Aloka, the female lead. “He was more than a director. He was a mentor. With Rituda around, you knew that everything would be okay. What would we do without him?”

But then, they were determined to finish the film. And the reasons for that ranged from the obvious, banal one of justifying the money already spent, to the fact that, as Indraneil Sengupta, who plays Raja Himangshu, explained: “A film on which Rituparno Ghosh had worked so passionately for mon­ths just had to be completed.” That, he added, “would be the best way to pay tribute to Rituda”. Of course, it helped that the shooting had been completed. Recalling the last day of shooting, Anindya Chatterjee, who plays the detective’s sidekick Ajit, said, “It was at the royal palace of Baruipur. After pack-up Rituda, who had not been too well lately, seemed a little tired, but at the same time relaxed. We celebrated with an adda at his house later. He loved conversation and didn’t want any of us to leave. As always we decided to meet again, but three days later he was not there anymore.”

For the crew of Satyanweshi, the heartbreak of losing Rituda had to give way to the more pressing demand for completing the film. For producers Venkatesh Films, who had invested Rs 2 crore, not completing it was not an option. Speaking to Outlook, Mahendra Soni explained, “There was not a single moment of doubt that the project would not be completed. Mabye it would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, had the shooting not been done. We also knew that Rituparno Ghosh had a very efficient team of technicians who could carry it forward. We got together and decided on a plan of action.” Soni also pointed out, “Our association with Rituparno Ghosh goes back a long time. (Venkatesh produced the Aishwarya Rai-starrer Cho­k­her Bali) His death was a devastating loss. But we know he would have wanted it to be completed, but only by able people.”

While Rituparno was known for his perfectionism, fastidiousness and meticulous attention to detail, there were a few trusted aides he would not make a film without. Editor Arghya Kamal Mitra is one of them. Mitra, who has edited all but two of Ghosh’s earliest films (Hirer Angti and Unishey April), says he relied on his long experience and association with the director to know how he would visualise something and what he would do. “For him, editing was all about cutting out the one-dimensional and bringing out nuances until something became real.”

Mitra also points out that contrary to his reputation, the director did not always interfere with creative freedom. “We worked as a team and we would discuss ideas. That has been the most difficult part of editing without him.” Fortunately, sixty per cent of the editing had also been completed.

Avik Mukhopadhyay, director of pho­tography, was another of Ritu­parno’s trusted associates, and like Mitra had worked with him in most of his films. He was entrusted with steering the ship to shore. Though all of the camera work had been done before Rituparno’s death, Mukhopadhyay explained that even at the post-production stage, Rituparno’s films were put through rigorous polishing and fine-tuning that required the supervision of the cinematographer. “I had to improvise and almost think like him in order to ensure that this process was recr­ea­ted.”

But what of Rituparno’s Bymokesh? The detective prised the director away from his metier of exploring modern, urban relationships to delve into the world of mystery and suspense in the Bengal of yore. What part did the ace sle­uth play in carrying forward the vis­ion of Rituparno Ghosh? Sujoy Ghosh, director of Kahani, doesn’t know to this day why Rituparno zeroed in on him, a first-time actor, to portray the role fated to become the director’s last protagonist. “I asked him but he never ans­wered,” says Ghosh. “Anindya jokes that he chose me because I am also a Ghosh.” But why? Is it because Rituparno in some way would want Sujoy, another filmmaker, to stand in for himself before the camera as a Satyanweshi (the sea­rcher of truth) of sorts? “No one else can be Rituparno Ghosh,” says Sujoy, dismissing the suggestion. “We completed his film. But like a signature that can never really be the original, no matter how perfect all its copies are, this gap will always remain.” The film releases in theatres on September 6. That, says the producer, is exactly the date Rituparno wanted the film released. Six days after his 50th birthday.