It is one of life's greatest ironies that Ritwik Ghatak who is today something of a cult figure in Bengal was so little understood and appreciated during his lifetime. Despite the fact that today his films have won much critical acclaim, the fact remains that in their time they ran to mainly empty houses in Bengal. Ghatak's films project a unique sensibility. They are often brilliant, but almost always flawed.

Born in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh), the partition of Bengal and the subsequent division of a culture was something that haunted Ghatak forever. Joining the left-wing Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), he used to work for a few years as a playwright, actor and director. When IPTA split into factions, Ghatak turned to filmmaking.

By and large Ghatak's films revolve around two central themes: the experience of being uprooted from the idyllic rural milieu of East Bengal and the cultural trauma of the partition of 1947. His first film, Nagarik (1952) weaved the oppressive tale of a young man, his futile search for a job and the erosion of his optimism and idealism as his family sinks into abject poverty and his love affair too turns sour. Ghatak then accepted a job with Filmistan Studio in Bombay but his 'different' ideas did not go down well there. He did however write the scripts of Musafir (1957) and Madhumati (1958) for Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Bimal Roy respectively, the latter becoming an all time evergreen hit.

After this brief stint followed by his comeback to his good old Calcutta, he made Ajantrik (1958) about a taxi driver in a small town in Bihar and his vehicle, an old Chevrolet jalopy. An assortment of passengers gives the film a wider frame of reference and provided situations of drama, humor and irony.

However, his "magnum opus" happens to be none other than Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), the first film in a trilogy, examining the socio-economic implications of partition. The protagonist Nita (played by Supriya Chowdhury) is the breadwinner in a refugee family of five. Everyone exploits her and the strain proves too much. She succumbs to tuberculosis. In an unforgettable moment, the dying Nita cries out "I want to live