The empathetic gaze of Goutam Ghose

The veteran filmmaker talks about his documentary on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his much-awaited Indo-Italian production and why the space for the poor and the marginalised is shrinking in our films

Goutam Ghose is one of those rare filmmakers who seamlessly blends craft with conscience, and continues to be relevant five decades after he started his journey. Deeply political in thought and poetically resonant in expression, his camera has shunned trends and consistently captured the churn in Indian society, with empathy for the deprived and the marginalised.

His visually stunning and politically charged works like Maa Bhoomi (1979), Dakhal (1982), Paar (1984), Antarjali Yatra (1987) and Padma Nadir Maajhi (1993) have withstood the test of time. Not to forget his documentaries that touched upon myriad issues and personalities. From a distressing look at food shortage in Bengal in 1974 in Hungry Autumn to the sonorous highs of Ustad Bismillah Khan, he has documented life as it is.

Not limited by genre, form and language, Kolkatay Mujib, his 65-minute documentary on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is awaiting release while his Indo-Italian production with Marco Leonardi and Chitrangada Singh will be in theatres early next year. In between, the 73-year-old made a one-of-a-kind documentary on the Kolkata High Court and filmed Raahgir, a heart-rending tale of three strangers who form a special bond in adversity in Jharkhand. “I never saw documentaries as a stepping stone to becoming a feature filmmaker. I am equally passionate about fiction and non-fiction,” says Ghose, during an interview in Delhi.

Edited excerpts...

How did the documentary on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s connection with Kolkata come about?

Not many know that Mujib was studying at Kolkata’s Islamia College (now known as Maulana Azad College) between 1942 and 1947, a very important period in the history of the Indian subcontinent that shaped his personality and politics. It was a turbulent time that saw the Bengal famine, the political divide between Hindus and Muslims and the eventual Partition of India. Young Mujib was a member of the Muslim League. The party had orthodox and liberal factions. Mujib was among the liberals. They were dreaming that Muslims would get some kind of liberation with a separate State but later Mujib regretted this division. I have based it on Mujib’s autobiography (The Unfinished Memoirs) where he has talked about the dichotomy of the times.

The film comes full circle when on February 6, 1972, after Bangladesh’s liberation, Mujib returned to Kolkata and made an emotional speech at the Brigade Parade Ground. I was in the crowd that day and have vivid memories. The Bangabandhu said, ‘I was here but unfortunately we were separated’. Kolkata was the headquarters of the Bangladesh freedom struggle; when the foreign ministry of Bangladesh approached me, it touched a chord.