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"I've
had the good fortune of having grown up watching good films", says Ritu. Right from the beginning, she was exposed to good films like Chokh
and Tahader Katha since her family members never used to watch
commercial films. Their taste was always very "arty". This
introduced her to the world of good films. However, she was a little
awkward with her friends when it came to discussing films because most
of them were into commercial films.
Ritu's uncle, Dr. Indrajit
Sengupta was another person who had a major influence on her. He was a
good writer and besides encouraging her to write, also helped her
develop her writing skills. Her columns used to appear in Anandalok.
She used to write for Bangladesher Hriday. Speaking about her
writings, she says, "I wrote more often when I was younger but now
my writing has become more sporadic. Most of my writing, both in Bengali
and English is very personal and has not been published."
Rituparna is an actress with
many dimensions to her creative personality. "I've always had a
terrific passion for dancing", she says. "I'm currently
working on an original dance drama. The entire concept was mine, though
I worked on the script with other people from Rabindra Bharati
University." Ritu has done several dance dramas with them. She was
also part of a group called Ved Pancham. |
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Though Rituparna has made a
niche for herself in the world of films, surprisingly enough, when she
stepped into the celluloid world, apart from her experience as a
danseuse, she hadn't really received any formal training in acting.
Unlike most actors and actresses, Ritu has never been involved in any way with drama and theatre. In her opinion, "people from a theatre background normally have a lot of mature acting
experience and skills.
The stage is an incredible training ground and it is the best medium when it comes to communicating with an audience. It is fulfilling for an actor
to be on stage because you get an instant response from the audience. It teaches you how to be spontaneous, stage free, makes you comfortable with the lights and on the whole makes you
technically very sound and gives you the inherent confidence to look up to something better."
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The 'reel-life' story of Ritu's
success reads like a fairy-tale, almost literally so.
Ritu got her first break in a
fairy-tale-like serial called White Dove. That's where it all
began for her. After that, she got noticed by Prabhat Roy, an eminent
director of Calcutta who she credits as one of her mentors. He offered
Ritu her first cinematic role in a film called Swet Patharer Thala.
That was her debut really, as an actress. Though it was not a major
role, it helped her launch her career on the big screen in a big way. In
the film, Ritu played the supporting role to Aparna Sen. It was a story
about two generations and she played the younger generation. The role
was of a bubbly teenager with all the arrogance so characteristic of the
age. Luckily for the aspiring actress, the film clicked, and that too,
in a very big way, bagging a National Award for Best Bengali Film.
Following the success of Swet
Patharer Thala, Ritu got a good offer from Ananda Bazar Productions
to star in Cinemawala, a serial which became very popular. The
story was that of a sales girl who followed her dreams and in the course
of time became a great actress. "It was a very interesting
experience for me", says Ritu, "because of the similarity it
bore to my life. Here I was, a newcomer trying to create a niche for
herself in the world of films. My performance got some very positive
reviews, which was a very encouraging thing and gave me the confidence
to pursue films". However even at this stage, Ritu wasn't serious
about taking acting up as a career. She did it purely because she
enjoyed doing it.
After this, Ritu started getting
many good offers. Her first two films were very big hits. One was of
course, Swet Patharer Thala and the other was Sujan Sakhi.
This was followed by a string of successful films like Nag Panchami and
Maner Manush, after which she was paired with Prasenjit in a lot
of movies and their journey as a hit pair began. Ritu also did films
with Mithun before she left for Bombay to do a telefilm with Hema Malini,
called Mohini.
At this point Ritu got to know
Partha Ghosh who gave her a major break in Hindi Films with a film
called Teesra Kaun, which was produced by NN Sippy. However,
Bombay didn't prove to be very good for her because she didn't have the
keen competitive attitude which is essential to survive in Bombay.
Besides, Ritu was also unfamiliar with the work procedures and culture
of Bombay, which is very different from that of Calcutta. Other than
this, another thing that kept her from concentrating on Bombay was her
involvement with the South-Indian film industry. Around the same time,
Ritu was also shooting a couple of films in Ooty with Mithun. Most
importantly, since she was getting recognition for her work in Calcutta,
she didn't think it would be appropriate for her to hanker after success
in Bombay."
In Calcutta things were working
out very well for Ritu. She had gained acceptance from the public as
well as the acting community. She did a lot of work with eminent film
personalities, notably Tarun Majumdar, Sandip Ray, Prabhat Roy, Swapan Saha (Sujan Sakhi), Sujit
Guha, Biresh Chatterjee, Chiranjeet (Sansar Sangram), Raja Sen,
Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Mithun
Chakraborty.
As it happens, this period was a
very important time for Ritu, who says, "At this point in my
career, I was noticed by a Director from an entirely different genre,
Rituparno Ghosh. Meeting him changed the entire flow of my career. It
took me to a place where I had never seen myself before. Up till this
time, I had always been seen as a very glamourous actress, but now,
people started taking my performance skills very seriously. Rituparno
Ghosh changed my image so drastically. He totally deglamourised me in Dahan.
The film was very difficult and challenging. Another film that brought
out my acting skills to the fullest was Paromitar Ek Din of
Aparna Sen. Mrinal
Sen complemented me by saying that my performance was very
balanced."
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