Probashi- Cover Story
Probashi- Cover Story
Interview with Goutam Ghose academics .
Yes the preferred choice of profession during my time for a middle class boy was either Medicine or Engineering or the Civil Services . However despite initial alarm of seeing their eldest son aspire to be a photographer and an advertisement film maker my parents accepted my choice of profession . My father even offered to fund my education at the Film Institute Pune . However I had three younger siblings , and I realised that a 5 year film course in Pune would be expensive and strain family financial resources . I assured my father that I would learn about film making and theatre on the job .
In college you were into theatre , how did it happen ?
Actually in school I had written my first play Kahini , woven around a house rented by different people . In college I joined a semi professional theatre group , and was mentored by Pritish Bhattacharya , who in day time worked with the firm Jessop and in evening would engage in his passion for theatre . Pritishda was my drama school and I consider myself lucky to have been mentored by such a veteran . Theatre those days was very popular . People from the Kolkata suburbs would visit North Calcutta during weekends where most of the theatre groups were located to watch plays . However with the coming of television , this clientele has all but vanished for the theatre groups .
You were a photojournalist for a while and then started working as an advertisement film maker in Image India , Kolkata . How did the transition from photography to cinematography happen ?
Goutam Ghose ( center ) in his late twenties directing his first feature film
Photojournalism took me all over India and helped me discover my Country . The sights and sounds which I encountered then have helped me immensely later in my career . At Image India , an advertisement agency , where I worked , I was mentored by the great documentary film maker Shanti Chowdhury . Not many people know that Shantida was responsible for taking Ray ’ s Aprajito to Venice Film Festival . The 1.5 years I spent in making advertisement films in Calcutta was my training ground for learning technical aspects like cinematography , sound recording and editing , all under the strict eyes of Shantida . Another person who inspired me was Harishadhan Dasgupta a very capable documentary maker and close associate of Satyajit Ray .
The next obvious step was to make documentaries ?
I made my first documentary in 1972 on the power crisis in Calcutta . I ran up significant debts for making this film . Being a critique of the system the film was not accepted for screening . The next documentary was New Earth on Multipurpose Irrigation Projects . I along with my friends ,
Select Awards Won Hungry Autumn : Main Award , Oberhausen Film Festival ( 1978 ) Land of Sand Dunes : National Award , Best Documentary Film ( 1986 ) Maa Bhoomi : National Award , Best Regional Film , Telegu Dakhal : National Award , Best Film , Paar : National Award for Best Actor ( Naseerudin Shah and Shabana Azmi ) , Best Film in Hindi , Best Actor Award to Naseerudin Shah at Venice Film Festival Antarjali Yatra : National Award , Best Bengali Film ( 1987 ) Padma Nadir Majhi : National Award , Best Director ( 1992 ) Patang : National Award , Best Hindi Feature Film ( 1993 ) Beyond Himalayas : Filmfare Award for Best Documentary Gudiya : National Award , Best Hindi Feature Film ( 1996 ) Dekha : National Award , Best Bengali Film ( 2001 ) Kalahandi : National Award , Best Investigative Film ( 2002 ) A Treasure in the Snow : National Award for the Best Promotional Film ( 2003 ) Abar Arannye : National Award for Best Director , Best Screenplay & Best Supporting Actress ( Sharmila Tagore ) Yatra : National Award for Best Cinematography Special Awards : Only Indian to have received the prestigious “ Vittorio Di Sica Award , Italy ( 1997 ) Knighthood of the Star of the Italian Solidarity ( 2006 )