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)