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Back to black and white

Rituparno Ghosh gives his take on Bengali and black and white cinema

THE LOOK Rituparno Ghosh: `It feels very stylish to make a film in black and white' PHOTO: ANU PUSHKARNA

Colour movies ended the age of black and white films a long time ago. But director Rituparno Ghosh, in his latest Bengali film Dosar — The Companion, is geared up to revive the magic of black and white. The story revolves around a couple: Kaushik, played by renowned Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, and Kaveri, played by Konkona Sen Sharma.

It focuses on how Kaveri's world changes and how Kaushik experiences the guilt for his deeds. Management guru Arindam Choudhuri has produced the movie. Talking about the project, Ghosh says: "When colour cinema happened it sent the black-and-white era into oblivion. To make a statement that black and white is not gone and over, I have made this film without colour. Filmmakers of our generation have been brought up on black and white cinema and it had a great impact on us. It feels very stylish to make a film in black and white." But he hastens to add: "There is no deliberate attempt to create nostalgia as it is a story of contemporary society." Lead actor Prosenjit, son of yesteryear actor Biswajit, says: "In the film I play the victim of an accident. I am bedridden, so I had to be convincing in my role through facial expressions and gestures."

On making films only in Bengali, Ghosh says: "Making films in Hindi is not the only way to communicate with the masses. I see no harm making a movie in Bengali. It is the storytelling that matters."

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