Type of Activity: Two-day International Seminar on Ritwik Ghatak Centenary, based on prior registration Date/Duration of Activity (from – to): From 3rd November to 4th November, 2025 Time: From 9:30 am to 5:00 pm on Day 1 and from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Day 2 No. of Participants: 99 (Excluding organizing committee and invited guests and dignitaries) Details of Resource Person(s):
Day 1:
Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Independent Film Scholar, Historian and Art Curator, Bangalore
Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Anindya Sengupta, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Jean-Michel Frodon, Sciences Po, Paris
Erin O’Donnell, East Stroudsburg University, Pennsylvania
Objective of the Event:
Re-evaluating the political, aesthetic, and cultural legacy of filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak in his centenary year from an interdisciplinary and universal perspective, to investigate the possibility of a philosophical system from/within his works.
Brief Description of the Event: This international seminar was jointly organized by the Film Studies departments of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous) and The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata. The initiative was supported by St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association. The event brought together noted scholars and practitioners of the field from Kolkata as well as different regions of the country such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and even from faraway places like Paris, Newcastle, and New York. The opening day of the seminar was held in RK Hall, St. Xavier’s College while the closing day was hosted at the Society Hall, The Bhawanipur Education Society College.
The inaugural event witnessed addresses by the two heads of institutions Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio, SJ, Principal of St. Xavier’s College, and Dr. Subhabrata Gangopadhyay, Teacher-in-charge of The Bhawanipur Education Society College. As the Immediate Past Secretary of St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association, Mr. Firdausul Hasan also delivered a few words to conclude the Inauguration.
The keynote address of the day was delivered by noted Ghatak scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha who drew attention to how the spectre of Ritwik Ghatak’s image continues to haunt the image regime within public life. The first session chaired by Ira Bhaskar witnessed Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, Jean-Michel Frodon and Anindya Sengupta delving deep into the works of the filmmaker and situating them within a larger context of literary, musical and visual texts. Since Erin O’Donnell could not be physically present because of some personal reasons, her pre-recorded lecture was screened at the venue before the lunch break.
The post-lunch session was marked by paper presentations by Asijit Dutta and Avipsha Ghosh – their papers being selected on the basis of the abstracts they sent in response to a call for paper published earlier in August. Chaired by Ritu Sen Chaudhuri, this session heard Asijit Dutta present an against-the-grain reading of Ajantrik from the perspective of posthuman studies while Avipsha Ghosh with her Sociology background called attention to the question and registers of Bengali language encountered in Ghatak’s films and placing them in the context of contemporary debates on migration and identity.
The final session of the day titled Practitioner’s Roundtable brought together a constellation of filmmakers, editor, cinematographer and sound designer to reflect upon their specific engagement with Ghatak and his thought and craftsmanship. Debalina Majumder, Sukanta Majumdar, Sharmistha Jha, Basab Mullik, and Indranil Roy Chowdhury deliberated for 90 minutes about the ways in which Ritwik Ghatak’s oeuvre has had a direct or indirect influence on their respective technical and aesthetic decision-making processes. The session was moderated by Siladitya Sanyal, Professor, Direction and Producing for EDM, SRFTI, Kolkata.
A brief but touching ceremony was organized mainly by the efforts of St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association, to felicitate Ritaban Ghatak, filmmaker and the son of Ritwik Ghatak. Actor and director Parambrata Chattopadhyay gracefully accepted the invitation of doing the honours. Two songs sung with heartfelt vigour by an ailing Ritaban Ghatak became the highlight of this ceremony. The proceedings of the first day were officially concluded with the Vote of Thanks delivered by Dr. Shenjuti Dutta, seminar convenor and Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata.
The second and closing day of the seminar held at Society Hall, began with the keynote address by Moinak Biswas where he emphasized the significance of face and landscape in Ghatak’s films, particularly in Komol Gandhar where Bengal tends to become a landmass rather than marked by political boundaries and frontiers. The keynote address was followed by a special lecture by Richard Peña who meticulously contextualized the artistry of Ritwik Ghatak within a broader landscape of modernist practices in world cinema. Ashish Rajadhyaksha was the chair.
The next session chaired by Anindya Sengupta was highly intersectional and interdisciplinary with speakers coming from diverse backgrounds such as English, Sociology, Philosophy and Music. While Rongili Biswas pointed out the social and historical nuances in the deeply textured music of Ghatak’s cinema, Paulomi Chakraborty presented a semiotic reading of violation/violence centred on the mother goddess figure in Meghe Dhaka Tara. Ritu Sen Chaudhuri delivered a talk on Ghatak’s engagement with questions of caste particularly referring to the narrative of Subarnarekha. The session concluded with a dense deliberation on Ajantrik by Anirban Das as he launched into philosophical questions of modernity, epistemology and decolonization.
The post-lunch session again brought together a host of senior academics from Film Studies. Chaired by Moinak Biswas, the first speaker was Madhuja Mukherjee who mapped Ghatak’s cinema following the riverine landscape of Bengal. She was followed by Sanghita Sen who highlighted a lesser-talked trajectory within Ghatak’s cinema – his documentary films which has an almost direct correlation with his activist self. The session was brought to close by Ira Bhaskar as she attempted to categorize Ghatak’s works under the moniker of ‘Critical Melodrama’ – a discursive category distinct from the tradition of popular melodrama in Indian cinema.
The final session of the day was planned for presentations by scholars who had responded to the call for paper. Unfortunately, one of the speakers – Ankhi Mukherjee could not manage to attend the event leaving Soumya Mukhopadhyay as the sole speaker with Sanghita Sen chairing the session. His paper attempted to critically examine Ghatak’s cinema through the lens of the traditional Indian aesthetic system, specifically that of Karuna Rasa. Despite slightly running late the participants engaged with the presentations with enthusiasm and criticality. The event was formally brought to its conclusion with a vote of thanks presented by Arup Ratan Samjdar, seminar convenor and Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata.
Outcome of the Event: This seminar marked one of the most significant interventions in Ritwik Ghatak scholarship in its attempt to liberate the discourse from the questions of partition, myth and melodrama and opening up possibilities which are more universal and interdisciplinary. The discussions, debates and deliberations across the two days not only highlighted the skill and artistic brilliance of Ritwik Ghatak but more importantly searched for academic avenues that would allow to re-examine, re-interrogate, and re-evaluate the legacy of the filmmaker, thereby ensuring a continuity of the scholarship in contemporary contexts, and not just repetitive articulations of the same questions that usually surround Ghatak’s works.
Name of the Activity: Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad and The Bhawanipur Education Society College Type of Activity: Academic Collaboration Agreement Date/Duration of Activity: 18 November 2025 Time: 3:00 pm Signatories: Dr Biman Samaddar, Secretary, Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad Dr Subhabrata Gangopadhyay, Teacher-in-Charge, The Bhawanipur Education Society College (As per signatures …
“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” On 11th September 2025, The Bhawanipur Education Society College organised a public speaking event called Open Mic on the college turf. The event was open to everyone on campus who wished to showcase their talent. Its primary aim was to provide a stage for …
Durga Puja is perhaps the biggest social festival of its kind in the world. It is a time, when time itself comes to a standstill, with people across caste, creed or colour going out to celebrate. At the Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) however, the celebrations took a different turn, as members of the faculty …
Re-thinking Legacy: Ritwik Ghatak as a System of Thought
Type of Activity: Two-day International Seminar on Ritwik Ghatak Centenary, based on prior registration
Date/Duration of Activity (from – to): From 3rd November to 4th November, 2025
Time: From 9:30 am to 5:00 pm on Day 1 and from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Day 2
No. of Participants: 99 (Excluding organizing committee and invited guests and dignitaries)
Details of Resource Person(s):
Day 1:
Day 2:
Objective of the Event:
Re-evaluating the political, aesthetic, and cultural legacy of filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak in his centenary year from an interdisciplinary and universal perspective, to investigate the possibility of a philosophical system from/within his works.
Brief Description of the Event:
This international seminar was jointly organized by the Film Studies departments of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous) and The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata. The initiative was supported by St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association. The event brought together noted scholars and practitioners of the field from Kolkata as well as different regions of the country such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and even from faraway places like Paris, Newcastle, and New York. The opening day of the seminar was held in RK Hall, St. Xavier’s College while the closing day was hosted at the Society Hall, The Bhawanipur Education Society College.
The inaugural event witnessed addresses by the two heads of institutions Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio, SJ, Principal of St. Xavier’s College, and Dr. Subhabrata Gangopadhyay, Teacher-in-charge of The Bhawanipur Education Society College. As the Immediate Past Secretary of St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association, Mr. Firdausul Hasan also delivered a few words to conclude the Inauguration.
The keynote address of the day was delivered by noted Ghatak scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha who drew attention to how the spectre of Ritwik Ghatak’s image continues to haunt the image regime within public life. The first session chaired by Ira Bhaskar witnessed Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, Jean-Michel Frodon and Anindya Sengupta delving deep into the works of the filmmaker and situating them within a larger context of literary, musical and visual texts. Since Erin O’Donnell could not be physically present because of some personal reasons, her pre-recorded lecture was screened at the venue before the lunch break.
The post-lunch session was marked by paper presentations by Asijit Dutta and Avipsha Ghosh – their papers being selected on the basis of the abstracts they sent in response to a call for paper published earlier in August. Chaired by Ritu Sen Chaudhuri, this session heard Asijit Dutta present an against-the-grain reading of Ajantrik from the perspective of posthuman studies while Avipsha Ghosh with her Sociology background called attention to the question and registers of Bengali language encountered in Ghatak’s films and placing them in the context of contemporary debates on migration and identity.
The final session of the day titled Practitioner’s Roundtable brought together a constellation of filmmakers, editor, cinematographer and sound designer to reflect upon their specific engagement with Ghatak and his thought and craftsmanship. Debalina Majumder, Sukanta Majumdar, Sharmistha Jha, Basab Mullik, and Indranil Roy Chowdhury deliberated for 90 minutes about the ways in which Ritwik Ghatak’s oeuvre has had a direct or indirect influence on their respective technical and aesthetic decision-making processes. The session was moderated by Siladitya Sanyal, Professor, Direction and Producing for EDM, SRFTI, Kolkata.
A brief but touching ceremony was organized mainly by the efforts of St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association, to felicitate Ritaban Ghatak, filmmaker and the son of Ritwik Ghatak. Actor and director Parambrata Chattopadhyay gracefully accepted the invitation of doing the honours. Two songs sung with heartfelt vigour by an ailing Ritaban Ghatak became the highlight of this ceremony. The proceedings of the first day were officially concluded with the Vote of Thanks delivered by Dr. Shenjuti Dutta, seminar convenor and Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata.
The second and closing day of the seminar held at Society Hall, began with the keynote address by Moinak Biswas where he emphasized the significance of face and landscape in Ghatak’s films, particularly in Komol Gandhar where Bengal tends to become a landmass rather than marked by political boundaries and frontiers. The keynote address was followed by a special lecture by Richard Peña who meticulously contextualized the artistry of Ritwik Ghatak within a broader landscape of modernist practices in world cinema. Ashish Rajadhyaksha was the chair.
The next session chaired by Anindya Sengupta was highly intersectional and interdisciplinary with speakers coming from diverse backgrounds such as English, Sociology, Philosophy and Music. While Rongili Biswas pointed out the social and historical nuances in the deeply textured music of Ghatak’s cinema, Paulomi Chakraborty presented a semiotic reading of violation/violence centred on the mother goddess figure in Meghe Dhaka Tara. Ritu Sen Chaudhuri delivered a talk on Ghatak’s engagement with questions of caste particularly referring to the narrative of Subarnarekha. The session concluded with a dense deliberation on Ajantrik by Anirban Das as he launched into philosophical questions of modernity, epistemology and decolonization.
The post-lunch session again brought together a host of senior academics from Film Studies. Chaired by Moinak Biswas, the first speaker was Madhuja Mukherjee who mapped Ghatak’s cinema following the riverine landscape of Bengal. She was followed by Sanghita Sen who highlighted a lesser-talked trajectory within Ghatak’s cinema – his documentary films which has an almost direct correlation with his activist self. The session was brought to close by Ira Bhaskar as she attempted to categorize Ghatak’s works under the moniker of ‘Critical Melodrama’ – a discursive category distinct from the tradition of popular melodrama in Indian cinema.
The final session of the day was planned for presentations by scholars who had responded to the call for paper. Unfortunately, one of the speakers – Ankhi Mukherjee could not manage to attend the event leaving Soumya Mukhopadhyay as the sole speaker with Sanghita Sen chairing the session. His paper attempted to critically examine Ghatak’s cinema through the lens of the traditional Indian aesthetic system, specifically that of Karuna Rasa. Despite slightly running late the participants engaged with the presentations with enthusiasm and criticality. The event was formally brought to its conclusion with a vote of thanks presented by Arup Ratan Samjdar, seminar convenor and Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata.
Outcome of the Event:
This seminar marked one of the most significant interventions in Ritwik Ghatak scholarship in its attempt to liberate the discourse from the questions of partition, myth and melodrama and opening up possibilities which are more universal and interdisciplinary. The discussions, debates and deliberations across the two days not only highlighted the skill and artistic brilliance of Ritwik Ghatak but more importantly searched for academic avenues that would allow to re-examine, re-interrogate, and re-evaluate the legacy of the filmmaker, thereby ensuring a continuity of the scholarship in contemporary contexts, and not just repetitive articulations of the same questions that usually surround Ghatak’s works.
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