Filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh's Death Shocks Industry

Kirron Kher starrer "Bariwali" also took away the NETPAC award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2000.

Rituparno's last release "Chitrangada" (2012), where he also acted, won the Special jury honours at the National Film Awards.

In 2007, Ghosh made his only English move "The Last Lear", that starred Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bacchan. It won the National Award for the best feature film in English.

He also directed two Hindi movies - "Raincoat" (2004) and "Sunglass" (2012). The former was adjudged the winner of the best feature film in Hindi at the National Awards.

Besides "Chitrangada", Ghosh acted in the movies "Ekti Premer Golpo" and "Memories in March".

A learned man, Ghosh had his schooling from South Point - that for years found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records (as it was then called) for its number of students - and later pursued economics at Jadavpur University.

He also wrote lucid and fluent prose, and his Bengali column in a local daily was widely read.

A pall of gloom descended on the Bengali film industry as the news of his death spread Thursday morning.

Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee found it difficult to accept Ghosh's untimely death. "Really, I cannot believe he is no more. We have lost one of our most promising film directors."

A large number of shocked colleagues and friends gathered at the home of the much awarded filmmaker as news of the death spread.

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