Ritwik Ghatak’s cinema offered lessons in historian’s craft

When I was a master’s student of Modern History at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1994, Ritwik Ghatak, whose birth centenary fell on November 4, became a source of clarity. In their lectures on historical methods, the primarily Marxist faculty at JNU engaged with questions of history and historicity; the relationship between the individual and society was explored through a discourse steeped in polemics. They did not sufficiently address culture and left us with questions about how to relate to the scholarly craft. About that time, I was part of a group which attended a screening of a Ghatak film at Delhi University’s Gargi College, which would set us on a journey and eventually help clarify doubts.

What immediately struck a chord with us was Ghatak’s deep engagement with history. Titash