Speakers
If he wasn’t feted in his time, Ritwik Ghatak most certainly is today.
Since his death in 1976, at just past fifty, Ghatak’s stature has only grown. His humanist cinema, his uncompromising vision, his deep engagement with the history and culture of the land, have made him one of the most indelible figures in Indian film history. With Meghe Dhaka Tara, Subarnarekha, Komal Gandhar, Ajantrik, and Titas Ekti Nodir Naam, Ghatak changed the very nature of Indian cinema. As a teacher at the Film and Television Institute of India, he shaped the next generation: Kumar Shahani, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Kaul, Saeed Mirza, Ketan Mehta, Jahnu Barua.
Shamya Dasgupta, editor of Unmechanical: Ritwik Ghatak in 50 Fragments (Westland Books, 2026), joins writer and publisher Karthik Venkatesh to sit with the full contradiction of the man. Unflinching and even ruthless. Alcoholic and irresponsible. An irrepressible genius and a relentless innovator.
The session concludes with an audience Q&A.
Speakers
Shamya Dasgupta
Shamya Dasgupta is a sports journalist by profession, currently working as deputy editor with ESPNcricinfo, and a cinema enthusiast. He’s the author of Don’t Disturb the Dead: The Story of the Ramsay Brothers (2017), and two books on sports, Bhiwani Junction: The Untold Story of Boxing in India (2012) and Cricket Changed My Life: Stories of Hope and Despair from the IPL and Elsewhere (2014). He translated Mahasweta Devi’s Laayl-e Aasmaner Aayna into the English (Mirror of the Darkest Night, 2019). He lives and works in Bangalore.
Karthik Venkatesh
Karthik Venkatesh is Executive Editor with Penguin Random House India where he commissions and edits non-fiction and fiction. He is the author of two books for young adults: 10 Indian Languages and How They Came to Be and 10 Makers of the Indian Constitution. Karthik grew up in Bangalore, speaking Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, English, Dakhani and Hindi. He tried to learn French but failed. He did learn Punjabi though, not in Bangalore, but in another galaxy far, far away. On weekday mornings, he often runs. On weekends, he naps.
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