Rituparno Ghosh (Bangla: ঋতুপর্ণ ঘোষ Ritupôrno Ghosh) is a young Bengali film director whose work has met with considerable critical acclaim in recent years, both in his native India and abroad.
Ghosh was born and raised in Kolkata, West Bengal. He attended high school at South Point High School, and studied economics at Jadavpur University. His father was a documentary filmmaker, basically a painter, as was his mother in filmmaking.
He cut his directorial teeth in advertising. In 1992, he made a low-key film debut with a children's feature titled Hirer Angti (The Diamond Ring). However, with his second movie Unishe April (19th April), Ghosh attracted serious critical attention. The movie won the 1995 National Film Award in India for best film. Since then, Ghosh has directed a series of critical hits, notably Dahan, Utsab, Chokher Bali, Asukh, BaRioali, Antarmahal and Raincoat (in Hindi).
Chokher Bali featured Aishwarya Rai. The resulting public visibility of this movie has catapulted Ghosh into the front ranks of the Indian film industry.
Ghosh cites Ingmar Bergman, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Bille August, Quentin Tarantino, Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Wong Kar-wai, and Pedro Almodóvar as directorial influences.
