Rituparno Insults Mir In His Talk Show

A nasty display of self conceit and vanity by the celebrated filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh has left viewers shocked and angry. As you might have already heard, Rituparno recently invited Mir to his new talk show Ghosh & Co. on Star Jalsa and gave him a thorough tongue-lashing. Although I didn’t watch the episode myself, I came to learn from my friends that it was disgusting to watch and how Rituparno proved himself to be haughty and proud in a show which is supposed to be intellectually stimulating. Such was his arrogance, that everyone is furious. The way he utilized the platform to settle his personal scores in public made himself look cheap and a self-centered antel.

Rituparno invited Mir to his talk show only to insult him

Throughout the show, the only talking point Rituparno adhered to was the single theme – as to why Mir copies his effeminate ways and caricature? He went over and over on the mimicry issue, insulting Mir all the time. Desperate to belittle his guest, he said with contempt that Mir makes his living by mimicking others and went on saying that mimicry, which according to him is the mainstay of Mir’s career, is an inferior form of art – it is hardly any art.

The haughty Rituparno was crafty enough to add that his stature and position allows him to be least perturbed with an insignificant Mir mocking him but what bothers him is the hurt feelings of the ‘sexual minority’. No doubt, that was a lame excuse. Rituparno with his inability to take humour in good spirit had a grudge on Mir since long and chose to don a masquerade of fellow-feeling for the sexual minority with the only motive of insulting Mir in public!

Rituparno even alleged that Mir never uses his surname to conceal his religion! How ingenious of Rituparno! Everybody knows Mir is a Muslim. Not that matters anyway though. In the entertainment world, this is far too common. Rock artist Rupam, who is justifiably an icon of the present Bengali youth, is better known by his first name only. Similarly, it never occurs to us that pop singer Jojo can have a full name simply because we never bother about that. We are content with whatever names they are known to us.

While bashing Mir, Rituparno ended up saying – even photography is no art as is not mimicry, both lacking in originality. If photography is no art then neither is cinematography, I dare say! When Mir said he mimics others because he can do it the haughty director told bluntly – there are a few people in Bengal who can equal Rituparno Ghosh!

While Rituparno went all out in insulting Mir, Mir however kept his cool. Even after so much vitriol flowed from Ritu, Mir was polite all through. He was calm and composed proving himself a true gentleman. Rituparno, on the other hand, was filled with spite and revenge.

If Rituparno can’t stand Mir mocking him, he could have conveyed his feelings to Mir in a decent & polite manner. But decency seems to be last word that can be said of Rituparno Ghosh. Everyone who watched the episode has spoken at length what a terrible sight it was – to see the acclaimed director stoop to such levels in his desperate attempt to demean Mir. It looked ridiculous and disgusting to say the least.

Rituparno’s battle against Mir is however not something new. As I have written on this not so long ago – read the post Rituparno Beats Mir.