Rabi Ghosh, one of the finest comedians of Bengali cinema, was also one of those who had the rare opportunity of working with Satyajit Ray and Utpal Dutt, stalwarts of cinema and theatre, respectively.
Celebrated as Bagha Byne from Ray's classic Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1968), Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980) and Goopy Bagha Phire Elo (1991), Rabi Ghosh achieved popularity at an early stage of his career but remained a student of acting throughout.
According to his second wife Baisakhi Devi, Ghosh’s father was not impressed with his choice of career and always wanted him to continue with his job. However, Ghosh’s passion for acting never wavered and he began his career on stage, dedicating his life to acting while working constantly to find deeper meaning in the art.
Ghosh enjoyed comedy and had a deep understanding of it. In an old interview available on YouTube, he elaborated that comedy is a genre, like tragedy, through which important messages are conveyed, but the audience often absorbs the renditions as merely comic. His various portrayals are explanatory. The approach to comedy in Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, the first musical film in Bengali, was simple and natural, with the aim of raising a laugh among children. In Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), for Shekhar’s character, Ghosh was directed to deliver slapstick with sophistication. In Jana Aranya (1976), Ghosh’s character Natabar Mittir was shrewd with comic elements in him. According to Ghosh, Natabar Mittir was among the more challenging roles he played because, unlike in Ray’s other films, he was told strictly in Jana Aranya not to improvise.
Apart from strong character roles, Ghosh played the comic hero in Tapan Sinha’s Golpo Holeo Sotyi (1966) and in his only Hindi film, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Sabse Bada Sukh (1972), with ease.
Initially a stage actor, Ghosh was introduced to the nuances of acting for film by Ray. He was almost in awe of Ray and his comprehensiveness as an artiste. Ray’s explanation of how to throw dialogue in cinema, less articulated and less accompanied with physical gestures, was a clear guide to him to differentiate between acting in cinema and acting on stage.
Ghosh believed that unlike theatre, film was essentially a director’s medium and the performance had to be reactive. He would closely follow the director’s instructions but also improvised spontaneously as he did in a few scenes in Aranyer Din Ratri, much to Ray's delight.
Ghosh did not mind being stereotyped as a comedian as he was aware of the amount of hard work and insight great directors such as Ray, Tapan Sinha and Tarun Majumder put into building those characters. Forever a student, Ghosh believed the audience also needed to be learned about the language of film and acting. According to him, despite being widely appreciated, to understand the underlying interpretation and purpose of his slapstick renditions in Aranyer Din Ratri and Jana Aranya, the audience needs a different mindspace to analyse those performances beyond just light entertainment.
Ghosh held Utpal Dutt in similarly high regard as a theatre director for making him aware of the manifold layers of acting. He felt the stalwart had the same potential as many renowned theatre directors abroad at the time and often described the learning experiences with him as gigantic. A lot of those learnings he applied while directing his own theatre group, Chalachal.
Ghosh experimented with Dutt’s concept in his own play Chhayanat through which he attempted to address the issues of contemporary theatre. He also directed a couple of films, including Nidhiram Sardar, in his later days, but he confessed that he did not have the temperament for filmmaking unlike directing plays, for which he could happily dedicate hours.
It is often said that Ghosh’s mere appearance on screen would send the audience into peals of laughter. However, as Baisakhi Devi told The Times of India newspaper five years ago, he was a humble and serious man in personal life. The dignity of his personality lies in the fact that he never bothered about awards and valued experience and first-hand knowledge as his rewards.
The grounded and humble actor announced, “This is my last shot”, while shooting for a TV serial on 4 February 1997. Moments later, he was gone.