Born in 1925 in Dhaka, Ritwik moved to Baharampur and then to Calcutta in the early fifties. “Ritwik was one of the few truly original talents in the cinema this country has produced. Nearly all his films are marked by an intensity of feeling coupled with an imaginative grasp of the technique of film making. As a creator of powerful images in an epic style he was virtually unsurpassed in Indian cinema. He also had full command over the all-important aspect of editing long passages abound in his films which are strikingly original in the way they are put together. This all the more remarkable when one doesn’t notice any influence of other schools of film making on his work. The occasional echo of classical Soviet cinema is there, but this doesn’t notice any influence of other schools of film making on his work. The occasional echo of classical Soviet cinema is there, but this doesn’t prevent him from being a class by himself ”Satyajit Ray. Ritwik had the misfortune to be largely ignored by the Bengali film public in his lifetime.. A renewed interest in his films was noted since the mid-eighties with a number of is films earning critical attention both in India and abroad.

Nilkantha, an alcocholic frustrated intellectual, suddenly finds himself out of the street. His wife, Durga has suffered for his waywardness and his love for the bottle, finally leaves him, taking their son with. Nachiketa, a young, unemployed engineer, stays behind to look after him. Bangbala, a young refugee form Bangladesh comes into the empty house looking for shelter. While they sit musing on a part bench, they are joined by Jagannath, a penniless Sanskrit teacher. The strange foursome start on their extraordinary journey to Kanchanpur, Nilkanth’s wife’s new home. They along with Panchanan Ustad, an exponent of the chhau dance witness a Chhau performance of goddess Durga destroying a demon. The group walks into a confrontation between the tribals and the landlord. The landlord shoots in panic and kills Jagannath. On their way to Nilkanth’s wife Durga’s place, they have to pass through a sal forest, where hidden eyes watch their progress. The forest is a hideout for rebellious extremists, the naxalites. Durga is not happy to see Nilkantha and insists that Nilkantha must leve. Nilkantha requests Durga to come early in the morning with some food to the sal forest, where they will be spending the night and wanted to see his son’s face in the first rays of the sun. Dawn breaks. Durga comes with her son into the forest. Suddenly a police party attacks the Naxalites. In the crossfire, Nilkantha is hit by a bullet and dies. The Naxalites lie scattered, killed by police bullets. The police party carries Nilkantha’s body out of the forest, where silence descends once again.