Veteran photographer Nemai Ghosh, an associate of Satyajit, passes away
Veteran photographer Nemai Ghosh, whose nearly 30-year-old association with Satyajit Ray earned him the title "Boswell with a camera", died in Kolkata today at the age of 86.
Ghosh, who was admitted to a hospital a couple of days ago, died of cardiac arrest around 11:30am, his photographer son Satyaki Ghosh said.
The lensman, who was Ray's official still photographer for quarter of a century and came to be known as the director's photographer-biographer, has captured the master director in a myriad of moods at the sets and shooting locations.
He also framed actors like Utpal Datta, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Smita Patil, Sayeed Jaffrey and Sanjiv Kumar on the sets of Ray's films, our New Delhi correspondent writes.
Ghosh debuted with "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne" (1969) and was with Ray till his last film "Agantuk" (1991).
Ghosh also shot the making of Ritwik Ghatak's "Jukti Takko Gappo" (1974), Mrinal Sen's "Interview" (1970), "Calcutta 71" (1972) and "Ek Adhuri Kahani" (1971), Gautam Ghose's "Paar" (1984), and MS Sathyu's "Ijjodu" (2010).
Satyajit Ray's son, director Sandip Ray said Nemai Ghosh's death was a "personal loss" for him.
"Nemai kaku (uncle) had been visiting our home and became part of family since 1968. Baba used to like him very much," he said.
A Padma Shri award recipient, Ghosh also penned books such as "Manik Da: Memoirs of Satyajit Ray."
He also served as a jury member at the 2007 National Film Awards.
A theatre buff, Nemai Ghosh had also extensively clicked Bengali theatre and its stalwarts, including Utpal Dutt, Tripti Mitra, Badal Sircar, and Shombu Mitra. These photos can be found in his book titled "Dramatic Moments: Photographs and Memories of Calcutta Theatre from the Sixties to the Nineties" (2000).
Comments