Rituparno: Ghosh mistaken for Sengupta

Oh my Ghosh!
On Monday evening, filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh was mistaken for Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta by IFFI organisers
SUBHASH K JHA


Filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh might have lost oodles of weight and started dressing up as a woman, but that didn’t prepare him for the latest confusion where he was mistaken for Rituparna Sengupta. The incident happened on Monday evening in Goa, where Rituparno, whose sexual orientation has been under the scanner for some time, was attending the 40th International Film Festival. He had to attend a function to announce the making of a survey-based book compiling the best Indian films of all times, T 20.
He was taken to a seat marked for Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta, and the filmmaker realised that he’d been mistaken for a woman. Riya Sen was seated next to Rituparna’s chair, making it clear that the seats were meant for the starlets. Ritu’s other colleagues on the jury, for the book T 20, were all given VIP space while Rituparno was expected to sit with the starlets. Confirming the incident, Rituparno insists that the confusion at the festival had nothing to do with the way he dresses. “I’m used to being mistaken for Rituparna Sengupta, even in Kolkata,” he says, adding, “It wasn’t so much the fact that I was mistaken for Rituparna Sengupta that offended me. I certainly didn’t mind sharing a seat next to Riya. What really got me worked up was the fact that the other members on the T 20 jury, Vishal Bhardwaj, Madhur Bhandarkar and Rahul Dholakia, and some renowned regional directors were all given a VIP enclave. That really was offensive,” adds Ritu.
As a result, Ritu refused to sit on the seat marked for Rituparna Sengupta and remained standing until he was made to sit with his fellow jury members.

TOI,Delhi Edition,03-12-2009