Goutam Ghosh turns to snow- capped terrain for next film

KOLKATA, June 8: Enchanted by the snow-capped terrains of Ladakh, he would now use the backdrop of another zone of Himalayas, the Gangotri glacier belt in his upcoming, ambitious project ‘Lala’ but Ladakh would sure be caught in his celluloid frame one day, ace film maker Goutam Ghosh has said.
“We must preserve the pristine nature of Ladakh. Tourism is good, but we must dwell on the eco-friendly aspects. Otherwise we will all invite disaster. Look at the faces of the children and people of the place, look at the slopes glistening in sun rays in the photo frames. Can we afford to see this Paradise devoured by commercial reasons,” he said.
“Yes I am in favour of any campaign to save this place, to save earth. I will do whatever I can,” Goutam told reporters while inaugurating Exhibition Ladakh by upcoming visual artist and film producer Surajit Hari.
“I am always fascinated by the Himalayas. It’s people and myriad trees, flowers and streams on the way side. My documentary ‘Silk Route’ had captured the traditional route which linked central Asia with China, dating behind centuries,” he said.
“And what an experience, it was just another place of earth, a different place of earth inhabited by God’s own children. I will forever cherish that experience. Wish Ladakh, a cinematrographer’s delight as I can again experience here, be taken up extensively one day,” the Moner Manush director said.
Goutam, who is in pre-production stage of his ambitious Indo-Italian project Lala, supposedly with an international star cast or at least with major Bollywood cast, revealed seeing the exhibition he decided to film a part of Himalayas, the Gangotri region, as outdoor location in the film.”
Recalling the days of outdoor shoots in Ladakh, for the movie ‘Lahore’, Khaki actor Sabyasachi Chakroborty said, “We were there for just two days, and when I came back it looked like a reverie having abruptly come to an end as I didn’t have the chance to soak the spirit of the place.”
The self-confessed amateur lensman, despite having been widely acclaimed as a brilliant wildlife photographer, said “Hari’s snippets actually eggs me on to revisit the place next time on a holiday trip.”
Critically acclaimed actor of just-released film Mrs Sen, Rituparna Sengupta said since ‘Ladakh’ was not much explored in Bengali films, “I would wish our directors also turn their focus towards this land of Lord Buddha.”
“We were discussing this with Rituparna the other day. Yes I wish to make a film greatly based on Ladakh landscape. I had visited the place nine times and it is a photographer’s delight,” Hari, producer of Rituparna’s film Taan, said.
Recalling his visit to Ladakh, Hari said, “My first visit to Ladakh in 2005 made me wake up to the enchanting beauty of the place and then onwards I keep frequenting the place every year and freeze that moment on my Nikon.” (PTI)