Actor's director Rituparno Ghosh

Acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh died after suffering a cardiac arrest on May 30. He was 49. One of the most prolific directors, he only a day ago completed the shooting of what will now be his swansong. On May 28, he posted on Twitter: "Wrapped up the shoot of Satyanwsehi, a crime thriller in the molten glow of the pensive falling afternoon." The film features another Ghosh, this time Kahaani writer-director Sujoy, who plays the leading role of a detective, Byomkesh Bakshi.

Only a year after making his debut with the children's film Hiren Angti in 1994, Ghosh had won a National Award for best feature film with Unishe April. It would be one of the many he would go on to win. He was bestowed the accolade for his direction in Utsab (2000) and Abohomaan (2009) and his affecting screenplay for Dahan (1997). The best Bengali film category at the awards would be dominated by him with awards for Asukh (1999), Shubho Mahurat (2003), Chokher Bali (2003), Shob Charitro Kalponik (2009) and Abohoman (2010). It wasn't just with his Bengali cinema that he struck a chord with the viewers, Ghosh extended his writing craft to Hindi and English with The Raincoat starring Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgn winning best Hindi feature and The Last Lear with Amitabh Bachchan winning the best English feature. His last National award came early this year, a special jury award for Chitrangada.

Often referred to as an actor's director, he extracted memorable performances especially from his actresses including Kirron Kher in Bariwali, Rakhee in Shubho Mahurat, Raima Sen and Aishwarya Rai in Chokher Bali and Deepti Naval in Memories of March. In his scripts, Ghosh managed to make audiences feel empathy with his heroines. Most of his renowned films demonstrate both the strength and vulnerability of women and their complicated relationships with men. No wonder then that Bollywood actresses were eager to collaborate with him - from Bipasha Basu (Shob Charitro Kalponik) to Manisha Koirala (Khela). One of them included Soha Ali Khan, who had worked with Ghosh on Antarmahal. "He has been the vanguard for good cinema in Bengal, the link between Ray and a new school and he had just started to make his newer alternative cinema more acceptable in the mainstream," said Khan. "I will always cherish my experience of working with him in Antarmahal and had hoped to work with him again. He was passionate and sensitive and really knew how to bring out the best in his actors. I will miss him."

Actress Paoli Dam was also shocked at the new of his demise. "I am very very shocked, I reached Kolkata yesterday only and was going to meet him, had even sent him a message this morning but did not get a reply which was very unusual," she said. "I am still in a state of shock and cannot believe it, I was lucky to be directed by him in one film Shob Charito Kalponik."

One of Rituparno Ghosh's most noteworthy accomplishments was to bring to the big screen tales of queer relationship. Filmmaker Onir said on Twitter, "Last met him at the day of the National awards. he was radiant and happy like a child. His passing away will be a big loss not only to lovers of cinema and art , but a huge loss to the LGBT community." In Memories of March, which Ghosh wrote, he played a homosexual whose sexual orientation is discovered by his devastated mother (Deepti Naval) only after his death. Meanwhile, in his latest Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish, a contemporary adaptation of Tagore's eponymous dance drama, he was a male choreographer who considers to undergo a sex-change operation.

Raima Sen, one of his most consistent collaborators, said, "I have known him as a little girl. He worked with my mother in his first film, Hiren Angti. When we would return from school, we'd see him sitting on the floor and chatting and having coffee with our mother. He loved me and used to always say, I was the daughter he never had. I used to always look up to him as mentor and ask him which roles I should do."

"When I got Chokher Bali, I hadn't done anything of consequence. I had never worn a sari prior to that. He made me understand the importance of body language. His attention to detail such as when he told me to put my bindi lower. He was extremely knowledgeable and well read. Being on the sets with him, you automatically learned something. It was a one-man show. We never shot more than necessary. He pampered us. But of course he was a perfectionist. He'd fire me if I didn't do something well. I knew if I was doing his film, my performance would never go wrong."

"He called me a month ago and said I wanted you in this film but it's not happening but be rest assured that I will miss you on the sets and we'll work together again." For Raima and other members of the film fraternity as well as for audiences, Ghosh's demise has left a big void not just in Bengali cinema but in Indian cinema.