A profound loss to cinema
SIR, ~ The untimely death of Rituparno Ghosh, the renowned film-maker and actor, is a profound loss to the world of cinema. He was indeed a pioneer of the post-Satyajit Ray new wave that marked the Nineties. He had enthralled the audience with his celluloid gems and gave Bengali cinema a new dimension. He was only 49. His death will be mourned both in Tollywood and Bollywood.
Rituparno was an acclaimed film-maker, known for his stellar and innovative styles in a career that spanned two decades. He was initially a script writer in an advertising agency and switched over to cinema with his debut  children&’s film, Hirer Angti (Diamond Ring) in 1994. Unishe April won the national award in 1995. Altogether he won 12 national and some international awards, including the national prize for best director  (Abohoman).
He can be credited with films not only in Bengali, but in Hindi and in English as well, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Rakhee, Ajay Devgun to name but a few artistes. Chokher Bali was his blockbuster film in which Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the most acclaimed role. His films dwelt on the dilemmas of  India&’s urban middle class. 
Rituparno Ghosh died too young but will always be remembered as one of the most talented and versatile  film directors of the country. His contribution to cinema will  inspire young and talented film-makers.
yours, etc., ramesh g jethwani, bangalore,  31 may.
A trailblazer
SIR, ~ Rituparno Ghosh was a trailblazer in Bengali cinema. His death, at a relatively young age,  is a great loss to Indian cinema. The void will not be easy to fill. With a bevy of national and international awards, his films glorified women, their inner feelings, passion and sufferings. Through these columns, I offer my condolence to the bereaved family.
yours, etc., s s paul, chakdaha (nadia), 30 may.
Populist cinema
SIR, ~ Rituparno Ghosh was indeed a talented director and his premature demise is terribly unfortunate. But to describe him as a worthy inheritor of the Satyajit Ray mantle may be a little difficult to digest. He did make a number of  thought-provoking films, notably Unishe April, Dahan, Asukh, Utsav during the initial phase of his career. Post-2003, however, he started playing to the gallery by corrupting his films with lurid sequences.
 He did succumb to the glamour of Bollywood and often incorporated populist, if not crass, ideas into Bengali cinema. Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha worked on a vast canvas, but Rituparno largely confined his films to the extra-marital and/or same-sex paradigm. By addressing the lowest common denominator, he might had made his films commercially successful, but this was a severe assault on the cerebral qualities of Bengali cinema.
yours, etc., kajal chatterjee, sodepur, 31 may.
The poorer without
SIR, ~ The sudden demise of Rituparno Ghosh at the age of 49 is shocking. As a film-maker, he added value to Bengali cinema. In a span of 20 years ~ from Hirer Angti in 1994 to Chitrangada last year ~ Rituparno had directed 19 films, notably Unishe April, Dahan, Asukh, Chokher Bali, Raincoat, Bariwali, Antarmahal and Noukadubi. He won 12 national awards. After the golden era of Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Asit Sen, Mrinal Sen and Ritwick Ghatak, the name of Rituparno can be added to Bengal&’s list of legendary film-makers.
Commercial cinema will be the poorer without his art films. May his soul rest in peace.
yours, etc., bidyut kumar chatterjee, faridabad, 30 may.
Panchayat gameplan
SIR, ~ The gameplan of the West Bengal government was clear from the moment it appealed to the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court against the Single Bench verdict. The intention was to delay the panchayat election and thwart the State Election Commission&’s plan  to deploy central paramilitary forces to ensure a free and fair election.
  The government has now belatedly realised that it will be extremely difficult to conduct the first phase in nine districts with its own security devices. It has been compelled to agree to 300 companies of central forces.  Even then, there might be a shortfall.
yours, etc., anil kumar choudhury, kalyani, 30 may.
Politicians and sport
SIR, ~ India needs a piece of legislation that will bar interference by politicians, not merely in the affairs of BCCI but sport in general. By setting up an inquiry commission to probe the spot-fixing scam, the authorities are playing to the gallery. The BCCI, led by N. Srinivasan, is as corrupt as the United Progressive Alliance government, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Corrupt and greedy politicians have ruined the BCCI ever since its inception.
Srinivasan kept the board members in good humour by providing  them with freebies at the cost of BCCI. It might not be an exaggeration to submit that IPL matches have always been fixed. Players, commentators, anchors and TV channel owners are uniformly corrupt. The anti-betting and anti-gambling propaganda by a few interested television channels is only a diversionary technique. Both gambling and betting should be legalized sooner rather than later.
What is the definition of the expression, “conflict of interest” ? How could Srinivasan become the BCCI chief and at the same time control the ownership of CSK?  The investigation will not be fair unless both Srinivasan and his son-in-law are jailed and the ministers allegedly involved dismissed.
yours, etc., tusar kanti kar, howrah, 30 may.
At bookies’ request?
SIR, ~ Two facts have been overlooked amidst the controversy over the IPL spot-fixing scam. First, in the Rajasthan Royals versus Mumbai Indians match played on 15 May, Ankeet Chavan gave away 15 runs in one over…. as requested by the bookies. Mumbai Indians won the match by 14 runs and gathered certain match-points.
  Technically, the result should either have been scrapped or the whole match should have been replayed in all fairness Quite  apart from the vested interests involved, the probability of that particular over yielding no runs at all is exactly half. If that happened, Rajasthan Royals may have even won the match.
I do not have statistics for the other matches where such spot-fixing was indulged in by the errant bowlers, but the results need to be reviewed. The findings could well result in the entire playoffs proving to be a comedy of errors.
The other issue is that Thisara Pereira gave away 29 runs in one over when bowling to Pollard. This match was also won by Mumbai Indians. If you view the video of that over, you will notice that all the balls were delivered at waist-height, and Pollard repeatedly hit the balls for boundaries and over-boundaries.
No effort was made to bowl yorkers to control the runs and the batsman. Once the fixing scandal broke, Pereira advisedly did not concede 29 runs in any match even in his full complement of four overs. Don’t you think his possible involvement should also be investigated?
These shenanigans would suggest that the Mumbai Indians won in the IPL by default and not  by virtue of its distinctive superiority. The sooner the Ambanis and their players realise this fact, the better.
yours, etc., v k tankha, kolkata, 30 may.