[9] His unreleased Bengali movie Sunglass (also known as Taak Jhaank) was honoured and released at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival.

[14][15][16] Before his career in film, Rituparno Ghosh worked at the Response India advertising agency and became known as an especially effective copywriter in Kolkata.

At the time, the trend in Kolkata was to translate all-India advertisement campaigns originally composed in English and Hindi into Bengali.

Among his noted ad campaigns were Sharad Samman and Bongo Jiboner Ango for the antiseptic ointment, Boroline, and others for Frooti, the largest-selling mango drink in India.

[4] His next film, Dahan, released in 1997. won Ghosh the National Film Award for Best Screenplay[22] Dahan was based on the true story of a woman who was molested on a street in Kolkata, and of another woman, a witness who came forward to bring legal action against the perpetrators, but became frustrated by the callousness of society, including the victim's family.

[23] Bariwali, released in 2000, starring Kirron Kher, Rupa Ganguly and Chiranjeet Chakraborty, portrayed a lonely and withdrawn middle-aged woman (Kirron Kher) who rents out her large house for film production and fantasises about the charming and very much married director, who flirts with her but, predictably, disappoints her.

The film dealt with the decadence of a large family whose members now live away from the ancestral home, and meet only during the traditional Durga puja held on the premises.

The same year, Ghosh released his film Chokher Bali, based on a novel written by Rabindranath Tagore, in which Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai worked with the director for the first time.

[24] In 2004, Ghosh's first Hindi film, Raincoat, an adaptation of the short story, The Gift of the Magi (1906), by O. Henry was released.

[21] Later the same year, Shob Charitro Kalponik, starring Bipasha Basu and Prosenjit, was released, and won the National Award for Best Film in Bengali.

[13][26] Rituparno Ghosh made his first screen appearance in an Oriya film, Katha Deithilli Ma Ku, which was directed by Himanshu Parija and released in 2003.

[29][30][31] Ghosh had planned a 13-episodes long television series based on Miss Marple, featuring the character of Ranga Pishima from his film, Shubho Mahurat.

[38] According to Rajiv Seal of Fortis Hospitals, who had been his physician for almost two decades, Rituparno was also facing complications from hormone treatments after abdominoplasty and breast implants operations [19] Ghosh died at his Kolkata residence on 30 May 2013, following a massive heart attack.

[19] Then his body was taken to Tollygunge Technician Studios, where West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke of him in tribute.

[39] Rituparna Sengupta described Ghosh as a creative genius who had enriched the Bengali film industry emotionally and culturally.

[44] Actress Kirron Kher remembered his childlike wonder and added, "In the film world, which is replete with ignorant people, Ritu was a very well-read man.

"[44] The Indian consulate in Bangladesh held a retrospective and Afghan-American director Mithaq Kazimi wrote his reactions via his personal blog and commented on Ghosh's influence beyond India on a number of newspapers.

[20] Rituparno Ghosh had deep interests in the classics and made multiple films of Rabindranath Tagore's works.

According to film-maker Goutam Ghose—[49] His films, with their sensitive portrayal of human relationships, anguish, trauma and love in a fast-changing, post-liberalisation India charmed audiences.

While his death creates a tremendous void that can never be filled, Rituparno's work blazed a trail that has paved the way for an entire generation of filmmakers who have dared to be different.

For example, the mother-daughter relationship in 'Unishe April' was refreshing, yet realistic in a society that was going through churning.Goutam Ghose also felt that Rituparno Ghosh was the best film director of his generation.

[44] The independent film critic Saibal Chatterjee, in an article in The Hindu, described the way Ghosh mixed the literary traditions of Bengal with modern-day sensibility, thereby transcending the confines of region.

[50] Chatterjee praised Ghosh for his brave and empathetic treatment of "alternative sexuality" as actor in Arekti Premer Golpo and Memories in March, and as director-actor in Chitrangada.

He made three films directly based on literary works of Rabindranath Tagore— Choker Bali (2003), Noukadubi (2010) and Chitrangada (2012).