He came, he conquered, he went away and never came back. Somak Mukherjee, undoubtedly one of India’s finest young cinematographers, died exactly a year back, after being brutally injured in a motorcycle accident in Calcutta.

Somak, who lived in Mumbai, had come to town to complete the last leg of shooting for my brother Ribhu Dasgupta’s Hindi movie Michael. Shoot got over, my brother went back to Mumbai with his team, but Somak stayed back. It was drizzling in the City of Joy and he wanted to feel the rains.

At 9pm on April 23, 2011, before leaving home for some work, Somak requested his mother to cook his favourite duck egg curry. He said he would be back for dinner. At 10pm he spoke to me. I was in Kaziranga with my family, he wished he was there with us.

We joked about how during our evening jungle safari, we had seen a huge rhinoceros, at the sight of which my elder daughter Meghla exclaimed, “See, he looks like Somak uncle!”

Around 11.15 that night, Somak’s father rushed out to the balcony of their old mansion right beside Bhowanipore police station on hearing the sound of chaos. What he saw was an accident on the road; a motorbike lay at a distance, lots of policemen, and the usual inquisitive public gathering. He couldn’t see who was injured. He retired to his room murmuring to himself, “Oh no, not another accident at this crossroad.”

Somak did not come back home that night, which was nothing unusual, so no one bothered. Next afternoon I got a call from my brother asking me about Somak’s whereabouts. Apparently Somak’s sister had called him to ask if Somak had come along with me on my trip without informing home. Somak was the wild bohemian kind.

Around 10pm, police arrived at Somak’s place, showed them an identity card they had got from the trouser pocket of an unidentified body at the morgue. We soon got to know that it was Somak who had died in that accident, almost 24 hours ago, right in front of his own house. Shockingly, his dad even saw it but had no idea that it was his son. Fate chose to kill Somak in his own city, at the doorstep of his home, abrupt and unnoticed.

No death has ever shocked me more than his. Somak was so full of life, overtly exuberant, a fighter to the core, gifted and versatile. His energy was unparalleled. I have known Somak for 14 years, he shot my debut feature film 033, he shot my brother’s debut Michael as well. At home, he was a favourite with my parents, wife and kids.

We still can’t believe he is gone. We feel him around us all the time, raring to go all guns blazing!

Films shot by Somak

Herbert
Black & White
Ugly aur Pagli
Sikandar
Pankh
Challenge
033
Dui Prithibi
Le Chakka
Iti Mrinalini
Michael