Ghatak was born in 1925 in Bengal and was influenced by Manik Banerjee. He joined the Communist Party of India and IPTA. Some key events in his life and career included writing the script for the film Madhumati in 1950, his film Ajantrik being selected for the Venice Film Festival in 1958, teaching at FTII in Pune, and passing away in 1976. He directed several acclaimed films that explored the trauma of Partition and helped establish parallel cinema in India.