A twist in the tale by Kaushik Sen

Zinia Sen, TNN, Jun 17, 2012, 12.00AM IST

Kaushik Sen's tryst with “Macbeth" left him with a dilemma of Shakespearean proportions. The play that debuted to a full house on May 29, had its second show on June 14. But theatre lovers, who attended both, were in for a surprise. After becoming the king, Malcolm who addresses his coterie of men with "Dosh bochhorer kaj dosh diney kore felte hobe" — a line that's similar to the latest political punchline — was left out of the second stage act. Is political pressure to be blamed for this?

Filmmaker Sharon Dutta, who attended both shows, says, "When Malcolm uttered the dialogue, I remember the audience breaking into a huge round of applause. I was thoroughly disappointed to watch the second show. More so, because the play comes from the stable of Swapnasandhani. From "Winkle Twinkle" to "Ruddhasangeet", political criticism has found its way on stage. I sincerely want this tradition to continue."

Ask Kaushik if political pressure made him change the climax of "Macbeth" and he explains that it was more of a well-thought out decision. "We got a huge response for "Macbeth". And the line was much talked about. But after the first show, playwright Ujjal Chattopadhyay expressed serious concern," says Kaushik.

A government employee, Ujjal reportedly feared his job might be at stake and that made Kaushik rethink his decision on carrying the line. "It has not been penned by Ujjal. It was something I incorporated. But it's not possible for me to clarify that at every show. At the same time, I do not want to make Ujjal the scapegoat. That he fears losing his job is itself nothing short of alarming."

Fair is foul, didn't the Bard mention already?

Mahanayak Uttam Kumar museum, gallery in Tollygunge

TNN, Sep 4, 2010, 01.05am IST

KOLKATA: More than 50% of his celluloid films are lost forever, but it is only now 30 years after his death that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has decided to set up an archive on Uttam Kumar. There are also plans to set up a permanent gallery on the matinee idol.

On Thursday, minister of state for information and cultural affairs Soumendranath Bera, said that a decision has been taken to set up an exclusive vault to archive films, photographs and writings on Uttam Kumar at the Chalachchitra Shatabarshiki Bhawan in Tollygunge.

According to Partha Raha, curator of the Bhawan, still photographs on the matinee idol have been procured since 1948, many posters of his films as well as a number of booklets containing articles on Uttam Kumar and his films have also been collected. These have discussions, reviews and analyses of his films.

"At the moment, we have procured 13 celluloid prints of Uttam Kumar's films. In addition, we also have two films from the Satyajit Ray archive Nayak and Chiriakhana in which Uttam Kumar played the lead role," Raha said.

One of the four vaults at Chalachitra Shatabarshiki Bhawan, dedicated to Uttam Kumar, is also being named after the actor.

There are also plans to create a permanent photo gallery on the actor at the Bhawan. "This should be ready by December," Raha said. According to the minister, film scholars keen on research on Uttam Kumar will also benefit hugely from this archiving being taken up by the government.

According to film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, most of Uttam Kumar's celluloid prints are either damaged beyond repair or completely lost. "A proper film archive means a celluloid archive, and the technical expertise required for restoration of damaged celluloid prints is hardly available in our country. It remains to be seen how the state government goes about preparing the archive," Mukhopadhyay said.

Famous actor Dilip Roy passes away

KOLKATA, 3rd Sept. 2010: Well-known Bengali actor and director Dilip Roy died here on Thursday after a prolonged battle with cancer, sources from his family said.

Mr. Roy (79) was a bachelor and is survived by three adopted sons. His first break came in Parivar, and he appeared in 44 films in a career spanning over two decades.

Mr. Roy's directorial ventures include Neelkantha, Debdas, and Amrita Kumbher Sandhaney. He was also cinematographer of the Bengali film Bhalobasa Bhalobasa, besides Oriya films Tu Eka Aama Saha Bharasa, Mamata Ra Dori, and Chaka Bhaunri.

In his later years, Mr. Roy acted in a popular genre of Bengali theatre known as ‘Jatra.' — PTI

Sangeet Natak Akademi to set up National centre for Chhau soon

Bhubaneswar, 22th February : The Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) will set up a national centre for Chhau at Jamshedpur soon. Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary and Kathak exponent Jayant Kastuar announced this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the first edition of the ‘Chhau Parva’ (national Chhau dance festival) at the Utkal Mandap here on Friday.

Mr. Kastuar said, and added that the facility for Chhau would give the much needed boost to the Chhau culture of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa. The four-day festival, conceived as an annual affair, was planned for Jamshedpur but the SNA decided to host it in Orissa as a mark of respect to eminent scholar Dhirendra Nath Patnaik of the State who significantly contributed to the performing arts traditions of Orissa – Odissi and Chhau in particular. The festival was dedicated to Patnaik, Mr. Kastuar announced.

Commissioner of Culture B.C. Jena, who inaugurated the festival, revealed that efforts were on to convert the State-owned Odissi Research Centre as a national centre of Odissi. The festival, the first of its kind for the State, would feature 28 troupes from Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and New Delhi representing the three styles of Chhau – Mayurbhaj, Sareikalla and Purulia.

Bauls come together in Kolkata to showcase their music

Kolkata, Jan 9: Over 40 ‘Bauls’ - mystic minstrels of West Bengal - came together here from across the state to participate in a three-day baul music festival. Baul, which means divinely possessed, is one of the few widely-known folk musical genres of Bengal sung by bards known by the same name. The songs they sing are known as Baul-gaan (Baul songs).

The festival titled ‘Shikawr’ (roots) kicked off Friday evening and is being organised by state-based real estate group Bengal Shelter at ‘Mohor Kunjo’, a citizen’s park in south Kolkata.‘It is an attempt to restore baul music that is on verge on extinction like Punjabi Sufi music due to commercialisation of these songs. This is the first time so many bauls have come together for a cause,’ Amitabha Basu, one of the initiators of the fest, told IANS Friday evening.

‘Baul music is not only West Bengal’s, but one of India’s oldest folk music. But the present generation has no idea of what original baul music is all about. Instead, they distort the songs by remixing them and singing them against electronic instruments.’ Basu said. ‘The bauls here will tell us what their music is truly all about. They will perform with hand-made instruments like ’sarinda’ (a crude form of violin made of bamboo), ‘ektara’ (one-stringed instrument) and ‘dotara’ (two-stringed instrument, a crude form of little lute). I am sure none of our youths even know these names, let aside playing them.’

Basu said the idea of organising such a fest came from a French youth. ‘A few months back, I met a French youth at a fair in Shantiniketan and asked him about their folk music. He said French folk music exists no more as it has been devoured by commercial music. It was scary…and as a result, over 40 bauls from the remotest corners of the state have come together to showcase their genre of music and save their art from extinction,’ Basu said.

The bauls have come from remote villages of Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, Purulia, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts to perform their various types of music that includes ‘Bhawaiya’ songs, ‘Fakiri gaan’ and ‘Jhumur’.

Manna Dey awarded DLit by Jadavpur university

KOLKATA, Thursday, December 25, 2008 : Singing legend Manna Dey, known as much in Bollywood as in the Bengali film industry for his versatile voice, was awarded an onorary doctorate of literature (DLit) by Jadavpur University.

West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi presented the DLit degree to Dey, 88, for his contribution to the Indian music industry at the 53rd annual convocation of the varsity here."All I do is a little bit of singing and don't think I deserve such an honour. It feels great and I am elated," Dey told reporters after receiving the award in the afternoon.

Dey is regarded as one of the veteran playback singers of Hindi and vernacular films. Some of the noted films he sang for are Padosan, Waqt, Shree 420, Teesri Kasam, Upkaar, Mere Huzoor and Zanjeer.