Banga Sammelan 2010: A Review and Some Views
July 20, 2010 on 9:17 pm | In Arts-Culture | 1 Commentby Amitava Sen
Kallol has done it again, a very successful and thoroughly enjoyable Banga Sammelan and Kallol deserves our gratitude. We needed it, a three days’ escape from humdrum of the life and for some of us from depressing economic uncertainty. Do not forget that this is a very difficult economic time in America, never encountered since thirties. It is never far from our minds. To venture into such a huge undertaking at this difficult time takes courage and boldness; Kallol accepted the challenge and succeeded under the very able leadership of Timir Hore, Sudhir Nag and Soumen Roy. Thank you.
In contrast with all other places around the country space and accommodations are at a premium in this New York metropolitan neighborhood, holding a convention here is hugely costly proposition. Compared to other years the attendance was sparse. No surprise. Foresight and wisdom on the part of the organizers contained the event to a manageable and economically viable limit.
Continue reading Banga Sammelan 2010: A Review and Some Views…
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NABC 2010 : The Plight of the Domestic Performers
July 17, 2010 on 1:21 pm | In Generic | 1 Comment
Finally the 2010 NABC came to an end on Sunday July 11th at the Atlantic City convention center in New Jersey with a “blow out” performance by Abhijeet. Although his mockery of Bengali culture was not well appreciated by many Bengalees who slowly drifted away from the hall (which was not liked by the singer at all), his performance was just what was expected of a Bollywood performer - entertaining but nothing extraordinary. However, people who came to the conference went back with memories - some of which may not be very pleasant but I would think most of them would be happy memories. Memories of the wonderful performances by Sahaj-ma and Utpal Fakir, Kaivalya Kumar and few others, memories of meeting friends, those long adda sessions and the World Cup finals.
But the people who went back with a bad taste in their mouth (no, I am not talking about the food served by Shahnawaz) were the people who came all the way to showcase their talent through dance, drama and music. These people paid group registration for their show, paid individual registration fees for their entire troupe and spend big dollars to bring their show with the hope to share with their Bengali friends who came from around the country. Continue reading NABC 2010 : The Plight of the Domestic Performers…
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Banglapodcast Coverage of NABC 2010
July 14, 2010 on 7:43 pm | In Generic | No CommentsCheck the following video coverage of NABC 2010 and our play “Ekti Gnaye Thaki” by Banglapodcast.com.
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Divyendu Sinha : A Life Lost to Teenage Brutality
July 2, 2010 on 12:52 am | In Generic | 5 CommentsLast Friday night a horrific incident took place in an otherwise decent neighborhood in Old Bridge New Jersey. Dr. Divyendu Sinha, a forty nine year old Computer scientist, was having a walk outside his house with his wife and two sons when five teenagers came out of their car and started beating Dr. Sinha for no apparent reason. Dr. Sinha was severely injured and was later taken to the hospital where he died on Sunday morning. The brutality of this incident shocked not only the entire Indian American community, but also the society at large. The local law enforcement have arrested all the five perpetrators and have charged them with murder although their names have been withheld due to their age (between 16 and 17). Early reports classified this as a random incident, but according to recent statements from the County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, bias crime charges will not be ruled out. In a recent meeting with the township officials, the Asian Indian community members have expressed that they have been harassed regularly by the local teenagers, and this is not a random incident at all. The township officials have instructed the community members that they should inform the police whenever they experience such behavior. I hope that the legal process takes due action and the criminals pay the highest price for their dastardly act. Continue reading Divyendu Sinha : A Life Lost to Teenage Brutality…
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NABC 2010: Ekti Gnaye Thaki Promo Video
June 16, 2010 on 11:16 pm | In Generic | No CommentsSaturday, July 10, 6.00pm at Banga Mancha (Hall A)
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Bengali Theater in North America : My First Experience
June 16, 2010 on 11:11 pm | In Arts-Culture | No CommentsSince 1989 I have been involved with Bangla Theater in USA. Over the years I have worked with several groups, several associations and have been involved with several theater productions. My theater journey in this country started with the theater group Sansaptak with their production “Sabda Moho Bandhane”. The play was directed by Sakti Sengupta. Being involved with theater since my childhood, I was a bit skeptic about the theater scenario in USA when I first arrived in this country. But my first experience was not only a pleasant surprise but an extremely enjoyable one. All the stereo typical notions of expatriate Bengali theater were shattered with that production. Sakti-da took us through a complete production development process of a new play. The script was developed based on Shirshendu Mukherjee’s short stories, Sunil Ganguly and Sakti Chattopadhyay’s poems. It was not a simple narrative, but rather a complex collage of character’s, their relationships, their dreams and disillusionment. Continue reading Bengali Theater in North America : My First Experience…
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NABC 2010: A Novel Musical Program
May 26, 2010 on 6:15 pm | In Arts-Culture | No CommentsMusic and NABC go hand in hand together. Most of the events that happen at any NABC are related to music, and NABC 2010 is no exception either. A slew of musicians, like Abhijeet, Monomoy, Anik, Anwesha, Indrani Sen, Sahaj Ma, Utpal Fakir and many others will be performing at the 2010 NABC at the Atlantic City Convention center. Each performer will enchant the audiences with their solo performances on the grand stages of the convention center. However, this year the host organization Kallol of New Jersey is planning something special with these popular and talented musicians. Named as “Surer Ei Jhar Jhar Jharna”, this program will bring on stage all the musicians together to perform some of the most popular songs over the last fifty years of Bengali music. Starting with the haunting melodies of the sixties to the band music of the contemporary Bengali youth, the program will take its audience through an audio-visual journey that has never been experienced before. Continue reading NABC 2010: A Novel Musical Program…
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“Ekti Gnaye Thaki” : A Preview
May 10, 2010 on 11:34 am | In Arts-Culture, Generic | No CommentsSimanti Dasgupta
Many of us will intuitively link the title of the play to Rabindranath Tagore’s well know poem, “Ek Gnaye” and correctly so. Sambhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra particularly immortalized the poem in their rendition of it in Bidhayak Bhattacharya’s celebrated radio play, “Tahar Naamti Ranjana”. “Ekti Gnaye Thaki”, written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik, is the story of a sister, Ranjana and her brother, Rajat, reuniting after fourteen years. Rajat immigrates to the US with his family after Ranjana sponsors their green cards. The reunion is marked by its usual excitement followed by nostalgia for their “gnya” they left both behind. Rajat becomes a critical link for Ranjana to relive her past, while Ranjana helps him come to terms with his decision to abandon his familiar world in Gobindapur. Ranjana is also ill and Rajat’s presence offers a long-awaited emollient. As the brother and the sister often slip into the past, the rest of the characters are excited at the prospects of their future in the US, especially Rajat’s son, Rajib.
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Musical Chair : An Actor’s Perspective
May 5, 2010 on 12:44 am | In Arts-Culture | No Comments
I wrote the play “Musical Chair” couple of years ago for a local magazine. That time I had no intention of staging the play, rather it was written more as a piece to be read rather than acted. The theatrical format did consider the staging related logistics, but the play demanded a lot from the actors and the director. Keka Sircar took up the challenge and we decided to stage the play along with “Ekti Gnaye Thaki”. A women director can bring to a play a perspective that is unique and for a play like “Musical Chair” it is almost essential. Since all the speaking characters in this play are women, the actors too can present the material in a form that we are not accustomed to in a male dominated stage. The way the play gets interpreted and presented by the women actors can never be achieved from a male perspective.
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FAMILY-REDUX
March 24, 2010 on 2:39 pm | In Generic | 3 Commentsby
Amitava Sen
On one of our earlier visits to Calcutta, we met her at a dinner party. She was sitting in a corner somewhat aloof. As we entered, the party was in full swing with whisky flowing freely. After we were duly introduced the party got back to its boisterous self and everybody went back to loudly vocalizing their opinion on all subjects under the sun and in the process ignoring everybody else’s, Bengali style. The forlorn looking lady in the corner unobtrusively got up and stood behind us. "Do you live outside the country?” She asked. She knew the answer; for that she did not have to be clairvoyant. We just arrived a few days ago, not long enough for the sun and dust to work on our faces. She pulled a chair and sat down next to us. First thing I noticed that she was not at ease with the environment, but not because of other people around her were not accepting her or were not friendly. The detachment appeared to be by choice on her part, but her marked openness with us also was hard not to be noticed. We talked about the amazing varieties of fish in Gariahat market , about sarees in Park Street, about a couple of common acquaintances we discovered we shared; subjects of America did not come up at all.
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