Bhagirath and Ganga

Rishi Lomapada tells Yudhistira and his entourage the tale of Bhagiratha and how he brought Ganga from the heavens to the earth and then led her to the oceans, thus forming the mighty river.

He then tells them the story of Rishwasringa and how he was seduced by a clever courtesan who brought the young Rishi to the Kingdom of Anga to help bring rains to the cursed land.

Listen to the episode below and don’t forget to give us your feedback.

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Debshankar Haldar

Debshankar Haldar is undoubtedly the most sought after stage actor in Kolkata. As of now, Debshankar performs in 23 productions at the same time, a feat which no actor has ever been able to accomplish.  Considered to be the greatest stage actor of our times,  Debshankar received the Sangeet Natak Academy award for his superlative performances. Few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to have a candid conversation with this accomplished actor. He spoke about his acting and his process of character development. He also spoke about the current status of Bengali theater and shared his dreams and wishes.
If you are a theater lover, this interview would be a treat for you.

Enjoy!

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Agastya drinks the ocean

After spending few years in the Kamyaka forest, the Pandavas embark on a grand pilgrimage to visit the various holy places around the country. and learn about their glorious legends. Rishi Lomasha volunteered to be their guide. On their first stop, they visit the Ashrama of Rishi Agastya. Lomasha tells them the stories of the strange miracles performed by Agastya.

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Anindya Chatterjee

Few months ago, filmmaker Anindya Chatterjee was in the USA with his debut feature film “Open-Tee Bioscope”. He, along with his friend Saugata, was touring the country and screening the film a several venues where Bengalis flocked. For many Bengalis in their middle age, the nostalgic film recreates their teenage years spent in the lanes and bylanes of Kolkata. It chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of a teenage boy, a coming of age story that is familiar to many of us even if we didn’t grow up in Kolkata.  I got a chance to catch up with Anindya when he was visiting Washington D.C. to screen his film. He was kind enough to spend few minutes talking about his film and about his future plan. I hope you enjoy.

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Urvashi curses Arjuna

Arjuna visits the heavens to acquire more weapons from his father Indra. Apart from acquiring the skills in using the divine weapons, Arjuna also begins taking lessons in music and dance from the Gandharva Guru Chitrasena.  There he meets the beautiful Apsara, Urvasi and Arjuna’s resolve gets tested once again.

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Kirata and Arjuna Story

Yudhistira realized that to conquer the Kauravas, he needs to have powerful weapons. He sends Arjuna on a quest to acquire divine and powerful weapons from the gods. Arjuna travels far and meets Lord Shiva in a strange circumstance. The pleased lord Shiva fulfils our heroes wish.

Listen to this special episode of the Vana Parva or the Forest Chapter of the Mahabharatas.

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Krishna fights Salwa and his Vimana (airship) Sauvanagar

The Pandavas are now in exile in the forest. One day Krishna visits the Pandavas in the forest to express his solidarity.  He apologizes for not being able to attend the game of dice and stop this misfortune from befalling on the Pandavas. He then tells the Pandavs the story of how he destroyed King Salwa and his airship (Vimana) called Sauvanagar.  Later, Draupadi rebukes Yudhistira for his pacifism and challenges him to fight the Kauravas and win back their Kingdom.  Yudhistira tries to defend his stand, but he feels that time has come to change his course of action. 

Listen to this exciting episode below. Subscribe to our iTunes podcast for a seamless listening experience.

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SQTheaterWorks in collaboration with ECTA is launching my play “TACONIC PARKWAY” in New York at the Thespis Festival 2015. The play will be staged on July 16, 17 and 19 at the Hudson Guild Theater on 441 W, 26th St, New York. The play will be directed by Bruce “Master B” Baek.
We need your support to make this project successful. Please check the campaign details below. Looking forward to your support.

Sudipta Bhawmik and Avi Ziv

The other day, Avi and I sat together to chat about what goes on behind the scenes of “The Stories of Mahabharata”  podcast. We talked about how Avi goes about designing the sound for the podcast. And I spoke about the development process of each episode from the writer and performers point. Our objective was to connect to our listeners and to share our process with them. We hope you like it.

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The Sun God and Yudhistira

The Pandavas go into exile as per the conditions of the game.  The Sun god gifts Yudhistira with the magic bowl to feed his followers. Upset by Vidura’s harsh comments Dhritarashtra banishes him. But he couldn’t live without him either. So he calls Vidura back to the palace. Rishi Maitreya visits Hastinapura and curses Duryodhana for his arrogance.

Listen to this episode which marks the beginning of the third chapter of the Mahabharata – The Vana Parva or The Forest Chapter.

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