ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Aindrila Chakraborty

Kolkata March, 3, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio/ Penning Creations): While the premiere screenings of many big-budget (and hugely hyped!) Bengali movies are frequently held at Priya Cinema (at Rashbehari Avenue, Kolkata), this Friday (the 2nd of March) saw an exception. Two movies hit the screens on the day, and the premiere of Sourav Mukhopadhyay’s first directorial venture, ‘Zameen’ was scheduled to be held at 11:30 am (as opposed to the general custom of movie premiere sessions in the evening, that slot having been taken up by Agnidev Chatterjee’s ‘Charulata 2011’).

The promotions for the movie had not been aggressive, but the basic premise of the film’s storyline (which delved into contemporary societal issues in Bengal) was intriguing enough for discerning cinegoers. It was expected that the premiere session would be an interesting one, with quite a few of the artists of ‘Zameen’, along with other noted Tollywood celebs coming down at the theatre. And yes, the Friday noon indeed turned out to be a memorable affair!

Kolkata March, 3, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) The highly anticipated premiere of the movie ‘Charulata 2011’ on Friday, the 2nd of March at Priya Cinema was a star studded event with film personalities and the cast of the film coming together to promote the film. Regarded as one of the high profile movies of 2012, the film has been able to garner a lot of attention right from day one of the shooting. Photographers and page 3 journalists from different media houses had already covered the entrance hall of the theatre as the guests started flitting in to attend the premiere.

The first to arrive at the venue was director Agnidev Chatterjee, along with the producers of the film. ‘Charulata 2011’ is Agnidev’s second directorial venture and thus the tension and anticipation was palpable on his face. Dressed in a plain white shirt and blue jeans, he was all ready to welcome his guests from the Tollywood film fraternity.

Debleena Dutt

Arjun Chakraborty, one of the lead actors in the film, was the next to arrive for the premiere event. He was accompanied by his wife and they posed in front of the blazing cameras as flashes went all over the place.  He even obliged to some of the questions posed by the journalists regarding his expectations from the film to which he gave straight and candid replies. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee stirred the enigma with his entry at the premiere.

Rachna Banerjee

Dibyendu Mukhopadhyay, the second lead actor of the film, was the next to arrive at the scene, following the footsteps of his director, by sporting white shirt with blue denim jeans. He was seen as sharing a couple of light moments with Arjun Chakraborty after giving the photographers their rightful share of glamorous snaps. The first diva of the evening was Rachana Banerjee, who had come to see the film on its premiere show and to wish luck to her colleague Rituparna Sengupta, whom she believes has done a good job in the film. Music director Indradeep Dasgupta, senior actor Sandip Ray and veteran actress-director Aparna Sen and Deblina Duttwere the next few people to walk into the Priya Theatre for the premiere of Charulata 2011.

Arjun Chakraborty

Read all about the Tollywood Kolkata Bengali movie premiere and watch our exclusive video coverage on WBRi.

Bengali Movie 'Phire Esho Tumi' Still

Calcutta, March 2, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio/Penning Creations) Music is a language that is known to traverse boundaries and unify people of all ages, religions and castes. And when it comes to the Indian film industry, music is an element that just cannot be avoided and segregated from the plot of a film. Such a concept may baffle the foreign audiences, but it is a tune that all Indians sway their heads to.

Phire Esho Tumi Audio / Soundtrack Music OST Launch

This is a reason why music launches of Indian films are greeted with such anticipation and attract the who’s who in the industry. The music launch of Phire Esho Tumi featuring Ashok Bhadra’s compositions hoping to woo audiences at the Soho Nightclub on the 1st of March, 2012 was no different.

Dolon Roy and Supriya Devi in Zameen (Bengali, 2012) Film

Calcutta, Feb 23, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) The music launch of the Bengali film ‘Zameen’ took place at the Press Club in Kolkata on a Wednesday afternoon. ‘Zameen’ is a low-budget film that has been presented by S.D Movies and is based on a story penned by Sangita Mishra. The film has been directed by Sourav Mukherjee and produced by Umesh Kumar Agarwal. The cast of the film includes a healthy mixture of young and aged including Supriya Devi, Dolon Roy, Aindrilla Chakraborty, Sunil Mukherjee, Dulal Lahiri, Sambhu Chakraborty, Amit Bhattacharjee and others. The music has been provided by Barun Dasgupta with voices lent by Tarun Sarkar, Subhasis and Shirsa among others.

Kolkata February 23, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) Tapan Theater has witnessed a long history of notable stage performances by renowned troupes. However on 22nd of February, 2012, the situation was slightly different as the audience was greeted to performers of a special kind.

The members of troupe ‘Maru Behag’ and the inmates of Alipore Central Correctional Home and Alipore Women’s Correctional Home performed Rabindranath Tagore’s seminal masterpiece ‘Choker Bali’ on stage.

The play was performed to celebrate the 150th birth centenary of one of the most influential figures of Bengali literature. However, one does not often get to watch stage performances by inmates of a correctional house, but watching them perform passionately on stage surely lifted our spirits.

For people who have been deprived of a more traditional course of life, their rendition of the Tagore novel appeared even more remarkable. They performed with unprecedented fervor, completely oblivious of the numerous police personnel that surveyed the area and formed a part of their audience. The freewheeling performance of the cast pleased many and one could occasionally catch curious eyes popping in and out of the auditorium.

Read our full review of the unique performance of Bangla natok "Chokher Bali".