ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Fremont, CA, May 11, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Nimisha Dey Sarkar - a new face in Tollywood Kolkata Bangla Movie industry - appears as one of the six lead actresses in director Subrata Sen's [interview] Koyekti Meyer Golpo (2012). Sayantanee Dutt caught up with the newcomer in Kolkata in this audio interview where Nimisha chats about her background and experience, her role in Koyekti Meyer Golpo and other film projects including another upcoming Bangla movie titled Blackmail.

In Subrata Sen's hot new urban film, Nimisha's character is of a girl who is in love with another girl who only exists in her mind. The film explores why each of the six girls ends up providing escort services in the city of Kolkta. In the case of the character that Nimisha plays, she was rejected by her family and friends due to her obsession with her imaginary lover, thus paving the way to her unconventional profession. The challenges of survival in the dark underbelly of Kolkata and how the girl escapes her predicament is to be watched on the silver screen.

Nimita also shares with us her experience of working with Subrata Sen and the other cast members of Koyekti Meyer Golpo - the film's star cast includes Locket Chatterjee, Parno Mitra,Tanushree Chakraborty, Raima Sen, Mumtaz Sorcar, Subrata Dutt, Shantilal Mukhopadhyay and others.

Deenga performing live on stage

Washington DC, May 10, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Thir name, "Deenga", literally means a small boat in Bangla language. They are six guys sailing on an ocean of music. Meet the promising young Bengali folk-rock fusion band from Kolkata.

Deenga’s members are influenced by different genres of music which is reflected in their compositions. Deenga is very much influenced by Bengal's folk and rural songs, and they rearrange those songs to create their signature sound.

Their philosophy is to do simple music and spread peace and harmony. Deenga’s first album published by Asha Audio in   2005 was titled "Bhese Pori" (let's sail).

Formed in 2003 when six like minded professional musicians thought of getting together and doing something on their own, Deenga are a pretty well known band in today's Kolkata music circuit, which they attribute to their belief and confidence on themselves and hard work, though they, of course, feel there is still a long way to go. Their music is sometimes about the present political scenario, love and emotions of human heart, and the society we live in. "Nothing is compared to hard work and dedication. Music flows from your heart so don’t be too technical…it is feel that gives rise to good music" summarize Deenga about the path to musical success.

The sailors of Deenga

They like to imagine themselves to be sailors on a Deenga. Meet these sailors and listen to their songs via WBRi.

Washington DC, May 8, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Samir Stewart plays a prominent role in Manan Singh Katohora's award-winning Hindi-language feature film "9 eleven" which will premiere at the first Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF) next month. The film is completely shot around DC and is available for watching online via streaming from Databazaar Media. Gurjeet Singh caught up with Samir in Washington DC on a cool overcast spring afternoon and a wide-ranging conversation about Samir's background, acting experience and his role in 9 Eleven and other projects ensued.

Before migrating to the United States in 1992, Mumbai-born Samir Stewart lived in different parts of India. He went to boarding schools (Lawrence School at Sanawar, Lawrence School at Lovedale and The Blue Mountains School in Ooty), and later spent some time in Bangalore. He studied Mass Communications and Information Sciences in India, and studied Financial Economics and International Relations in the US. He is currently an economist with the World Bank.

Samir has taken an active interest in acting from a very young age - right from his days at Blue Mountains he would participate in dormitory shows. A big event those days was watching moving on a color TV once a month, and Samir found himself engrossed in the acting prowess of the actors in films. He still distinctly remembers being particularly influenced by David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Ronald Neame's The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

Samir went on to act on stage in a fair number of stage productions. By age 15, he was acting in dozens of college productions, including Agatha Christie's famous play "Spider's Web", plays by George Bernard Shaw, and even a musical. He also appeared in four episodes in a TV Series "South Parader" on STAR TV in 1993 where he played the only ethical cricketer in an otherwise corrupt team. That series was directed by Mohena Singh, assistant director to Sridhar Kshirsagar of Khandaan and Ghar Jamai fame.

Washington, DC, May 6, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) As you know, the dazzlingly beautiful Nikkitasha Marwaha, who we all are very proud of in the Washington area, is an exceptional dancer and a fabulous actress. Nikkitasha grew up in Fairfax and studied at Northwestern University while she was winning Miss India Worldwide in 2009 at Durban, South Africa and competing with remarkable performances in the reality contest "Dance India Dance" in Season Two. A popular girl loved by all in the Washington DC Indian-American community, Nikkitasha is also a lead actress in Manan Singh Katohora's award-winning feature film "9 eleven" (the film is available via online streaming by Databazaar Media) which will premiere at the first Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF 2012) next month. Nikkitasha joined us from Mumbai, India to chat informally with Gurjeet Singh.

Her Dad wanted to name her Nikki, and her Mom had Natasha in mind - her given name, a compromise, is wonderfully unusual and most people never seem to able to forget it. Madhuri Dixit, Karishma Kapoor and Sridevi influenced her into Bollywood dancing when she was a kid of four; by the time she was 10 it was deemed that she should get some formal training and started getting lessons in Indian Classical Kuchipudi Dance at India International School in Virginia - a training that lasted 12 years and culminated in a two-hour recital, with her Guru watching, to graduate. Along the line she also picked up ballet and influences from Hollywood and Bollywood films, and Broadway theater which only reinforced her enthusiasm for performing arts.

Washington, DC, May 5, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) After a few stints as actor and assistant director, young Indian-American film-maker Manan Singh Katohora debuted as a writer-director with his 2005 psychological thriller "Arya" which immediately caught the eye of film critics and general audience. He followed it up with "When Kiran Met Karen" that continued Manan's exploration of unusual subjects for a NRI movie-maker - this film was about the alternative lifestyle of two women. His latest film "9 Eleven" (available via online streaming by Databazaar Media) is also of a unique genre - psychological thriller in a way, a film that is suspenseful but yet manages to make viewers think about their karma and ramifications of their actions in life. Gurjeet Singh caught up with Manan speaking from Silver Spring, Maryland to chat about his remarkable journey in becoming one of the leading Indian-American film-makers today who is continuing to make film-lovers in USA and abroad sit up and take notice.