ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Faisal Rashid in Upanishad Ganga

Mumbai, May 1, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) He is often seen in plays of Motley’s. Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), 2012 nominated him for Best Actor Male in Lead Role for play “Baghdad Wedding”. Mostly seen as a lead in plays directed by Naseerudin Shah, this Shah Protégé, also an FTII graduate will soon be seen in the serial Upanishad Ganga which is currently aired on DD.

Faisal Rashid

Faisal talks about his first television venture and his experience of working with Director Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi and talented team of Chinmaya Mission, who have produced this serial.

We have seen the serial Upanishad Ganga, however talking about this serial, what does it mean to you?

Washington DC, April 30, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Indian-American actress Jyoti Singh has essayed the lead role of Sarita Gupta in Manan Singh Katohora's award-winning Indo-American feature film 9 ELEVEN (the film is available via online streaming by Databazaar Media). She has also appeared in Gaurav Rawal's Iraade Maum Ke, Rohit Gupta's Life! Camera Action, Shailja Gupta's Walkaway and many other feature and short films, Television shows and commercials. Jyoti is an accomplished Indian classical singer, free-style dancer, script writer and badminton player, and also loves Yoga and Cooking (she was one of the participants at the Varli Cooking Festival in New York). Gurjeet Singh caught up with Jyoti on an April evening, and as you will hear, what ensued is an informal and candid conversation with Jyoti about her background, career, films and other projects.

Kolkata, April 30, 2012 (Databazaar Media Ventires) After Sujoy Ghosh’s thumping hit Kahaani, actor-director Parambrato Chatterjee is in seventh heaven. But he is no less thrilled by the stupendous success of Anik Dutta’s maiden film Bhooter Bhabisyat. The film has been acquired by Databazaar Media for streaming, distribution, netcasting and DVD across North America and Canada. Databazaar has in the last two years, emerged as one of the most outstanding Diaspora identities in perpetuating and popularizing contemporary Bengali cinema beyond Indian shores in a big way.

Kolkata, April 29, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Hirak Bhattacharya caught up with the dazzling Bengali recitation and elocution artists Partha Ghosh and Gouri Ghosh in Kolkata. In this video interview, the first couple of the unique performing art form they themselves pioneered share with us in great detail the story of their journey.

Though Gouri Ghosh does not teach currently, preferring instead to spend time with their family, Partho Ghosh runs their popular school “UPOMA” which created history by performing for the first time a program on Salil Chaudhuri featuring artists of the stature of Hemanta Mukherjee and Suchitra Mitra performing songs written and composed by Chaudhuri. Tickets for that program were in very high demand - but the best part is the Ghoshes donated all proceeds after paying the artists to a charity organization supporting orphans. Leading Bengali personalities of Kolkata attended the performance - Aparna sen, Buddhadev Guha, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Dipankar Dey, Santosh Dutta, Swathilekha, Goutam Basu, Bikash Ray and so on. Another presentation was Chiro Kumar Sabha where Hemanta Mukherjee played Akshay as a singer as well as an actor. Plans are afoot to bring Chiro Kumar Sabha back - perhaps made possible with the help of the many spectacularly successful graduates of Upoma.

They had a passion for poetry from early on, and started to perform recitation in college. They credit Akashvani (All India Radio) for bringing them together where they performed in numerous radio programs. Within fifteen days of joining Akashvani, Partho Ghosh was selected to host the legendary “Golpo Dadur Ashor” program for children. Gouri Ghosh hosted “Sobinoye Nibedan”, another wildly popular radio show. Their popularity as elocutionists started to climb rapidly. Another radio show that elevated them further was “Bela-dir Ashor”.

Watch an intimate and candid interview video with Partha and Gauri Ghosh exclsuively on WBRi.

Kolkata, April 29, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) At her Belgharia residence in Kolkata, Arunima Datta greeted us to an endearing world. Next to her sat her guru Shri Aurobinda Roy, visibly struck by the presence of intruders in the music room. But the dynamics between them was frank and candid and we got excited at what was to unfold in the next few hours of our soiree.

Watch the exclsuive WBRi full video interview and musical performances.

Washington, DC, April 26, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Gurjeet Singh chats with actor Tejash Natali about his career in films and his roles in Bollywood thriller 9 ELEVEN and the upcoming film LOLCI.

Tejash Natali was helping out his friends - film-maker Manan Singh Katohora and producer Narain Kumar Mathur - with casting for their award-winning Indo-American Bollywood style Hindi thriller film "9 Eleven", when the idea of casting Tejash himself as an underground Don named Samir Bhai in Mumbai was floated. Once Tejash listened to the description of the character and the part he plays in the script, he decided to give it a shot, drawing confidence from his early experience in growing up in the seat of Bollywood and watching stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri and Paresh Rawal.

The film 9 Eleven has nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It is actually about 11 people being abducted and put into a room. The intriguing thriller, the caption of which is "Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid", captivates its viewers while the abductees try to figure out the reason for their predicament as one of them is killed every nine minutes! Each character is from a distinctly different background - the script is remarkable in the way it weaves the story. Viewers have reported a distinct sense of one's Karma catching up, irrespective of how long ago the deeds may have been done, when watching the film.

Gracy Singh and Aushim Khetarpal

Mumbai, April 20, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Every person’s life is shaped by the way they look at it. One such person who has alleviated to spirituality by getting through with the tough times is Actor –Producer Aushim Khetarpal. A well-known media persona as he; was caught in real dreadful situations that life tossed at him.

Aushim Khetarpal in and as Baba Ramsaa Peer

Following are some excerpts from the interview where Aushim discusses his future ventures and how he managed to spin the ball around and turn the goglies life threw at him.

There have been quite a few movies that you have done yet you have managed to make a mark and draw the audience appreciation towards it, what do you have to say about that?

By Sunny Malik

London, UK, April 19, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Bollywood reporter Sunny Malik caught up with Ayushman Khurana, the leading actor of Vicky Donor which releases nationwide on Friday. Ayushman plays Vicky Arora in the film, whose donated sperm gets him into bizarre and hilariously troublesome situations in his romantic life. Yami Gautam plays a beautiful Bengali girl Ashima Roy who Vicky Arora falls in love with. Annu Kapoor plays Dr. Baldev Chaddha, head of the sperm bank.

You are known for hosting Just Dance. What else have you been doing in the past?

I worked with MTV India and I am permanent with them as a VJ. Apart from that, I hosted the IPL ( Indian Premier League) Season 3.  I have hosted India’s Got Talent for two seasons, mostly the second and I was a contestant in MTV Roadies, a reality show which is really popular here.  I started off with MTV Roadies but that was in 2004 and after that I completed my graduation. I studied Journalism for two years as my Masters. I also did Radio for two years and was doing Theatre simultaneously.  When I was prepared for everything, I came to Mumbai and shifted my base to Mumbai in 2008 and joined MTV as a VJ.

You were a TV journalist and have studied journalism as well. How does it feel now for you to be interviewed by the media and attend press events as the star of a film?

By Bidisha Bagchi

Reiki pronounced as Ray-Key, is a Japanese word given to an ancient healing system which was re-discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui, a theologist and a teacher in the 19 Century. Ki means life force energy and has various names like Chi in China, Prana in Sanskrit. This is present in all of existence and can be tapped to benefit all. This vibrational technique balances, harmonizes and restores our energy system by channelling energy through the energy centres in the palms of our hands.

WBRi chatted with Reiki and Magnified Healing Master Sukirta Chopra on how the spiritual practices help to heal.

What is Reiki?

By Bidisha Bagchi

Dr.Shehla Agarwal is a well known name in the field of Dermatology, Skin care and Cosmetic Surgery. With years of practice, she conducts workshops on educating people on skin care, anti- ageing and other skin and hair related problems all over the country and abroad. She is closely involved with the print media as she regularly writes monthly columns on skin care for leading dailies in India. She spared some time from her busy schedule and spoke to WBRi about skin care, treatments and cosmetic surgery.

Why did you choose Dermatology as your specialization?

By Bidisha Bagchi

Sumita Acharya was born in Mumbai, grew up in Kolkata and like any true blue Bengali girl, was expected to learn art & music besides studies.. She was a total outdoor girl,more interested in sports, rock climbing, rifle shooting, rowing. But her love for art was always there somewhere hidden in the depths of her heart. After graduating from the University of Calcutta, she earned a degree in Fashion Design, as in the late eighties art was not considered to be a promising career where as fashion in India was an upcoming and challenging option. She launched her own ‘pret ‘ and ‘avant garde’ label for domestic and export market. Later she joined a multinational footwear giant and proved her marketing skills too at a national level. However, after 5 years of corporate career, meanwhile marriage, she eventually moved on to pursue her true passion ie art . She learnt painting, sculpture , mixed media under eminent artists of Kolkata and destiny brought her back to Mumbai. In the years that followed she held several exhibitions and her works got published in several newspapers magazines and art journals.
WBRi chatted with her to know more about her work, art and career prospects in the field of art.


What is art according to you?

Gurjeet Singh caught up with the noted young Ghazal singer Jaswinder Singh at the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF) Gurudwara at 13814 Travilah Road, Rockville, Maryland in the Washington DC Metro area where Jaswinder performed Kirtan on Thursday the 5th of April, 2012.

Check out the exclsuive interview with Jaswinder Singh on WBRi.

Kolkata, April 14, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio / Penning Creations) Dedicated practitioners of Nazrulgeeti are somewhat rare in Bengal. Which is why meeting Lipika Das at her Kolkata residence turned out to be a revealing experience. After a warm welcome, the questions came forth naturally and the interview was candid.

Lipika Das began her music lessons at the age of seven under Dwijen Ghosh, an eminent music personality from Bangladesh. Under him, she learnt several forms of music including classical and semi-classical. In fact she also began performing on stage under him at various local music programs and was soon able to free herself of the inhibitions of public performances. Although she learned the singing practices across various genres, she chose to specialize in Nazrulgeeti. However, owing to audience demands, she often has to switch to other musical forms such as Rabindrasangeet, folk and contemporary music.

Watch an exclusive video interview with Lipika Das on WBRi.

Michigan, USA, April 12, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Bengalis the world over know her as Nalini, Ratri or the smart and confident television journalist Jhinuk Sanyal. They have also started to know her as Rinka in Anik Dutta’s Bhooter Bhabishyat and will now see her in quite a few Bengali films.

Anindita Bose is a dynamic young actress in Tollywood Kolkata Bangla movies. In this audio interview, She spent some time chatting with WBRi after her hectic shooting schedule to talk about her upcoming film Khasi Katha - A Goat Saga and future projects.

Washington, DC, April 11, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Internationally acclaimed and Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer, and conductor  Anoushka Shankar returns to DC with The Traveler Ensemble to perform live their "Raga-Flamenco Journey" concert presented by Washington Performing Arts Soceity (WPAS), Co-presented with the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, on Friday, April 13, 2012 at 8PM at GWU Lisner Auditorium. With traditional instruments from India and Spain, as well as a dancer, Shankar’s ensemble condenses Gypsy music’s thousand-year migration from India to Europe into one exceptional evening, where Andalusian flamencos and Carnatic ragas merge seamlessly. Tickets to this eagerly anticipated concert event are available online from the WPAS Website or by calling 202-785-9727.

Anoushka and the Ensemble will perform selections from her latest music album "Traveler". To begin her exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, Anoushka Shankar enlisted top players from India and Spain to record Traveller, promptly breaking new ground between South Asian classical and Spanish dance music, as befits the innovative legacy of her father and mentor, the great Ravi Shankar.

Bharati Mitra caught up with Anoushka in Pittsburgh to chat about Traveler and her music in general. In this audio interview, Anoushka shares her thoughts about the genesis and evolution of the album, her experience as a student and a daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar and the challenges of being a touring musician and a mother of a one-year old boy. Incidentally, Anoushka and her troupe were in a somewhat challenging position when this interview was recorded - it turns out Pirashanna Thevarajah's Ghatam (clay pot) was shattered during the journey to Pittsburgh and the team was eagerly looking for a Ghatam for Pirashanna to play in Pittsburgh!