Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

6th April 2014 is the 84th birthday of Suchitra Sen. But, for the first time we're missing her. -- A. B.

-- A. B.

It is very sad that there are no good photos of Ajoy Kar to use. He was under oblivion for decades. Nandan and Tapan Sinha Foundation have arranged Ajoy Kar film festival from 8-10 April, 2014 to mark his birth centenary on 27 March, 2014. Ajoy Kar had started his film career as a cameraman for Shrimati Pictures of Kanan Devi-Haridas Bhattacharya. After a few years, he started to direct films with pseudo name Sabyasachi. And the films were 'Ananya' 'Bamuner Meye' and 'Mejdidi'. After that, he went to south India as a cinematographer. As Ajoy Kar his first direction was the film 'Jighangsa'. Then, Ajoy Kar made several popular films like 'Bardidi' 'Paresh' 'Saptapadi' 'Harano Sur' 'Prabhater Rang' 'Saat Pake Bandha' 'Atal Jaler Ahoban' 'Kaach Kata Hire' 'Shuno Baronari' 'Datta' 'Malyadan' 'Noukadubi' 'Khelaghar' 'Saajghar' 'Gri...

Photography & painting exhibition on Ladakh is going to be started from 25 March, 2014 at Birla Academy Of Art & Culture for 6 days. And if you want to decorate your walls with the natural beauty of Ladakh, then you can buy here the photos and paintings. And it would be for a good cause, - a portion of selling money will be deposited for CINI (Child In Need Institute). -- A. B.

Bankim Utsav is being observed at Sharat Sadan of Howrah from 24-26 March, 2014 by various programmes to mark the 175 year's birth anniversary of the author of 'Vandemataram' - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Seminar, recitation, dance drama, songs, musical programme and event based on 'Anandamath' would be presented on this occasion. It may be mentioned here that, Bankim Chandra resided here in Howrah for several years as Collector and Magistrate for three times. Not only that, he wrote so many novels in Howrah. He created the famous lines of the poem 'Vandemataram' - "bahute tumi ma shakti / hridaye tumi ma bhakti / tomari pratima gori mandire mandire" inspired by the idol of 'hazar haat ' (thousand handed Kali) of Baje Shibpur. This information has also written on the wall of this temple. -- A. B.

90 years old K. G. Subramaniyan - one of the Indian pioneer of modern art. He is from Viswa-Bharati and recipient of Padma Shree, Kalidas Samman, Padma Bhushan and Padma Bibhushan. And a precious event will be initiated at Jorasanko Thakurbari on 23 March, 2014. Exhibition of Subramaniyan's paintings will be there with combination of Padma Bhushan Girija Devi's semi-classical songs. Saakshi Gallery and Seagull Art Foundation jointly organised the painting exhibition of K. G. Subramaniyan. And Ahiritola-Sutanuti Heritage Trust is the organiser of Girija Devi's function. This joint event at Jorasanko Thakurbari is very significant in the context of rich heritage of music and paintings of Thakurbari, - Jadubhatta, Radhika Prasad Goswami, Swami Vivekananda came here to perform songs. And Abanindranath, Gaganendranath and Rabindranath used to draw paintings here at Thakurbari. -- A. B.

Indo-German classic silent film of 1929 - 'A Throw Of Dice' made by Franz Osten-Himansu Rai will be screened this evening at 5:30 pm in Science City Mini Auditorium. But the special feature of this special show is the live music. The film is based on a story of two kings who want to marry princess Sunita. Two young composers - Gourav Malakar and Suryakant Sahani will conduct the orchestra live during the show. This programme has been organised by New Delhi based 'Blot'. The live music would be a unique experience of analogue electronica - fusion music. -- A. B.

Sudder Street - always colourful, lively and full of fun. Many kinds of people reside here, come here daily for various purposes. And just for this reason, Sudder Street is totally different from any other streets of Kolkata. Rabindranath Tagore once resided here. He wrote the poem "Nirjharer Swapnabhanga" here. A young batch of Jadavpur University will come here to bring more colours, life and fun on 22 March, 2014 at 5 pm. Various colours and modes would be adopted here by them to paint the old walls and pavements of Sudder Street - pastels, water colour, wax etc will be used to bring more life in this old street of Kolkata. Not only colours, songs and music will fill the blanks. Saxophone, guitar, flute, drums, dupki etc will accompany the singers. 'Aabra ca Dabra ' will bring a totally different evening in the routine of Sudder Street. -- A. B.

7-day long programme and exhibition 'Excellence On Tour' will be held in Science City auditorium of Kolkata. It will be started from 22 March, 2014. All the good works being done all over the world on this century's ultra-modern technological researches, will be exhibited in this programme. The works in this field by Jadavpur University, Indian Association For Cultivation Of Science, and Indian Institute Of Chemical Biology will also be exhibited here. Several German Organisations would be presented here to pick young & promising scientists of Bengal as well as of the country in general. The best scientist according to them would be invited to work in Germany. This 'Excellence On Tour' exhibition was already held in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. -- A. B.

One Way Cafe in the city of Kolkata near Maidan is a new addition in the list of coffee shop. But it is not merely a coffee shop - it is more than that. You can sit here after the morning walk at Maidan and take your first coffee. Then, you can take breakfast here with special tea, and starters like Flat & Furious Potato, Chili-Cheese paupers, Fried Ginger Chicken strips or with Prawn Tempura. Not only that, you can take the day's main course here by delicious veg or non-veg dishes. You can get veg thalis like Mushroom & Broccoli Skewers, Cottage Cheese Steak, Layered Stuffed Paratha and non-veg dishes like Stuffed Chicken Breast, Grilled Bhetki, Shredded Mutton, Chicken In Red Thai Curry etc. After the lunch, you can take soft drinks. Special Coffee Lounge, Banquet and Conference Hall are also here for a small party or official meeting. One can take his or her breakfast here by spending only Rs150-200 and for the main course, you have to pay only Rs. 225-300. -- A. ...

UNESCO has declared 21 March as the World Puppetry Day with a view to create awareness among masses regarding the negligence and excellence of this ancient art form. 3-day long puppet show will be held from 19-21 March, 2014 at Tapan Theatre of south Kolkata. Courtesy: Dhumketu Puppet Theatre. 10 teams of Puppetry like Tal Betal, Dana, Rang Taal would be participated in the show. -- A. B.

I visited a rural fair held on the occasion of Dol utsav in Bengal last evening. -- A. B.

Today in the early morning, the residents of Golf Green, celebrated the Vasant Utsav on this occasion of Dol utsav. The function was very successful like previous years. -- A. B.

By the 'Baitalik' of "Ore grihabasi khol dwar khol" uthe Vasant utsav was inaugurated at 7 this morning in Shantiniketan. Then, on the stage of Ashram Maath, several songs of the collection 'Vasant' was sung by the students with dance. And with the song "chole jai basanter din chole jai" the cultural programme was come to an end by playing 'Aabir'. -- A. B.