Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Banshi Chandragupta was the pioneer of new cinematic art direction in Indian scene. A very true-to-life or down-to-earth approach he applied first for the silver screen of India in 1950. Satyajit Ray reiterated this on many occasions. Banshi Chandragupta came to this city in the year 1944 to become a painter, when he met Shubho Thakur. And Banshi started his journey by illustrating book covers, inside illustrations and teaching Hindi language. In the year 1946, he started his career as art director in the film 'Abhijatri' by Hemen Gupta. Banshi was the assistant of Botu Sen in this film. Jean Renoir came to India to shoot his film 'The River'. Banshi also worked in that film. He worked regularly for the Bengali theatre based on Tagore's plays. But the landmark of his career was obviously Satyajit Ray's first film "Pather Panchali" in the year 1950. Banshi became famous for his outstanding work in "Pather Panchali". Arindam ...

-- A. B.

Today is 21 April - 132nd Death Anniversary of Tagore's 'Natun Bouthan' Kadambari Devi. She attempted to commit suicide by taking overdose of opium on 19 April, 1884 and passed away just two days later 21 April, 1884 at Jorasanko Thakur Bari. When she died, Rabindranath was 23 and her age was 25. She was not only Tagore's sister-in-law, she was his friend and playmate too. And above all, within total 16 year's friendship she became the "total support" of the poet's life. Much later, in the year 1917 the poet wrote to another poet Amiya Chakraborty: "Once, when I was about your age, I suffered a devastating sorrow, similar to your's now. A very close relative of mine committed suicide, and she had been my life's total support, right from childhood onward. And so with her unexpected death it was as if the earth itself receded from beneath my feet, as though the skies above me all went dark. My universe turned empty, my ze...

Today is Chaitra Sankranti - the last day of Bangla calendar year 1422 and the end of two-days-long worship of Lord Shiva in Bengal. It is the tradition and heritage of this region to perform 'sannyas' in the month of Chaitra by devotees of Lord Shiva. Yesterday was the Neel Puja - the worship of Lord Shiva and today is the Charak - the time to perform rituals by self-pain. Once upon a time this festival was a phenomenon in Kolkata, in almost every pally. But, now it is happen in limited parts of the city. It is a rumour that a king named Sundarananda Thakur was initiated this festival. In different parts of Bengal it is called Neel Puja, Gambhira Puja or Gajon. The essential parts of this Charak are swings on the Charak Tree, Ban Phora (inserting arrows on the body), walking on burning coals barefoot or the worship of crocodile are the main items usually perform the 'sannyasis' on the Charak ground. Additional attraction is the fair of Charak and songs of...

Kolkata and Bengal is reeling under heat wave from the past two days.It is not a good sign that the state is under heat wave in April. Hence, the meteorological office feared that May-June would be hottest here. At this situation, the roadside water sources of the city are busy enough, bathing early in the morning is a pleasure too in summer. -- A. B.

Today's the 85th birthday of Suchitra Sen - the legendary actress who departed us years ago. But still her presence is ensured by her acting in Bengali as well as in Hindi films. When I was a kid, I used to go cinema halls with my mother to watch 'Shilpi' or 'Sabar Upare' devoid of any bias or admiration. It was simply a matter of astonishment to me as the magic of silver screen made me spellbound. I never knew who was Suchitra Sen, what was the definition of acting etc etc. But, her presence was so impressive to me so far as I remember. Gradually, I became adolescent and as a school-goer I used to pay more attention to watch movies than my studies, surreptitiously. By course of time, I became fan of Suchitra Sen. She was the ideal heroine in my eyes. I already watched her superhit movies like Sare Chuattar, Shilpi, Agni Pariksha, Indrani, Pathe Holo Deri, Sabar Upare, Ekti Raat, Chaoa Paoa, Saptapadi, Saat Pake Bandha, Uttar Phalguni, Deep Jele Jai e...

Vivekananda Flyover - a bridge under construction has been collapsed partially this noon in the city of joy Kolkata. The incident took place near Ganesh Talkies of Posta area. Many hapless persons including buses and cars are feared under the debris of concrete and metals. Primarily 10 persons are dead and many admitted to hospitals. The rescue operation is on, but the mishap is very tragic indeed. -- A. B.