Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Aish's BetiB now named Aaradhya - which means worthy to worship. The house of BigB declared recently about the naming of new-born baby in the family. The Bachchan family love the traditional cultural heritage of India. And so, named the baby girl of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as 'Aaradhya' which is a Sanskrit word. -- A. B.

-- A. B.

I've seen the movie 'Kahaani' yesterday. The film grasped the spirit of Kolkata very well. One can feel the intensity of a metro city sitting anywhere in India through this cinema. Durga puja, gorgeous immersion of Ma Durga, Kumortuli, the Metro rail, morgue, lanes and by-lanes of the city, trams, taxi, corporate houses - blended well with the smart scenario. And the people of Kolkata - from the running-water carrier little Vishnu to corporate magnet, from cops to common men - all the perspectives depicted well in the film. Hence, Kolkata one of the hero of Kahaani. And another hero Vidya Balan.- She again proved her excellence of acting in the film. By the manner, she managed to roam within Kolkata, it seemed that her love affair with the city is a very old one. And the story is a crime thriller, loaded with suspense.- A. B.

To celebrate the 200 years of existence, Indian Museum would get a new look. It'll break the idea of traditional museum and would come with a more visitor-friendly outlook. The authority have some projects to be completed by the year 2013. One of the project is the entire renovation of the buildings. The other projects are: re-open the Harappa gallery with a new look to the visitors, recruitment of guides for the visitors, training programmes relating to the museum, organisation of seminars, re-run of Museum On Wheels, more security arrangements etc. A community named 'Friends Of Indian Museum' already opened on social networking site 'Facebook'. Programmes on quiz, chat etc will broadcast on FM Channel. The official website of Indian Museum will be updated. A 6-months crash course on 'Cultural Heritage & Museum Studies' will be run shortly. Graduates in any stream will be eligible to apply for this course. Course fee only Rs. 1000. No ag

A fair of Bangla taant saris now running at Milan Mela of Kolkata. From traditional to fusion, heritage taant to silk kota - you can find everything here. There are traditional taant, jamdani, garad as well as cotton handloom, taant zardousi and Madhabilata made from resham and matka. And the prices are very attractive also. Taant saris will cost Rs. 200-5000 and taant zardousi starts from Rs. 900 whereas colourful cotton handloom saris will cost Rs. 1200 and Madhabilata Rs. 5000. Attractive silk kota will cost Rs. 1400 and tasar tangail starts from Rs. 1000. You can find embroidery saris on silk surface at the cost of Rs. 750. And discount also available. Not only saris, mekhla and dokhna of Assam are also available here. More or less one thousand taant shilpi or taant sari makers attended the fair this year and it will be a great success. The fair will remain open till 28 March 2012.-- A. B.

Kahaani: Movie Review If story is what you seek from a film, Kahaani is a must-watch. Aami Shotti Bolchi! Read the Article at : http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/12175698.cms

Kahaani review: Sonia Chopra: This mystery is worth unraveling. Ah, what fun! A true-blue Bollywood mystery after long years! The last few one can remember are 100 days (1991), Gupt (1997), and Kaun (1999). London-based software engineer Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) lands in dusty Kolkata with a suitcase, a photograph of her missing husband, and a bottle of mineral water. The cab driver is surprised that this heavily pregnant woman asks to go straight to the police station. The cops too are taken aback at the woman’s predicament. Mrs. Bagchi, as they call her, is looking for her husband who had arrived in Kolkata on an assignment. She hasn’t heard from him in two weeks. One policeman, sympathetic to her state, tries his best to help. As they get closer to the target, key people start getting murdered. But this gutsy lady shows no sign of giving up. In an interview with this writer, Balan had summed up her character as having great strength of character; that

Aniruddha Guha reviews: Kahaani will leave you stunned Film: Kahaani Director: Sujoy Ghosh Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Nawazuddin, Indraneil Sengupta Rating: ****½ These are good times. Last week, Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar gave us a taste of a rare, well-made Bollywood biopic. This week, director Sujoy Ghosh serves up another rare treat — a racy, edge-of-the-seat thriller. When was the last time you saw a Hindi film that had you gripping the popcorn tub tighter than usual, hair standing on end, and mind blown in the end? Kahaani , about a pregnant woman’s search for her husband in an unknown city, is bloody engaging. It will have your balls in your mouth as you watch it unfold, your heart racing at several points, your mind trying to put together all the pieces of the jigsaw strewn across the film. Unexpected humour comes as a pleasant surprise every now and then; a reprieve from the tension that is palpable. Before you are back to holding on to the

-- A. B.

Kolkata celebrated today Dol Utsav or festival of Holi irrespective of age. Kids, adolescents, young, old, celebrities, political leaders - all the people of the city joined or watched the most colourful festival of India - Holi. -- A. B.

A large number of audience now watching the dance-drama of Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan as a part of Vasant Utsav. -- A. B.

Tagore's Shantiniketan celebrated today the Holi or Dol Utsav as Vasant Utsav or festival of spring at Ashram Maath. So many tourists witnessed the function since early morning with much enthusiasm. The programme started with prayer and then the musical dance of 'Vasant' staged there following 'aabir khela'. Local rural artists performed with baul songs before the camera of media. The crowd enjoyed the whole day very much in a festiv mood. Also the celebrities like 'Saheb' of Kolkata enjoyed the utsav with colours. The dance-drama of Tagore 'Mayar Khela' would be staged there at the evening. -- A. B.

Kolkata celebrating Dol Utsav - the festival of colours with joy and happiness. -- A. B.

Today is Dol Purnima, the day on which Sri Krishna plays holi with Sri Radha and other gopika's. The festival of colours gets its true meaning by the celebrations with Radha-Krishna. The people of India enjoy the festival in a traditional way like the days of mythical Radha-Krishna. -- A. B.

Students of Rabindra Bharati Josasanko campus celebrated Holi - the Vasant Utsav of colours yesterday with traditional joy and happiness. Courtesy: ABP -- A. B.

International Women's Day on 8 March. And the commercialization of it going on through various advertisements. Some of them are: 1. Are you thinking to give a special gift to your most beloved this Women's Day? What would be better than an ornament? 2. Stay in touch with your most beloved with a happy ride of Women's Day - it would only give you the car... etc. etc. Hence, I think, whether it is Valentine's Day or Women's Day!-- A. B.

Madhuri Dixit will fly to London tomorrow to unveil her wax statue on 7 March. Her sons Arin (9) and Rayan (7) alongwith husband Dr Sriram Nene will accompany her to London. Her boys are particularly excited and can't wait to see their mother's twin. Although the details of the statue are still secret, Madhuri will wear desi sari since she will be representing India. The museum already houses the lookalikes of Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. -- A. B.

-- A. B.

-- A. B.

-- A. B.

Yesterday 'Kahaani' fame Vidya Balan came to the city for the publicity of her Kolkata-based Hindi movie 'Kahaani' and won the heart of the city with her frankness. She said, 'Ami Kolkatar meye' and recited Sukumar Roy's nonsense limerick 'Shunte pelam Posta giye' with laugh. Vidya arrived at Uttam Kumar Metro Station for the publicity of her new film slated for release on 9 March and asked the city-dwellers to watch her film. For 4 days, shooting of her film 'Kahaani' was held at Uttam Kumar and Kalighat Metro Station. So, she decided to start the publicity with Metro station. Vidya is thankful to the Metro authority for the co-operation during shooting periods and expressed her deep desire to be the Brand Ambassador of Kolkata Metro. The GM of Metro also expressed his happiness to get Vidya as their Brand Ambassador. -- A. B.

The festival of colours knocking the door of spring. After 4 days, the biggest festival of the season spring - Holi or Dol will make Kolkata joyful and happy. Preparations of Holi are already there at Shantiniketan also. And Tagore's home Jorasanko, Rabindra Bharati in the city also waiting for the festival of colours. Rehearsal of Tagore's songs, special dresses for men and women to participate in the function, preparations all around. Girls of Shantiniketan would wear yellow saris with green borders and yellow punjabis for boys. The market of colours are in full swing. Huge sale of Aabir (coloured powder), colours and Pichkari (syringe to spray liquid colours). Sale of Ayurvedic colours and aabirs - are also there in the market. Orange coloured Ayurvedic aabir is being made of Palash flowers. Red aabir comes from bit. So these colours will never do any harm to eyes and skins. Demand of these colours are satisfactory although the price of these colours are very

Vidy Balan - the actress had almost fallen on the railway tracks at a Kolkata metro station while filming for one of the scenes of the film in which she was supposed to run rearwards but unfortunately, she impinged on a weighing machine and tripped. However, the director and co-producer of the movie Sujoy Ghosh immediately sensed the bad situation and came to her rescue. Finally, after everything was fine, the shoot resumed. -- A. B.

After Lakshmi Puja, the small idol was immersed as custom, but the river Ganga did not take it - returned back to the bank. -- A. B.