I connect with strong women: Seema Biswas

“What Rabindranath Tagore wrote 100 years ago, is relevant to this day,” said Seema Biswas, who was recently in Kolkata to enact Rabindranath Tagore’s narrative and short story, Streer Patra.

“It is an honour for me to be a part of Streer Patra. I am sure any other actor too would have jumped at such an opportunity. I connect personally to the subject of strongwilled women as well as the play, which portrays the value and selfrespect of women in the society. Though written ages ago, it is not outdated. People can still relate to it. It is like a reminder,” she said.

When we asked her about the experience of performing in Kolkata, she said, “I look forward to performing here as the audience comprises theatre lovers who are enthusiastic and intelligent. You really don’t get that kind of love anywhere else. Therefore, Kolkata occupies the number one position on my list.”

Seema is currently working on ” Manjunath”, directed by Sandeep Verma. “The post-production work of Deepa Mehta’s “Midnight’s Children” is almost over. The film is expected to release this year,” she said.

“Manjunath” is an NFDC production and I am excited about it. I also have up my sleeve “Baro Mash,” which is adapted from a Marathi Novel. There are other projects also which I would soon be signing but I’d rather not say anything about them now,” said Seema.

I like Chandrachur’s face: Buddhadeb Basgupta

Filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s mark in Bengali literature

Satyajit Ray, a renowned Bengali filmmaker, also made his mark in Bengal’s literary circle.

He gave to the world of literature some memorable charactes like Feluda, the sleuth and scientist, Professor Shonku. Satyajit Ray has to his credit several published short stories.

Bengali inspiration for ‘Chupke Chupke’

Hindi film Chupke Chupke may be touted as a cult classic. Few know that the Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed film is a remake of the Bengali film ‘Chhadmabeshi’ which was a big hit.

The 1977 film was directed by Agradoot, and had music by Sudhi Das. Uttam Kumar, Madhabi Mukherjee, Bikash Roy and Shubendu played pivotal roles.

Fun unlimited at ‘Jole Jongole’ sets

Far from the madding crowd, our celebs were seen having an action-packed weekend. As the unit of Nitish Roy’s ” Jole Jongole” got together near Bantala, it was fun unlimited.

For starters, Rajdeep Gupta says he was all nerves about sharing screen space with Mithun Chakraborty. “Mithunda took the onus on him to dissipate this fear. He made sure that young actors like me get screen time. It was also great working with Tinnu (Anand) Sir. He even said, ‘Hum ne bahut camera face kiya hai. Ab tum logon ki baari hai’.”

The unit also had to be on its guard what with the senior actors looking for opportunities to pull a fast one on the juniors. “Mithunda likes keeping a straight face even while pulling off a mischief. And Nitishda is the most unpredictable of the lot. You never know when he’ll be serious or when he’ll break into a grin,” adds Rajdeep.

A starry cricket match in Kolkata

When Team Blues won over Team Reds, it was a victory well-deserved. No, we are not talking about political loyalties but a celebrity cricket match that took place at a city stadium on Sunday evening and that continued well into the night.

The League of Stars 2012 was into its third consecutive year and saw almost the whole of Tollywood turn up. Film fraternity heavyweights like Dev, Indraneil, Sujjoy, Soham, Srijit, Abir, Hiraan Sagar among others, took part in the match and bonded on and off the pitch. For Indraneil, the celeb cricket match was a first and yet, he clinched the man of the match title. “It was total fun though at the end the match was quite nail-biting. Dev is an excellent bowler, while Abir is outstanding as a batsman. Srijit too did a commendable job as a wicket-keeper,” said an elated Indraneil.

The packed stadium went berserk on seeing Dev walking out to bat and later when he took a wicket. “With such an enthusiastic audience the game becomes more interesting. Cricket is my passion so I look forward to this match every year as I miss playing para cricket these days. Today everyone praised me and said I played like an all rounder,” smiled Dev waving to his fans. He remained oblivious to fans surrounding him and asking for autographs. Both Srijit and Abir who were key players for Team Reds took the match to a different level but couldn’t save it in the end. “We have our reservations about the umpiring. We will protest to higher authorities about it,” smiled Srijit who played despite severe back pain. He added, “The match was in our pocket but we missed it because we got some kutshit wides and joghonno run-outs.”

Bhalobasha Off Route-e

One match that misses the goal

Story: Remember that song “Sob khelar shera Bangalir tumi football”? Yes, Kolkata gets a kick out of football. Period. Little wonder then that Arunava Khasnobis wanted to peg his film on Bangalir obsession with the game.

Movie Review: Fair enough, we say. And so the director starts telling his tale, the story of Chandifata gram, of two brothers Sandip (Saswata) and Siddhartha (Rahul), of two sisters Ragini (Tanusree) and Shinjini (Parijat). Cut to the present and Sandip is averse to women so much so that he says, “Meyeder kono gift ba lift ditey nei”. Sit through the flashback to know that the brilliant scorer had missed a penalty kick in a make-or-break match all for his love (read Ragini). She had asked him to lose the match so that her dad would give her hand in marriage to him. But aren’t promises made to be broken? Shouldn’t there be a crisis to bring in the twist in the tale? And so, enters Jagan (Rudranil).

It was fine till so far. But slowly the story meanders into melodrama, sapping all the fun of the movie-viewing experience. The respite, however, comes in the form of comic interludes, thanks to brilliant actors like Kanchan, Kharaj, Saswata, Rudranil and Rahul. It’s a pity that the director could not make the most of his stellar cast and an expert scriptwriter like Padmanabha. It’s the execution or the lack of it that seems to have made all the difference in this film. And yes, Chandifata must be one helluva progressive village to witness two of its natives do a peck-on-the-lip act. And for some reason, the final match has more of mukka lath on the field than movement with the ball. Talking of acting, Tanusree as a village belle shines through except for one scene at the fag end of the film where her act evokes laughs rather than sympathy. Parijat too does a good job. But it’s the seniors who have the show going. Music-wise newcomer Debarpito has done a good job. His “Bangalir football” track is peppy and so is the item song.

Disclaimer: If football is your fantasy, comedy your cup of tea and great acting your aspiration, then there’s no going off-route.

Charuulata 2011

Cast: Rituparna Sengupta, Arjun Chakraborty, Dibyendu Mukherjee, Kaushik Sen, Dolon Roy

Story: From time immemorial, bards and authors have written classics on women’s loneliness and identity crisis. Tagore’s Nashtaneer was one of them. The story was immortalized with Ray’s celluloid classic “Charulata”. So, when a film named “Charuulata 2011″ releases, which is also based on Tagore’s story, it’s not unnatural for expectations to grow.

Movie Review: It wouldn’t be fair to the cast and crew of the film if one starts to compare Ray’s film with this. Director Agnidev Chatterjee has loosely followed the main storyline, merging it with his own. Today’s Charu is Chaiti (Rituparna Sengupta), a young, beautiful and intellectual wife of a very wealthy newspaper editor – Bikramjit (Arjun Chakraborty). With Bikram being preoccupied with his editorial responsibilities, Chaiti keeps herself busy with expensive saris, filing nails, watching TV and, despite being a highly educated modern woman, does nothing on her own.

From the very start, the director has played with the timeline of the film. So, the story builds in a non-linear way. Starting off on an interesting note, eventually this jumping to and fro gets a touch jumbled up. Chaiti, depressed with a miscarriage and the lack of physical intimacy with her husband, befriends Amal ( Dibyendu Mukherjee) on Internet. To Amal she becomes “Charuulata 2011″. Her lonely heart finally finds the right company. But the story goes on to show how guilt pangs over her intimacy with Amal make Chaiti sever all her ties with him, but still she can’t resist meeting him when he finally comes to Kolkata from London.

Suddenly, the emotional intimacy turns sexual. This is where the film loses its depth. From the moment Chaiti realizes that Amal is her husband’s cousin, Sanju, who’s going to stay at their place, the film starts to drag. All through the second half, it’s Chaiti’s guilt versus her desire for Sanju. Without the presence of the sublime mental connection of love between them, the movie becomes a story of a rich, lonely wife’s adulterous affair with her husband’s brother. Love becomes synonymous with sexual desire.

Shirsha Ray’s cinematography showing frequent close-up shots of Chaiti or panoramic shots of a lonesome woman in a deserted, cloudy sea beach tries to catch the story’s tension. Director Agnidev also makes sincere efforts to portray Chaiti’s sympathy-evoking mental state with appropriate dialogues and small nuances of expression. Indraadip Das Gupta’s background score has a dreamy quality to it, but at times it’s like the stuff you hear in thrillers. Unfortunately, the songs too don’t stay on.

It’s completely a Rituparna Sengupta film. The camera stays on her, gives her all the attention and she basks in it. Ritu proves once again that given an opportunity, she can stun everyone with her understated acting. She perfectly portrays the contradictions in Chaiti. Arjun Chakraborty makes an earnest effort, but turns melodramatic in some scenes. You will actually fall in love with Dibyendu Mukherjee’s dubbed baritone; but otherwise he is just a presence to complement Chaiti’s character. His character is important, but the role isn’t. Kaushik Sen and Dolon Ray are brilliant as Chaiti’s brother and sisterin-law. In fact, Kaushik should try portraying negative shades more often.

Despite these efforts, the film is all about sexual desire and lacks the soul, which makes it incomplete. It can be summarized by one dialogue uttered by Chaiti’s friend, Arnobi’s (Rii), in unnecessarily accented Bengali – “Sotti kore bol, tui or sathe shute chash, tai toh?”

A show with a twist

Charity begins at home or precaution is better than cure are phrases we have grown up with. In this age of complexities in our lives, be it surviving in a healthy society to safeguarding our near and dear ones the phrase that we should both practice and preach for the well being of the human race is.

Breaking away from just telling a story about how & where crime happens “”FIR BENGAL”" directed by Somik Chattopadhyay, John Halder and Tathagato Bannerjee takes us a step further by leading you into an area of asking …knowing and preparing oneself so that unpleasantness that goes way beyond control may be avoided. The entire objective behind the show is to inculcate the habit of being

conscious of the society we are living in and grow up to be responsible citizens, who can play their own bit of being alert and spreading the message of awareness.

“”As of now the production house has churned out meaningful entertainment for every household. We conceived FIR BENGAL with two things in mind. Fictionalizing stories that have happened in reality and opening up an avenue where awareness could be raised amongst viewers in becoming careful & responsible citizens,”" said Mahendra Soni from Shree Venkatesh Films.

Each episode will have three main people- the victim, the police (who will catch the accused or will shortlist the accused) and then the accused. In the first part, the crime will be reconstructed from the victim’s point of view. And in the second part, the crime will be shown from the law keeper’s point of view or from the investigator’s point of view. In the third part, the crime will be shown from the accused point of view. And finally the anchor will close the story .

I had a miscarriage, fine now: Dimpy Mahajan

There were reports last year that reality TV couple Rahul and Dimpy Mahajan were expecting their first child together. Dimpy confirmed the news, but informed that she suffered a miscarriage.

“It is true I was pregnant. But since doctors advise you to not reveal the news until the first three months, we didn’t speak about it. But I don’t know how this news leaked. Unfortunately I suffered a miscarriage in the very first month. It’s a normal thing and I am fine,” Dimpy told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

Dimpy married Rahul on national television in 2010. She pipped 14 contestants and over 16,500 applicants on Imagine TV’s reality show “Rahul Dulhania Le Jaayega” to marry the son of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan.

However, just four months after marriage, trouble started brewing when the Kolkata-based model accused Rahul of “punching, kicking and dragging” her. However, both of them later sorted out their differences and were back together. Dimpy says after two years, their bond has become much stronger.

“Our relationship has grown stronger over the years. We have had our share of ups and downs but now we understand each other much more than before and everything is going good,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dimpy is set to make her small screen debut as Naagin Jwala on Sahara One’s “Kahani Chandrakanta Ki” and says she is really excited about the show.

“I am playing a naagin (female serpent) in the show and I am really excited about it. Historical and mythological shows have always fascinated me. As a child I loved watching such shows because of their grand sets, clothes, jewellery and being part of it now is amazing,” she said.

But carrying the costume and jewellery is not easy, says Dimpy.

Another reason behind her taking up this show was to clear the misconceptions that Bengalis can’t speak pure Hindi.

“There is a misconception that Bengali people can’t speak proper Hindi and what can be better than to be a part of a show like this and to prove people wrong. All the dialogues in this show are in pure Hindi language,” she said.

So what kept you away from small screen for so long?

“The way we got married, I wanted some time to settle down, we had to understand each other more. Rahul always encouraged me to be a part of TV industry but I needed time and now after two years I feel it’s time that I do something for myself,” she said.