Himu's Window

Thursday, January 7, 2010 The weeklong theatre festival concluded Tuesday night with renowned theater personalities from Dhaka assembling in the northwestern city of Rajshahi at the staging of Selim Al Deen's play "Dhaboman". Bangladesh Gram Theatre and Sammilito Sangskritik Jote President Nasiruddin Yousuff; theater personality Shimul Yousuf and drama critic Nripendranath Saha of West Bengal delivered speeches at the brief concluding ceremony. The ceremony was followed with the entire audience lighting candles at Rajshahi Medical College Auditorium. The song "Agun-er Poroshmoni Chhoao Praney" played in the background. "This huge crowd indicates that Rajshahi craves for quality theatre," said Nasiruddin Yousuff, praising Rajshahi Theatre's initiative. "The root of a nation is its culture. Culture helps a nation remain united," he added. Last Monday Shimul Yousuf performed in another Dhaka Theatre production "Binodi...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Rajshahi Theatre is holding a weeklong drama festival at Rajshahi Medical College auditorium to celebrate its silver jubilee. The festival drew local theatre enthusiasts who crave quality shows. "Visitors queuing up for shows is quite rare in this city," said Ahsan Kabir Liton, a cultural activist and senior member of Ritwik Film Society. He added that theatre is mostly Dhaka-centric but the audience in Rajshahi are just as keen on performing arts as in the capital. An 18-member team of theatre artistes from West Bengal, India is participating in the festival as well as many actors from Dhaka. "The Indian team is the first to visit Rajshahi since 1980," said Nripendranath Saha, leader of the visiting group. As the festival began on December 30, performers of Rajshahi Theatre staged "Bhut-er Bhoy", a play written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. Rajshahi University-based Anushilon Natya Dal performed the play "Bhumi Kon...

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral...

Saturday, December 26, 2009   "And the winner is ...Konal," TV presenter Farzana Brownia dramatically announced at end of the four-hour grand finale of "Channel i Shera Kontho 2009", a musical talent hunt, held at Rajshahi District Stadium on Thursday night. With the announcement, the chilly winter night in the northwestern city warmed up for some moments as 25000 people at the stadium and some 50,000 outside jumped up in joy and fireworks lit the sky. It was a night to remember in Rajshahi. The announcement came as a relief to millions of Bangladeshis at home and abroad glued to the TV screen, waiting for the result. Somnur Monir Konal from Dhaka won the title, while Chaitee Mutsuddi Liza and the youngest finalist Moumita Tasrin Nadiraj won the first and second runner-up positions respectively. Konal received a cheque worth Tk eight lakh, while Chaitee got Tk five lakh and Nadiraj got Tk three lakh. They also received monetary and other gifts f...

Friday, December 18, 2009 Ritwik Kumar Ghatak, the Bengali master filmmaker was born in Dhaka on November 4, 1925 and stayed in Rajshahi for several years. He and his family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in West Bengal in the 1940s. Partition (1947) had a major impact on Ghatak and is a recurring subject in his works. Ghatak's films are now celebrated in India and beyond. His stature among Bengali film directors is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Nevertheless, he is rarely remembered ceremonially in Bangladesh. Starting from yesterday, Rajshahi Film Society has begun a three-day Ritwik Ghatak Film Festival at Rajshahi Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital at Ghoramara. Ghatak used to stay in the house that was later turned into the medical college. "Our aim is to celebrate the life and works of Ghatak who maintained a bond between Bangladesh and West Bengal," said Dr FMA Zahid, convenor of the film society. Eminent litterateur Ha...

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral...