The New Nation - Internet Edition

'From strength to strength’

Entertainment Report

His musical journey began long ago in a small town 180 kilometres north of Kolkata. It was there, in Santiniketan, that Shayan Chowdhury Ornob, composer, vocalist and musician extraordinaire, was able to explore his talents. Perhaps he did not realise that one day his voice and his music would have the power to move people to tears. Be it the sweet melodious sounds of Rabindra Sangeet, the rustic raw feel of Lalon Shah or the funk-filled punch of adhunik music, Ornob's versatility allows him experiment with all kinds of music, which is evident in his latest album 'Doob.'

Launched on April 13 this year under Bengal Music Company, of which Ornob is the CEO and sponsored by multinational mobile phone company Nokia, Doob is Ornob's third solo album.

He originally began his music career in Bangladesh as one of the vocalists and the guitarist of the band Bangla. But although he was well known for his vocals two of Bangla's popular hits 'Mon Tore' and 'Tui Gaan Ga,' in their first album, Kingkortobbo Bimur, it was only when the melancholic and romantic 'She Je Boshe Acche' came out on his first solo album 'Chaina Bhabish' (released in 2005), that there was no looking back for the young star.

'Chaina Bhabish' and his second album, 'Hok Kolorob,' which came out in 2006, couldn't be more different from one another. While the former is dark and intense, its lyrics and tunes saturated with sadness and frustration, the songs in 'Hok Kolorob' are lighter and more hopeful. In the album 'Doob,' however, Ornob manages to harmoniously blend the mysterious intensity of 'Chaina Bhabish' while keeping the light-hearted feel of his second album. "To this day I still believe that my first album was the most mature," he said. "I have not been able to capture that intensity in either of the other albums that I have done. This current album is definitely not as light as my second one, but I still feel like the first one was the most mature." However, despite what he said it was evident from this latest album that Ornob's voice has definitely matured and that he feels more comfortable experimenting with different musical styles. For example, although he is not really known as a rock musician per se, many of the songs in 'Doob' have a hard rock feel to them, like 'Rastae,' featuring Nemesis lead singer Zohad, 'Adhkhana' and 'Akash Kalo,' featuring 'Nemesis' guitarist the MAK. "Because I grew up in Santiniketan I never really did much hard rock style of music, but I have always loved it," said Ornob.

"So in this album, I did a lot of songs with rock guitar sounds and even tried to sing in a hard rock way, experimenting with sound effects and sometimes even singing at the top of my lungs."

In addition to the hard rock sound in a few of the songs, many others also have a bit of a psychedelic feel to them such as 'Shopno Debe Doob,' 'Dikbidik,' 'Ghum' and 'Tati,' where Ornob used lots of different sounds such as the sound of cell phone vibrating as the background beat to create a different kind of effect. In one song, 'Dhushor Megh' he fused a reggae style of sound with the esraj, an instrument that the artist was trained in during his days in Santiniketan. His playing of the esraj was also featured in one of the other songs called 'Dhaka Raate,' which was originally a poem by famous writer Anisul Haque. Despite the combination of the western and eastern sounds in songs such as 'Noyono Tomare,' an 11-minute interpretation of a Rabindra Sangeet with just piano accompaniment and clarinet played by London-based artist Idris Rahman, Ornob does not really want to label himself as a fusion artist. "I don't really want to put a stamp on myself and said, "I am doing fusion because I am working with many different types of music," he said.

"I guess I want to keep my options open and be able to try out various styles of music. I don't want to narrow it down to just fusion." Narrow is one thing that this album is not. Aside from the different genres of music that are atypical of Ornob, there are also a few songs, such as 'Chai' and 'Onek Dur,' which is reminiscent of the songs in his previous albums - rich in melody with simple, but evocative lyrics. In 'Chai,' featuring Andrew Morris on the saxophone, and the song 'Lukiye,' the singer plays a nylon-string small guitar, creating a pseudo country-rock feel to the songs. In addition most of the songs on this album, such as 'Ghor Bahir,' written by the artist's wife Sahana Bajpaie, are reflective and introspective.

Sahana, also a Rabindra Sangeet artist, studied in Santiniketan with Ornob from the time they were both six, and writes many of Ornob's lyrics as well as doing back-up vocals on a number of his songs. It is probably for this reason that the artist dedicated this album to her. "Thanking (Sahana) would be completely pointless because she is a part of my music," writes the artist on his album cover. "She has been a pillar of strength and a source of inspiration to me throughout my life," said Ornob.

The inspiration and strength Sahana has given to Ornob has had a positive affect on the music world of Bangladesh. It is musicians such as this one who have changed the way people perceive music. Gone are the days where we put people in categories according to what they sing or what kind of music they play. Instead we are embarking on a new genre of music, which takes the good from various different types of music and blend it all together, making the end product a beautiful and memorable sound that will stay in our memories for years to come.

American idol prediction, Syesha Mercado going home

Entertainment Desk

The final 3 performed on American idol on Tuesday night, with David Archuleta, David Cook, and Syesha Mercado all fighting for spots in the finale next week. After the performances though, we predict Syesha Mercado will be going home.

Up first out of the gate was David Archuleta, who sang Billy Joel's And So It Goes very nicely, though it may not have been the best choice of song by Paula Abdul. Syesha was up next, singing If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys. This was a very solid performance, but did not manage to really bring out that wow factor which some of the other performances had. Simon praised her quite a bit for her looks, but said it lacked originality.

Out third was David Cook, who sang The First Time I Saw Your Face. This was a very original song, well done by David Cook and a great pick by Simon. David Archuleta was out yet again with his second song, choosing Chris Brown's With You. He sang it well, but he did mess up the words it seemed in one spot. Not a bad job considering how well Chris Brown sings it. Syesha was out for round 2 with Fever, which is easily up there as one of the best performances of the night. She used a chair as a prop as well during the song. David Cook performed next with a fantastic rock song which really surprised many.

The judges were not happy about the choice of song. The final round kicked into gear with David once again, singing Longer. This was a great choice of song by the producers, and Archuleta did a great job with it per usual. Syesha had her last shot with the song, Hit Me Up. This was a very high-tempo song and fit Syesha very well.

David Cook ended with Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, which he did in a very original manner.

After the performances, it is pretty clear that the finale is going to end up being David Cook and David Archuleta going head to head. Unless Syesha fans really come out hard and vote before the deadline is up, she may have hit the end of her road unfortunately. All three had solid nights though.

Mrinal Sen turns 85

Entertainment Desk

Award winning filmmaker Mrinal Sen of Bhuvan Shome, Ek Din Achanak and Mrigaya fame turned 85 on Tuesday, an event marked by a special screening of a documentary on him by his protégé, but the director says "birthdays are nothing special". "I am one year younger than what I will be next year," Sen said. "Birthdays are nothing special except that I am very busy at the moment. And I haven't really planned anything. "Today's nothing important. It has been happening every year."

A documentary on the filmmaker, With Mrinal Sen, made by one of his students, cinematographer Sanjay Bhattacharya, will be screened at the Gorky Sadan in Kolkata as part of his birthday celebrations, along with his national award winning movie Ek Din Achanak. The filmmaker will be present at the screening with a host of Bengali theatre and screen personalities and senior Left Front leaders.

Mrinal Sen was born in 1923 in Faridpur district of what is now Bangladesh. After finishing his school there, he went to Kolkata to study physics. As a student, he joined the cultural wing of the Communist Party. Though he never dabbled in active Left politics, his association with the Indian People's Theatre Association brought him close to the Left top brass.

Sen made his first feature film in 1953. It was soon forgotten. His next film, Neel Akasher Nichey (Under The Blue Sky), earned him countrywide acclaim and his third venture, Baishey Shravan (22nd day in the month of Shravan) saw Sen on the global cinemascope.

Chhayanaut celebrates Tagore birth anniversary

Entertainment Report

To celebrate the 147th birth anniversary of Noble Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, Chhayanaut organised a musical soiree "Rabindra Jayanti- 1415" at the Shawkat Osman Memorial Auditorium, Central Public Library on May 12.

Chhayanaut holds special programmes to mark birth and death anniversaries of Tagore every year.

The programme started at 7 pm. Young theatre activist Zoglul Alam, who passed away recently, was remembered at the programme.

The musical programme opened with a chorus of the Tagore song Prothom juger udoy digongoney by members of Chhayanaut.

Aditi Mohsin rendered 'Shudhu Tomar Bani’, followed by Ashim Dutta's performance of 'Jogotey Anondo Jagney’. Ilora Ahmed Shukla sang 'Jotokhon Tumi Amaye’. Shaikat Mukherji rendered 'Aporup Tomar Bani’.

Other artistes who performed at the programme included Atikur Rahman, Shormishtha Sarkar, Satyam Dev Nath, Nilufar Jahan, Nirjhor Chowdhury, Mahmuda Khatun, Shahed Imam, Mrittika Shohita and Mita Haque. The programme wrapped up with a rendition of the National Anthem.

Karan Johar sets deadline for Kajol

Kajol is holding up pre production work on Karan Johar`s next flick My Name Is Khan, as she has yet to sign on the dotted line. According to media reports kajol has reportedly stated in interviews that she would only agree to star in the film once she reads the final script.

However, Karan has said that his script is complete and Kajol has seen and admired it. According to sources Kajol might be delaying signing up for the role opposite actor Shah Rukh Khan because she is waiting on her husband Ajay Devgan. -Zeenews