The New Nation - Internet Edition

Movie: Super hero super heroine: To zoom in new talents in film industry

Ferdous and Shabnur perform in the 'Super Hero Super
Heroine' talent hunt programme at a city hotel on Friday
night.

Entertainment Report

Over the years the film industry in the country has suffered due to lack of quality actors. To zoom in on talented film actors, Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) has organised a talent hunt 'Super Hero Super Heroine.'

The organiser claimed it as the biggest programme of its kind in Bangladesh. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between marketing solution provider Market Access and BFDC, Market Access will run the programme on behalf of BFDC. After selecting 10 actors and 10 actresses through the programme, Market Access will train the young talents to perform in mainstream movie industry. As the media partner, NTV will air the talent hunt.

The minimum educational requirement for a talent hunt aspirant is a Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC). Applications can send by text at the number of 2777, with details of name, division and age.

The programme was inaugurated on June 13 at Hotel Sonargaon. Information secretary Jamil Osman was the chief guest of the programme.

Managing directors of BFDC, NTV and Market Access ANM Badrul Amin, Enayetur Rahman and Sharif Shah Kamal Taj respectively delivered speeches at the programme. Highly appreciating the initiative, discussants focused on the need for quality actors so that the mainstream cinema industry in Bangladesh could get a boost.

Taj said, "Our dream is to have a film industry that is on par with international standards." Rahman said, "We hope the talent hunt will be a milestone in the history of film industry in Bangladesh."

Badrul Amin in turn said, "The fact is that our movie industry is dependent on a handful of actors. To boost the industry we need competent actors. Hence the programme." "After the successful drive against vulgarity in films, this is the perfect time to promote Bangladesh's movie industry," he said. Appreciating the talent hunt programme, Osman said, "A talent hunt for quality directors is also necessity. The government is considering the establishment of a film institute as well."

The discussion was followed by a cultural programme in which film actors and playback singers performed. Singers such as Subir Nandi, Fahmida Nabi, SI Tutul and Kona rendered popular film songs of Bangladesh including 'Eki shonar aloye,' 'Jar chhaya porechh-e,' 'Din jay katha thak-e,' 'Lukochuri lukochuri galpo,' 'Bhalobasha janabo bol-e,' 'Keo prem kor-e' and others.

Film actors Ferdaus, Shakib Khan, Amin Khan, Shabnur, Rumana, Ressy and others presented dance recitals to the playback songs of Bengali movies.

Celebrity News:Richi replaces Aupi

Richi Solaiman

Entertainment Report

Aronno Anwar and Mahfuj Ahmed's famous sequel drama serial 'Amder Narul Huda' is being aired on ATN Bangla. In the serial actors Afjal Hossion and Humaun Faridi are working together for the first time. Aupi Karim was supposed to perform special character in the serial. In the last moment she was out of the serial. Richi replaced her. Richi performs as Afjal's wife and Humayun's sister. In the serial, these two guys lost their memories and became fool. Richi is very happy to perform in the role. She said, "I am too lucky to act with famous persons like them. The team has already done two plays named 'Nurul Huda' and 'Nurul Huda ekoda valobasechilo,' which were aired on BTV and Channel 1 respectively.

Event: BIJEM’s certificate giving ceremony held

NCC Bank Chairman Tofazzal Hossain gives certificate
to a participant of TV news presentation course of BIJEM
recently.

Entertainment Desk

The concluding and certificate awarding ceremony of a month-long training course on TV news presentation, organised by Bangladesh Institute of Journalism and Electronic Media (BIJEM), was held at the conference room of the institute on Saturday.

NCC Bank Ltd Chairman Tofazzal Hossain attended the programme as the chief guest and distributed certificate among the participants. He said, "Today news presentation is a subject of art and creativity. Planned training, practice and correct pronunciation can make an expert news presenter."

Mirza Tarequl Qader, Executive Director of BIJEM, presided over the function. A total of 35 participants from different universities took part in the course.

Documentary:Premier of Hilla held

Entertainment Desk

The premiere of a documentary fiction 'Hilla' by Hasan Mahmud was held at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) in the city on Friday.

Performers of the 'Hilla' are Raisul Islam Asad, Ilora Gagar, Litu Anam, Nusrat Yasmin Tisa, Masud Ali Khan, Amirul Haque Chowdhury, Maya Gosh and Abdul Aziz.

The film is based on the rules, consequences and documents about the 'Hilla' marriage. The plot of the film revolved around Abu who was a fit of rage, divorces his wife Monowara by saying 'Talaq.'

A meeting regarding the divorce starts at the place of the village where the local chief, priest and a teacher of Islamic University participate.

After discussing the references from some Shariah books, it was anticipated that Shariah books were against this kind of divorce. But confusion deepened when some other Shariah books said that if husband even thinks of divorce, or showing fingers intending the number of divorce -- divorce gets effective from that moment. According to these Shariahs, Monwara should get married to another man and has to have regular intercourse with the second husband.

And after some prescribed period of time, she had to have divorce from the second husband to get back to Abu.

Crisis deepened with these kinds of contradictory 'hadiths.' At last, decision was taken on the basis of Quran.

Justice Golam Rabbani, who attended the ceremony as chief guest, said he had passed an order regarding the Hilla marriage in 1991. "There is no need for Hilla after the "talaq". They can remarry again if they want," he said. "I have given some recommendations on the subject which were stayed by the Appellate Division," he also said.

Bollywood:Bollywood tackles rural suicide in 'Summer 2007’

New Delhi, Agencies

A new Bollywood film puts the spotlight on the sensitive issue of suicide in rural India, where some 150,000 farmers have taken their own lives in the past decade.

The makers of 'Summer 2007' said they hope to raise awareness of the plight of cultivators in Vidarbha region - an arid cotton-bearing plateau in central India. While India, Asia's third-largest economy, grew 9 per cent in 2007/08, an inescapable cycle of debt stalks the farmers of Vidarbha. In 'Summer 2007,' which opens in cinemas on Friday, five medical students from Mumbai stray into a village, unprepared for the deaths and misery they encounter there.

"They get embroiled into this whole saga of who's responsible, why is there so much poverty and disparity," said Atul Pandey, the film's producer.

Farming and related activities provide a livelihood for more than two-thirds of India's 1.1 billion people. "A Bollywood film has certain set notions. It's always a little difficult to say something which is not a love story or a revenge potboiler," director Suhail Tatari, 44, said.

The five medical students can do little to alleviate the suffering of the villagers and yet 'Summer 2007' ends on a note of hope. "Nobody has a solution to farmer suicides. They're not able to write off the loans or get all the bad guys arrested," said Pandey and adding, "(But) they are able to carry a kind of compassion for the poor citizens of the country." The film also explores the possibility of micro credit as a solution and has a character inspired by Mohammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel peace prizewinner and founder of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh's biggest micro-credit institution. In the coming months, Tatari hopes to show the film to locals in the Vidarbha region and other areas reporting farmer suicides.

Hollywood:Husband of Winehouse pleads guilty

London, Reuters

The husband of troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse has admitted to assaulting a pub landlord before attempting to cover it up, court officials said recently.

Blake Fielder-Civil, 26, admitted committing grievous bodily harm and conspiring to pervert the course of justice, charges, which relate to a pub, brawl in 2006.

Winehouse, who picked up five Grammy awards in February, made several visits to her husband in jail and has referred to the case at recent concerts.

The guilty pleas could be reported after judge David Radford lifted reporting restrictions on the case, an official at Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London, said.

Winehouse, 24, and Fielder-Civil, both from north London, married in May, 2007, in Miami, and in the following months were followed by paparazzi and appeared regularly in Britain's celebrity-hungry tabloid newspapers.

Fielder-Civil, a one-time music video assistant, has spent much of his first year of marriage behind bars, having been remanded in custody ahead of the trial.

It had been due to take place late last year but was postponed until this month for legal reasons.

Winehouse appeared in court last week to support Fielder-Civil during lengthy pre-trial hearings.