The New Nation - Internet Edition

Event: 'Fire Chal Matir Tane’: Songs of 6 seasons presented

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

The rhythm and tune of Fire Chal Matir Tane had turned into lively and colourful at the auditorium where there was a presentation on six seasons by songs. The songs represented all moments of the nature at a time. In the presentation, there were yells of boatmen, tunes of Bhatiali by the farmers, Ajan of Moajjin, 'Ulu' sound from the temples and reflections of sorrow and happiness of farmers' wives represented the Bengali culture. All these were found in the Fire Chal Matir Tane.

These scenarios were reflected at the Fire Chal Matir Tane organised by Bonnishikha at Shawkat Osman Auditorium of the National Public Library on June 26.

Nasir Uddin Yusuf, President of Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, inaugurated the show, while Golam Kuddus, President of Bonnishikha, gave the welcome speech.

Golam Kuddud composed the script of the Fire Chal Matir Tane and Rupu Khan gave the music direction. Eleven songs were included in the tune with verse. These were - Esho Baishakh tomai ami korilam boron, Oi kanone pakhi dake go, Ashar masher brishtire, Eyto Ashar mase nageri gorjon, Hawa-batash nirob hoylo Bhadra na mashe, Loke bole mora kati, Poush e bau pahari, Poush masher bayte pran kanpe shite, Aar shiter hawa nai deshe ey fagoon mashe, Ei modhu boshonte and Jalayle je jolchhe agun.

Alaul Haque, Abida Rahman Setu, Urmi Halder, Sharmin Khan Bobby, Aminul Islam Khokon, Salauddin Sohag, Mehedi Hasan, Zakir Hossain, Sifat Zahan Tuli, Sabia Sabreen Labonno, Sunayana Siddique and Rupu Khan performed the show.

Naila Tarannum Kakoli and Ahsan Dipu were in commentary.

In the second part of the programme, artistes Ajit Roy, Fahim Hossain Chowdhury, Iffat Ara Nargis and Rupa Chowdhury rendered popular songs of various seasons of Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Sangeet and modern songs.

Arup Singh Apu was in stage design and Moniruzzaman and Bidhan Halder in stage planning.

Avijeet and Gautam Majumder were in tabla, Swapan in dhol, Jahangir in flute, Ranjit in dotara and Bishnu in mondira presentation. Hanif Khan moderated the second part of the programme.

A full of audience enchanted various songs of six seasons delightfully.

Hollywood: Movie stars clash in Hollywood union brawl

Los Angeles, Agencies

Movie stars accustomed to polite rivalry for coveted film roles and Oscar glory are taking sides in an increasingly bitter labour dispute between Hollywood's two actors unions.

The larger and more militant Screen Actors Guild this week enlisted such high-profile members as Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller and Nick Nolte in its campaign to scuttle a contract negotiated by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Other A-list performers, including Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin and Sally Field, who won an Oscar for her role as a sweatshop union organizer in "Norma Rae," sided last week with AFTRA in publicly urging that union's 70,000 members to ratify the labour pact. The dispute is racketing up tensions in Hollywood over the possibility of actors walking off the job this summer, just as the film and TV industry is still recovering from a 14-week writers strike that ended in February.

SAG leaders say AFTRA's tentative labour deal, covering work on prime-time television, is fatally flawed and undercuts SAG's position in its own contract talks with the studios on a broader TV and motion pictures contract.

Both contracts expire on June 30, though SAG leaders say they are prepared to negotiate past that deadline if necessary to get a deal.

Mayur Bahon on Channel 1 tonight

Entertainment Desk

TV serial Mayur Bahon will be aired on Channel 1 at 8:15 pm today. The cast includes Shampa Reza, Azad Abul Kalam, Tomalika, Intekhab Dinar, Sumaiya Shimu, Shams Sumon, Mir Sabbir, Rahmat Ali, Tushar Khan, Lutfar Rahman George, Khairul Alam Sabuj, Afroza Banu and Golam Farida Chhanda.

The plot of the story revolves around the inhabitants of the village Basantapur. The village is like any other, and the people there are quite simple yet unique. At the centre of the story, was a club, which organised a play for the villagers.

Young and old alike, work to produce a successful play, which reflect the simple dreams of the villagers. The story is marked with several incidents such as the people of Basantapur in search of a female artiste for their play.

Written by Pantha Shahriar, the serial was directed by Rulin Rahman. The serial is aired every Monday and Tuesday on Channel 1.

2 Bangladeshi to attend Int’l Drama Fest in UK

Entertainment Desk

Two members of Ananda Niketan, one of the main cultural organisations of Habiganj, will take part in an international drama workshop in the United Kingdom (UK).

Eminent drama organisation Theatre Royal Stratford East of the UK, winner of the Laurence Oliver Award 2007, organises the drama workshop titled 'International Festival for Emerging Artists.'

Sudeep Chakraborty and Ujjal Das, the two participants, will attend the workshop, which will be inaugurated on July 7. Drama organisations from 15 countries including 15 organisations from the UK will participate in the workshop.

To raise social movement and exchange cultural views among different countries are the main objectives of the workshop. As continuation of the project, participant countries will attend the Cultural Olympiad that will be held in the UK in 2012.

The British Council, East London Dance, Lift, London Bureau of Newham, Manchester Contact Theatre, New Vick, Serious, Stratford Circus, Theatre Venture, UEL, Urban Development and Visiting Arts will be cosponsors of the festival.

Besides, UK and Bangladesh, participants from New Zealand, Malaysia, France, Kenya, Brazil, Rwanda, Philippines, Pakistan, Ghana, Greece, Mali, Iran, Netherlands, South Africa and Turkey will take part in the workshop.

Syed Masud Hossain, Science and Culture Programme Manager of British Council, said, "It will be a great opportunity for the two participants (Sudeep and Ujjal) to raise own cultural heritage to other countries. Ananda Niketan has already established a unique position in cultural arena. We hope their success." Sudeep Chakraborty, one of the participants, Lecturer of Drama and Music Department of Dhaka University and moderator of Drama Department of Ananda Niketan, said "Now it is necessary to gather all drama activists across the world to stand a common platform. By this workshop everybody could get opportunity to exchange his or her experiences."

Ujjal Das, another participant, is a coordinator of the Sea-Change Project of Ananda Niketan.

Films galore at South Asian Film Festival

Entertainment Desk

Eight diverse countries with differing historical and political traditions, unmatched cinematographic backgrounds have come together at the on-going South Asian Film Festival.

This four-day festival, which ends on Monday, is screening films from eight South Asian Countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The films are being shown in five different categories: classic, short, documentary, mainstream and new films.

For a region that has been at the flash-point of some bitter rivalries and even nuclear misunderstandings, the screenings remind viewers of the needs for "dissolving boundaries" and "promoting peace and harmony". Likewise, in a region where ignorance about neighbours is rife, it's surprising to see how much misunderstanding exists about each other.

Journalists covering the festival have also found it tough to locate early information about films being screened, especially from smaller countries. What is interesting is the diverse film backgrounds of participating nations. Regional and global cinema giant India claims to be home to the largest film industry in the world. Its official claim is for having produced over a thousand films each year. "Every three months, an audience as large as India's entire population visits these halls.

Indian films are popular in various parts of the world, especially in countries with significant Indian communities," says a source. Cinema was introduced to India in July 1896, and a documentary on a wrestling match in Hanging Gardens, Bombay, was made in 1897. Apart from Hindi films, India makes films in 30 other languages.

Some prominent regional film industries include Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. In contrast, Afghanistan has faced a slowed cinema growth due to political changes.