Tabla wizard ustad Zakir Hussain (9 March 1951–15 December 2024) left for his eternal journey at a time when he was supposed to be in Kolkata as a much awaited participant in the Swara Samrat Music Festival. The world of art lovers, film lovers, even tea lovers, is shell shocked by this sudden bolt from the blue.
In her latest outing, Superboys of Malegaon, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was last screened at Red Sea (where I watched it), Reema Kagti carts us to a small city in Maharashtra and throws us in the midst of a group of boisterous boys.
As the grand curtain call to Srijit Mukherji’s foray into the Feluda universe, Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr stands not merely as an apposite swansong but as the crowning jewel of his adaptations.
The 16th Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan Sattriya Dance Award and the 56th Annual Festival of Dance were held recently in Guwahati by Sangeet Sattra in honour of its founder principal, Adhyapak Rasheswar Saikia himself, and were a rich fare.
This year, GD Birla Centre for Education hosted its much-awaited ‘Winter Carnival 2.0’ to celebrate the immense contributions of retired teachers, as well as students, parents and alumni, all held within a day filled with fun and festivities on 7 December.
Rajendra Khandelwal, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Niger in Kolkata and the founder of the Dhanwantary Chain of Pharmacies in Kolkata, has recently authored a book titled “Karma, the Winner”, understating his own life and the role that karma played in shaping it.
Recently, Kolkata witnessed two vibrant performances—a solo dance by Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee and recipient of Tagore Scholarship Aloka Kanungo at the Kalaakar Festival at Gyan Manch on 17th August followed by another on 26th August at Sisir Manch by her students.
Marking the 100th birth anniversary of Habib Tanvir, Antiquity Natural Mineral Water, in partnership with the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), commemorated a three-day festival, titled ‘Dekh Rahe Hain Nayan’, from 30 August to 1 September this year, to reminisce about the artist’s life, work and immense contributions to Indian theatre, literature and art.
The second International Classical Manipuri Dance Festival was held at Satyajit Ray Auditorium to pay a tribute to the 106th birth anniversary of Guru Bipin Singh by the artistic director Sruti Bandhopadhay under the Horizon series of ICCR.
Months before the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), the Forum for Film Studies and Allied Arts took part in renewing the Marathi and Bengali theatre streams with a Marathi theatre film session from 27 to 28 August, at Nandan in Kolkata.
