When she settled in the USA for good in 1999, dance was not uppermost on Kolkata girl Raili Roy’s mind. The Presidency College (now University) alumnus, now a scholar in Gender Studies and Comparative Women’s History, is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, but she could
Produced and directed by veteran journalist Sovan Tarafder, 8th Day of the Week is a documentary that focuses on visually impaired theatre actors of Kolkata. Tarafdar has been associated with these actors for a long time, and his film covers 20-odd years. What he found
In his nearly 65-year career, Badal Sircar (1925-2011) became a pioneer when it came to taking theatre out of the proscenium and into the public arena. Anybody with any interest in Indian theatre will remember him as a ground-breaker in experimental and contemporary theatre, and
For everyone who has ever walked into an art exhibition or looked at a painting or been intimidated by an article on art, an art appreciation course is just what you need. While the popular perception seems to be that ‘art’ is a specialised subject
In this two-part series, we explore the history of modern Bengali theatre, beginning at the end of the 18th century, when a Russian Indologist and a few of his Bengali friends planted the seeds from which would sprout a flourishing tree. Through the heart of Kolkata,
In the Kaliachak block of Malda stands an ancient town called Bangitola with a history of more than a century. And in this very village-town is the famous Muktakeshi temple lined with rows of age-old shops that sell a special sweet known as Monda. It
The short film Home, directed by Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee, has been officially selected by the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival in the 'Short & Documentary Panorama' category. The film traces “women sharing their ecstasies, uncertainties, solitude, libido and a friendship with oneself”, and unfurls like
The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up a new, ever-changing, perilous and transitory world, and so does the film Titane, that revisits the language of ‘taking care’. This offbeat offering is for those who are equally open to the idea of ‘tenderness’ and the pain that
“A man who drank like a fish, smiled like an angel, fought his enemies like a demon and loved his comrades like a primitive God.” This is a quote from an entry on Sagina Mahato in the British Library’s Endangered Archives Blog. It is not clear
The Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2022, the sixth such summit since 2015, has potentially turned into the most successful BGBS of all. As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pointed out at the valedictory session of the two-day meet held on April 20 and