tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278603022024-03-15T11:06:42.940+05:30Kolkata CurryAll that's KolkataAnirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.comBlogger563125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-54305984056616914932019-04-16T15:54:00.000+05:302019-04-19T11:20:23.100+05:30Food Kahini hits the bookstores<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Ritu-da (Rituparno Ghosh) used to call her by the name of a food"<br />
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"Shut up!"<br />
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Mir was going to spill the beans about the name as food was the theme of the conversation with the guests at the book launch and actor Sudiptaa Chakraborty tried to dissuade him in vain. Well, the pet name that Rituparno gave her in their very first meeting was ‘Gutke kochuri’ (A small version of kochuri or kachauri). Let’s be a bit fair to Sudiptaa and not get into what actually prompted him in giving that name.<br />
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It was the evening of the launch of Food Kahini, the food book that turned well-known Kolkata food blogger Indrajit Lahiri into author. And it happened in style. The starry April evening at Peerless Inn had composer-singer-lyricist Anupam Roy, actor Aparajita Auddy and singer Lagnajita Chakraborty apart from Sudiptaa as guests and as the cherry on the cake, Mir was the host. Mir, incidentally, plays the ‘Bhaipo’ (Nephew) in the food-based web series ‘Foodka’ with Indrajit in the titular role of the uncle who is a knowledgeable foodie. It is into its third season (Available on YouTube).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anupam sharing about his weakness for sweets</td></tr>
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Mir had already asked Anupam about his foodie side and shared with us his deep love for sweets. He also asked the famous composer in jest what all he keeps in his fridge since his romantic songs often have names of vegetables (Like dry spring onion). It was followed by Aparajita who confessed her obsession for khichudi (Khichdi). She shared a childhood incident, with an annual occurance, where her parents used to find her sitting on the road, right by an open drain, without a care, just to eat the ‘bhog’ (Prasad) along with many others, served in a local puja. The banter, peppered with Mir's wisecracks, made for a fun time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aparajita talks of her obsession for khichudi with her trademark laughter</td></tr>
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When it was Lagnajita’s turn at the end, she offered a private story on Anupam’s sweet connection where the venue was her home. Though she kept on insisting that it was harmless, it was enough to embarrass Anupam, albeit in good spirit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lagnajita spilling the beans</td></tr>
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Coming to the book, it’s every blogger’s secret dream have a book to his/ her name and Indrajit was no exception. Though his blog <i><a href="https://moha-mushkil.com/" target="_blank">Moha Mushkil</a> </i>is primarily in English, it has a section of Bengali posts and I’ve often told this friend of mine to write more in Bengali since it’s the language that befits his humorous and free-flowing writing style. Good that Food Kahini is in Bengali and comprises of his writings on various segments of foods that Kolkata is collectively known for all over the world- from the Chinese breakfast of Tiretta Bazar to the famous born-in-Kolkata kati roll to momos. In different chapters, it talks of the food at Chinatown, the brunch at '<i>Office para' </i>or Dalhousie area- the central business district, the heritage cabins of the city and a foodwalk at Burrabazar which is more known as one of Asia’s largest trading hubs. It has many other attractions in the other chapters and goes beyond Kolkata to other districts of Bengal. Needless to say, it promises to be a fun read.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Food Kahini is born. Author Indrajit Lahiri is third from right.</td></tr>
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#FoodKahini #KolkataFoodGuide<br />
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-26937095098968434772019-03-31T10:39:00.000+05:302019-03-31T10:41:39.942+05:30A take on 'Kia and Cosmos'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Language: English<br />
Director: Sudipto Roy<br />
Cast: Ritwika Pal, Swastika Mukherjee, Joy Sengupta, Sraman Chatterjee, Zahid Hussain, Mita Chatterjee<br />
Length: 2 hours 6 minutes<br />
Release date: 29th March 2019<br />
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<i>Kia and Cosmos</i> is a heart-warming story of a specially abled child's (Kia) quest to find out who killed her cat Cosmos who was pregnant and in the bargain, taking a leap in becoming independent. The story is from Kia's point of view, which makes for an interesting watch, and it's brilliantly crafted by director Sudipto Roy. Aditya Varma's cinematography helps create Kia's world with finesse and elevates the film. Ritwika is astonishingly good as she brings Kia to life. Kudos to the immense potential of this young debutante! Swastika is brilliant as Kia's mother- the vulnerable and loving Dia. Joy Sengupta is very good as her musician father Kabir and so are Sraman Chatterjee and Zahid Hussain (Kia's teacher). Neel Adhikari's music and minimal background score take the storytelling forward. I just thought there was a problem with pacing in places and it could be tighter. Overall, a memorable cinematic experience which explains why this film was an official selection in film festivals in Glasgow, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid.<br />
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#KiaAndCosmos #SwastikaMukherjee<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-d216-469c-90b5-f1d6f46454a8" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-43807600928485545772019-03-24T16:18:00.001+05:302019-04-04T17:47:46.958+05:30A take on ‘Mahalaya'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Language: Bengali<br />
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Director: Soumik Sen</div>
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Cast: Jisshu Sengupta, Subhashis Mukherjee, Prosenjit, Saptarshi Roy, Subhomoy Chatterjee</div>
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Length: 1 hour 48 minutes</div>
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Release date: 1st February 2019</div>
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<i>Mahalaya</i> takes us back to the historical incident etched in Bengali’s cultural history when an iconic radio programme on the day of Mahalaya famous for the chants of Birendra Krishna Bhadra was audaciously replaced by Akashvani with another program with the biggest ever filmstar Uttam Kumar as the star attraction.</div>
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<i>Mahalaya</i> had an interesting premise but the execution left a lot to be desired. The first few minutes involving a senior and powerful All India Radio official who catalyses the change of the iconic Mahalaya programme set the tone and texture of the film which rules out finesse. Prosenjit who plays the official Shashi Sinha delivers an exceptionally weak performance thanks to an unconvincing diction of Hindi and over-the-top portrayal full of familiar mannerisms. The same loudness is noticed in a key character Banerjee (Kanchan) and partly in Kolkata station director Stevenson (Jayant Kripalni). </div>
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In terms of direction, the narrative ends up as more documentative and less drama as it talks too much through dialogue and shows too less going against a hallmark of good cinema. Apart from some melodramatic bits, what mars the watching experience is unnecessary or careless intrusions of celebrities like Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey and even Rabindranath Tagore who is shown in a scene. I seriously wonder, couldn't the makers find out an artist who<br />
would at least sound like Kishore Kumar?<br />
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Thankfully, Subhashish shows his class bringing to life Birendra Krishna Bhadra in a nuanced and understated performance and Jisshu does a somewhat decent job as Uttam Kumar (though more care should have been taken by the director to bring alive the biggest star in Bengali cinema). Subhomoy Chatterjee as Pankaj Kumar Mullick is a laudable act and Saptarshi Roy as Hemanta Mukherjee is good too. One however wonders if the director has taken a little too much of creative liberty in developing the character of Hemanta making him overconfident and setting a wrong precedence of a guru-shishya relationship (with Pankaj in this context).</div>
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#Mahalaya #BanglaCinema #BanglaCinema2019 #BengaliCinema #UttamKumar</div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-15831384703691499112019-01-05T18:44:00.001+05:302019-01-07T10:25:36.854+05:30Film review: Rosogolla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Language: Bengali</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Director: Pavel</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cast: Ujaan Ganguly, Abantika Biswas, Bidipta Chakaraborty</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Rajatava Dutta, Kharaj Mukherjee, Aparajita Adhya, Chiranjeet, Shantilal Mukherjee, Kaushik Sen</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Length: 2 hours 18 minutes</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Release date: 21st December 2018</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-79315fba-7fff-800d-665a-88f0817c6497" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></b>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Je somoy niye bhabena, taake niye toh bhabtei hoy" ( </span></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">If </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: inherit;">someone is oblivious of the time lost (in creation), I better take him seriously).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A confectioner says this in the film in respect of his potential competitor Nobin Chandra Das who is lost in the pursuit of invention of his dream dessert for years. This is what makes </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rosogolla </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more than a sweet love story where the boy fights all odds to invent his girl’s dessert of desire and it simultaneously becomes an inspiring saga of perseverance of a creator. And that makes it a story that very much needed to be told. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Rosogolla</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the real life story of the nineteenth century invention of Bengal's globally famed dessert (Rosogolla) by confectioner Nobin Chandra Das who took up the challenge in his early twenties to make a sweet of his lover's desire, nothing like which anyone had ever seen. He married Khirodmoni, his love, through the course of this </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and fulfilled her desire amid all kinds of misfortune, insult and unending failures that came their way. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsukMegXWsg8SN4kzgzLRL6J8tMEf7eb4kwpiOwTAwVA03fo7s3bZQ8haNTeyndO7n3410bL5qFCAXhw2ddvfV4Di6DQUT6L036RIZFClEl1nkZ3sQ1aJYUIN0l-4Bx39OHzFL4Q/s1600/Rosogolla-+Ujaan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsukMegXWsg8SN4kzgzLRL6J8tMEf7eb4kwpiOwTAwVA03fo7s3bZQ8haNTeyndO7n3410bL5qFCAXhw2ddvfV4Di6DQUT6L036RIZFClEl1nkZ3sQ1aJYUIN0l-4Bx39OHzFL4Q/s640/Rosogolla-+Ujaan.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ujaan Ganguly as Nobin Chandra Das</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The charm of the film is that it’s a simple story of Bengali’s favourite dessert that’s simply told. The story is penned well by Pavel and Smaranjit Chakaraborty, a well-known author. Pavel spins his yarn on screen with a main thread in a pleasingly unhurried pace and does not digress with sub-plots and unnecessary characters which is not unusual in a period piece. Though the storytelling approach is modelled on mainstream and lacks nuances in places and in some characters, it is thoroughly watchable. It is adorably garnished with dollops of old world charm of the nineteenth century Kolkata. The trivia of invention of Aam Sandesh and Baikuntho Bhog is also one of the attractions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having said that, the chemistry between Nobin and Khirodmoni needed better crafting. Many moments between them could be developed better. Also, the character of Baikuntho (Nobin’s partner) is over-the-top and Amritalal Banik (The patents man) is not well-etched. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abantika delivers a fine and convincing portrayal of Khirodmoni in her debut. She brings out well the chirpy, tomboyish, yet level-headed girl who is the perfect foil to the unmaterialistic genius Nobin Chandra Das and his strongest pillar of support. Ujaan as Nobin shows promise in some scenes with measured delivery but surprisingly goes over the top in quite a few scenes. The story being centred on his character, the performance called for thoughtful handling and the director shares responsibility for this too. Rajatava as Kalidas Indra (The confectioner who was Nobin’s first employer and subsequent competitor), Kharaj as Mahesh, Nobin’s assistant, Aparajita as the golden-hearted zamindar wife and Bidipta as Nobin’s mother are well cast and play their parts well. Lew Hilt is a pleasant surprise as Paolo, the British gentleman who was a patron of the native culture. It has the historical character of confectioner Bhim Chandra Nag (played well by Tamal Roy Chowdhury) and another confectioner Ganguram also appears in a flash. However, Kaushik Sen doesn’t shine as Amritlal Banik with a stylization that doesn’t quite fall in place and Shantilal, with an awful wig, isn’t impressive as Chandu Babu/ Baikuntho except for the end appearance. Subhashree’s Hindi in the character of Malkhaan jaan, the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tawaif </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> needed more attention.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abantika Biswas as Khirodmoni</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Music is a strength of the film and the earthy score of Kalikaprasad aid the storytelling brilliantly. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khodar Banda </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">breaks out amid virgin rural landscape within a few minutes of the film, giving it a zesty start.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Tapur Tupur, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brilliantly written, composed and sung by Arnab Dutta is an immensely endearing love ballad.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supriyo Dutta’s camerawork brings out the era nicely. It was obvious that the production design had a woefully limited budget for a period piece and despite best efforts, outdoor shots of Kolkata stuck out unflatteringly which computer graphics couldn’t make good. Though it is not desirable in a period film, I would still like to overlook this blemish as it is a satisfying watch on overall consideration.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the end, it suffices to say that every Bengali across the world should watch this film as it’s a story of our roots that is worthy of it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#Rosogolla #BanglaCinema #NobinChandraDas</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-23583879367740311962018-12-26T22:31:00.000+05:302018-12-27T18:18:09.236+05:30A porky evening with friends at Tung Nam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-d60f3941-7fff-8a39-1048-d964e2c5d2eb" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the year is drawing to a close, the tired mind itching to take a break from work and unwind. And catching up with friends over food is one of the best ways to go about it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anirban Acharya comes to hometown Kolkata every winter from London where he works. He’s ‘fishy’ like me, with an undying Bengali love for all things fish. We met virtually, in a Facebook food group (Easy guess!). For Bengalis, if food comes, can cinema be far behind? After all that's one of the hot topics in a Bengali </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">adda</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and my namesake can be considered part of discerning audience. So our virtual friendship soon extended to my Facebook cinema group </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We the Audience. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The group likes to share quality content on cinema, post audience reviews of current and past movies (Bengali, Hindi and English) and engage in discussions. If you are interested, you are welcome to join </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589356827963373" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coming back to food, our virtual friendship had the first physical meeting in January this year, near the end of his last winter vacation. I took my fishy friend to a pice hotel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sidheshwari Ashram </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(If you wish to know what the term means, read this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-kolkata-pice-hotel-trail-part-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7;">post</span></a><span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on this blog) followed by a visit to the iconic Coffee House. And we knew we would meet again. Our next food destination options kept getting ticked over Facebook interactions. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anirban, just after arriving at Kolkata, created a WhatsApp group to coordinate our first meet-up. A dinner meet in Tung Nam- one of the best yet lesser known Chinese restaurants in the city, located in old Chinatown (in Tiretta Bazar, which happens to be India's oldest Chinatown). Our common friend, food blogger Indrajit Lahiri was part of the Tung Nam plan from day zero. Another common friend, food blogger Abhimanyu Chakaraborty, who blogs in Bengali, joined in. Tung Nam is run by a Chinese family from the same locality and is popular in the city pork lover circuit.</span></span><br>
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When we met in the restaurant in the evening, I found that not much has changed from years back when I came last. They still blissfully ignore what is called ‘ambience’. In fact, they don’t even call it a restaurant but an eating house. Got the drift? Only the walls of which the paint was old and coming off are now tiled. The colour of the table tops is wearing off and a scooter is parked right inside. An <span style="font-family: sans-serif;">unpretentious set-up like this suits me perfectly fine and</span> if you care for good food and little else, should suit you too. What makes it a more homely experience is, the owner may come to you, take your order, serve you, give you the bill and collect cash. Thus you shall get the best guide for what to order as per your palate. That's what happened in our case- a short, fair, middle aged lady came to collect our order. She didn’t allow me to take her picture, but you can spot her in the next photo.</div>
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We went off the mark with Steamed Pork Wonton and Pork Wonton Soup followed by Chilli Garlic Pepper Pork, Roast Chilli Pork and Mushroom Baby Corn Pork. The wontons were moist, had the right amount of fat and tasted finger-licking good, as usual! As Abhimanyu pointed out, even the skin of the wonton was yummy! The soup was basically a clear soup but distinctly flavourful, the kind one can call the perfect comfort food. The use of ham choy in the wonton and the soup, typical of this eatery, gives a fine tweak of flavour to these dishes.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steamed Pork Wonton</td></tr>
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The Chilli Garlic Pepper Pork had a scary red colour, yet spicy and tasteful. The Chilli Pork was dry and good in taste but I found it to be rather oily. Also it had a lot of fat which spoilt the pleasure to an extent. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chilli Garlic Pepper Pork</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6fKgZ_R6QvcCHehjVbz51wARzCzpb_08eLQfR2ZJbVLPLplUeUvt0f_BQvS1jfeJukzoEyfSD9c4sjpl0Cj6WftT5eDkxQ1ZxZEaWRWroWzjDbXnSrhppfbp0rT3PbC7FuP8SA/s1600/IMG_20181220_194223_HHT-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6fKgZ_R6QvcCHehjVbz51wARzCzpb_08eLQfR2ZJbVLPLplUeUvt0f_BQvS1jfeJukzoEyfSD9c4sjpl0Cj6WftT5eDkxQ1ZxZEaWRWroWzjDbXnSrhppfbp0rT3PbC7FuP8SA/s640/IMG_20181220_194223_HHT-640x480.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roast Chilli Pork</td></tr>
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I was bowled over by the delicately flavoured Mushroom Baby Corn Pork. It was a pleasant break from the sharp Chinese flavours. I love mushroom and it added to the taste. It can especially be good for those who like light flavours, like children. It easily earned a place on my list of favourites from Tung Nam. I liked the meat-to-fat ratio of the dishes which is an important parameter of eating pork. Here it seemed to be within 70:30 except the Roast Chilli Pork. After polishing off two plates each of the wonton and the soup and one plate of the other three, Indrajit and Abhimanyu, two Tung Nam loyals, thought of what to order in main course. We were relishing every bit of our piggy indulgence.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvJLxRlg48wRJY1mZ5u3V_LgRCH3bsjuXM0FSwMI8cJCgGaGiiib1lhUJnGNnNFMs_t4sVufqGCnxx-a-Ry9XwNAL-wqlxSvAFl5nMbIwEajCo6yzn5tguGLc4e9exXTkG4bSeQ/s1600/IMG_20181220_194357_HHT-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvJLxRlg48wRJY1mZ5u3V_LgRCH3bsjuXM0FSwMI8cJCgGaGiiib1lhUJnGNnNFMs_t4sVufqGCnxx-a-Ry9XwNAL-wqlxSvAFl5nMbIwEajCo6yzn5tguGLc4e9exXTkG4bSeQ/s640/IMG_20181220_194357_HHT-640x480.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mushroom Baby Corn Pork</td></tr>
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The mains arrived- Rice with Pork Ham Choy, Pork with Hamei Sauce and Pork Chou Sui (One portion each). The first dish was spicy and pungent, small chunks of pork on a generous bed of steamed rice. Abhimanyu shared that it used to be sticky rice but has possibly been changed to align to the average customer’s palate. The Chou Sui had rice wine sauce in it. Indrajit shared that as far as his knowledge of Hamei Sauce was concerned, a paste of shrimp and chilli was used to make it. I found a hit of red chilli flakes in all the three dishes. Pork with Hamei Sauce and Pork Chou Sui scored better on taste.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice with Pork Ham Choy</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pork Chou Sui</td></tr>
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We felt full and decided to call it a day. Our bill, surprisingly, was just Rs 1900 including four bottles of 300 ml cold drink. It’s a pointer to how affordable good food is in Kolkata.</div>
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#ChineseCuisine #ChineseFood #Pork #KolkataChineseFood #ChinaTown #OldChinatown<br>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-48734467254927189312018-12-18T10:52:00.000+05:302019-07-16T07:41:02.701+05:302019: A year of thrillers in Bangla cinema<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One genre that never goes out of favour with Bengali audience is thriller. And standing now, 2019 looks like a bonanza for the audience with a possible release of five thrillers made by two big names, one young and successful director and two promising filmmakers. Here you go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ink </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A long cherished script of Pratim D Gupta who treated the audience with a delectable </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maacher Jhol</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2017. The script of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ink </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was selected in the coveted Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2014. Starring Pratim’s favourites Ritwick and Paoli, it’s about a superstar and a reporter with a mundane job (played by Paoli and Ritwick respectively) and the strange relationship between them. Director-actor Gautam Ghose is playing the editor of the newspaper where Ritwick works and it also has the talented Chitrangada Chakaraborty (who played a cancer patient obsessed by a superstar in Pratim's </span></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahare Mon).</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Pratim shot major parts of the film even before his unusual love story </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahare Mon </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">released last year. The credentials of the script will be a major reason for me to look forward to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Srijit Mukherji has recently finished shooting his new thriller centred around a make-up artist and a serial killer and looks set for a <i>Nawbobawrsho</i> date (April). The director is back to the genre which brought him fame and recognition with two films. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baishe Srabon, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his second film starring Prosenjit and Parambrata, catapulted him to the big league and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chotushkone</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which had some experimental treatment and an ensemble of Aparna Sen, Chiranjeet, Parambrata and Gautam Ghose, gave him two national awards, a first for him, besides box office success. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vinci Da</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> boasts of a powerful cast- Rudraneel Ghosh and Ritwick Chakaraborty in the lead, Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya playing a cop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rawkto Rahoshyo </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After making </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pendulum </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and this year's critically acclaimed food fantasy </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Soukarya Ghosal just finished shooting his next, reported to be a medical thriller, in one demanding schedule. Starring Koel, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Rwitobroto Mukherjee and Basabdatta Chatterjee (of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asha</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jaoar Majhe </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Aditya Bikram Sengupta), it has Koel playing a headstrong and brutally honest RJ. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khela Jokhon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The name and cast of this dark thriller by Arindam Sil, whose expertise in the genre is well established, was announced last week. It's about the journey of a woman who comes out of the coma and gradually turns violent because of situations contradicting her beliefs. As the director said, film will start on a calm note and gradually turn violent. The eclectic cast has Sayani Gupta (You saw this Bengali actress from Kolkata in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fan</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), Abir, Adil Hussain, Jayant Kripalni, Indrashish Roy and June Maliah among others. Interestingly, Arijit Biswas, the co-writer of one of this year’s most acclaimed films </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Andhadhun </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(a thriller with a dark comedy streak), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Badlapur</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Agent Vinod,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is writing the script in collaboration with the director. To be shot in Odisha, which is less explored in Bangla cinema, and Kurseong, it goes on floors coming February.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, Indrashis Acharya, noticed for his debut directorial </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bilu Rakkhosh </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2017 and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pupa </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this year, both liked by discerning audience, has turned his attention to this thriller starring Rituparna which seems to be about facing the dark past of a character. Indrashis is known for his treatment of the intricacies of the human mind. So the film, a new genre for the talented new director, will be worth looking forward to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Thriller #BengaliCinema #BengaliCinema2019 #VinciDa #SrijitMukherji #ArindamSil #SundanceLab</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want to keep tabs on Bangla cinema, you may join my Facebook group <b>We the Audience</b>, known for quality content, audience reviews and discussions of Bangla and Hindi cinema, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589356827963373" target="_blank">here</a></b></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-20689928701738626602018-12-14T16:45:00.000+05:302019-04-02T12:13:13.346+05:30The humble street sweet shop in Sealdah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In an abandoned entrance of an old building, just ahead of Loreto Day School, Sealdah, a middle-aged man dressed in white dhoti-punjabi and <i>tilak</i> on forehead sets up a stall early morning selling sweets. He sells still stocks last, which is early or mid-afternoon. The sweets are from Krishnanagar, which sounded new to my ears (though the said town is famous for certain sweets) as I am familiar with street shops procuring sweets coming from Chandannagar and Howrah. I have also heard of sweets from Katwa (of Bardhaman district) selling on the city streets. So, in this shop, you shall get to sample the famous 'Sorpuriya' of Krishnanagar as part of a decent range on offer (given the small space).<br />
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I have been noticing the shop, named 'Amrit Keli', for many years now as I have been going to Loreto to fetch or drop my daughter(s). The name is another unique aspect of it as street shops are nameless. The sweets look tempting and are testimony to the amazing range of street food Kolkata offers in desserts which has no match in India.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMdO15iQ5Cgz-DrVOMqUyf3tK9_hrUp1qxfe2wzk-hH7JwEqwRADAPVaNmeqrFbO8_2nqAMCyjKm5Y085rymTJIolzwn8bc22P-FmP06tjvQyo_mO_vR_EJcPMBzxvZmYQbtnBw/s1600/Amrit+Keli.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMdO15iQ5Cgz-DrVOMqUyf3tK9_hrUp1qxfe2wzk-hH7JwEqwRADAPVaNmeqrFbO8_2nqAMCyjKm5Y085rymTJIolzwn8bc22P-FmP06tjvQyo_mO_vR_EJcPMBzxvZmYQbtnBw/s640/Amrit+Keli.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I finally tasted the fare today. Firstly a kheer-covered syrupy sweet (My second favourite category). The thick, kheer-enveloped sweet was so tender, it broke and fell off my finger. The sweetness was moderate, just as I like it. Next was a large lyangcha. It's not often that you get a good quality of this fried sweet on the street. I still went for it as the one I had before was impressive. The lyangcha tasted good! It didn't feel maida (refined flour) much as is the case often.<br />
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I got chhanar payesh (Kheer made with tiny chhena balls) packed for my post-lunch dessert in office. It was thickly creamy and good in taste! My personal preference would be a bit less sweet though.<br />
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The prices are much reasonable given the quality. My bill was Rs 47.<br />
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This calls for more visits to check out the other goodies.<br />
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#Sweets #BengaliSweets #KolkataSweets #Sorpuriya #StreetFood<br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry"><span style="color: blue; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-37299021117603684092018-09-29T17:20:00.000+05:302018-09-29T17:20:13.402+05:30A beefy lunch at Shim Shim<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I first read about this new kid on the block in a social media post by food blogger friend Indrajit Lahiri as the only known place serving beef momo in the city. Beef momo! That's interesting, I thought. To me, momo equals steamed pork momo. So another kind of it with red meat should be good.<br />
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An opportunity came up to have it and many more beefy delights when Indrajit arranged for a meet-up with friend and well-known food blogger <a href="https://yummraj.com/" target="_blank">Yummraj</a> (with his rani) and another friend and noted food blogger <a href="https://www.foodaholix.in/" target="_blank">Sabyasachi Raychaudhuri </a>over lunch last Saturday. I knew Sabyasachida through social media and met him for the first time. And man, what a fabulous beef fest it was over endless food talk!<br />
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It's a moderate-sized, tastefully decorated restaurant on Tibetan theme with contrasting brick-coloured and white walls with functional, iron chairs and wall-side sofa seating. It serves Tibetan and Chinese Cuisine with a bit of Mongolian and Nepali thrown in. The staff is young and soft-spoken.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTG76B_qS04epXXDOwqRqt1f2pxLcY9k5hHfFWrs7s4RlUdj38wA5fN_wNqhFyouJBF2T1puF986JvI8X0vAR6qELQfuHNZ08aztswi6Djlsiimu6NebWQd6vvg9FZyaJ7kAqdg/s1600/IMG_20180922_145205_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTG76B_qS04epXXDOwqRqt1f2pxLcY9k5hHfFWrs7s4RlUdj38wA5fN_wNqhFyouJBF2T1puF986JvI8X0vAR6qELQfuHNZ08aztswi6Djlsiimu6NebWQd6vvg9FZyaJ7kAqdg/s640/IMG_20180922_145205_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We started off with Beef Kothay (Momo with a roasted bottom). Juicy and delicately spicy mincemeat inside a soft skin got it a thumbs up!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WAsrkpRiqaVWQ3h0N6bTvGMgTYQRwexiapn6cUKPdm4n0fXmdxPPa1WLFLA0Hrob8OhdSwTpBm0i55VFFhyYK9lnksInF4Ztek84-JVr61OzGnOvs2U8Z_CD2SRL1dua4aZ0jQ/s1600/IMG_20180922_133910_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WAsrkpRiqaVWQ3h0N6bTvGMgTYQRwexiapn6cUKPdm4n0fXmdxPPa1WLFLA0Hrob8OhdSwTpBm0i55VFFhyYK9lnksInF4Ztek84-JVr61OzGnOvs2U8Z_CD2SRL1dua4aZ0jQ/s640/IMG_20180922_133910_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef Kothay</td></tr>
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Yummraj ordered the Oxtail Clear Soup after he curiously found it on the menu. But it didn't impress us. The only disappointment in our memorable lunch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d_RBY_IBDwTMrvTzbQckolg7YMn_3v3KBkkjjNnV0dqn0rrGBkRBilkdZoMp-1mq1x8rmrxjThgH9F41xBj-nQCpiC95nFT6Rsje0COgxPN2wHwm5wiY83ESuBjUKXkbvxvkcg/s1600/IMG_20180922_135932_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d_RBY_IBDwTMrvTzbQckolg7YMn_3v3KBkkjjNnV0dqn0rrGBkRBilkdZoMp-1mq1x8rmrxjThgH9F41xBj-nQCpiC95nFT6Rsje0COgxPN2wHwm5wiY83ESuBjUKXkbvxvkcg/s640/IMG_20180922_135932_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxtail Clear Soup</td></tr>
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Up next was the Beef Thukpa. The flavourful broth with strips of beef, noodles and veggies set the palate right. In fact one of the reasons why we didn't like the Oxtail soup was that it tasted like the thukpa. The last starter was Beef Phalay which is like a kachori stuffed with mincemeat. Crunchy outside, moist inside, it scored with us effortlessly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjof1goJjCYVxxJVQFgvWrEWfPrpphWEs-ZR8pOwQ7_dICB0ktwo5prviYCVH6xLJr_mRTmeib2Vmmg4lDs-3jiOpEXqH38pEwZl1n_cnPCJw39T45orM7-k9gJYB21Kr6zu9CA/s1600/IMG_20180922_140942_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjof1goJjCYVxxJVQFgvWrEWfPrpphWEs-ZR8pOwQ7_dICB0ktwo5prviYCVH6xLJr_mRTmeib2Vmmg4lDs-3jiOpEXqH38pEwZl1n_cnPCJw39T45orM7-k9gJYB21Kr6zu9CA/s640/IMG_20180922_140942_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef Phalay</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRfdsAa0eF7fN9s-S6sqHZykH89yEDIs_JFSOhyMWYhC2WXIcFlmtRV6Jxc2MJkBMVjlCpNoGvBEcEby20wa-nGgjvHaJcWA8PG9dPapOigcXbSZ_xVrIhTyozQh11bYUaFvcyw/s1600/IMG_20180922_141013_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRfdsAa0eF7fN9s-S6sqHZykH89yEDIs_JFSOhyMWYhC2WXIcFlmtRV6Jxc2MJkBMVjlCpNoGvBEcEby20wa-nGgjvHaJcWA8PG9dPapOigcXbSZ_xVrIhTyozQh11bYUaFvcyw/s640/IMG_20180922_141013_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Moving on to main course, we ordered Chilli Beef and Mongolian Beef to go with steamed Gobindobhog rice. The Chilli Beef was cooked to perfection. It was dry with the heat of a generous amount of slit chilli and the goodness of spices. There were various shapes of beef. Before you have it, squeeze a bit of lime on it and it will be irresistible!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZjS82I-2oom1m8iiYX83HwWGRy4NNcEJkFc4Gb42sLEb1fCFMqUP1gYQYXkD4mtsMh_pkpD3UedprM5n2YNpmT7AIuDA0DV9A0NruTA0NlumOfKqYN3L17Ws9LnnjSqpJRg0Ow/s1600/IMG_20180922_143119_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZjS82I-2oom1m8iiYX83HwWGRy4NNcEJkFc4Gb42sLEb1fCFMqUP1gYQYXkD4mtsMh_pkpD3UedprM5n2YNpmT7AIuDA0DV9A0NruTA0NlumOfKqYN3L17Ws9LnnjSqpJRg0Ow/s640/IMG_20180922_143119_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chilli Beef </td></tr>
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We loved the Mongolian beef too which was low on hotness. The hint of sweetness made it stand out.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9n5Lzk5Qo6MmmGyB0pfjjlKkYdsTt-NqX09lep7lBwCCnfB0ph8GHSSU47N2Q0jYDudtYukKUlT47eToB3zbw8GP_fbskjSBAWOrh_3OKzzzO6JJkShJ7VrRy4a_OOfmuvEElA/s1600/IMG_20180922_142053_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9n5Lzk5Qo6MmmGyB0pfjjlKkYdsTt-NqX09lep7lBwCCnfB0ph8GHSSU47N2Q0jYDudtYukKUlT47eToB3zbw8GP_fbskjSBAWOrh_3OKzzzO6JJkShJ7VrRy4a_OOfmuvEElA/s640/IMG_20180922_142053_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mongolian Beef</td></tr>
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An interesting thing came up in our food talk. The habit of people to mean 'Hot' by the word 'Spicy'. As it is, 'Spicy' means it will give the feel of being well-cooked with spices and may not actually be hot at all. In fact, a lightly-cooked dish can also be spicy (Shukto, the Bengali appetizer, is one).<br />
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We finished the main course with the scrumptious Beef Kofta. The crunchy exterior loaded with juicy mince beef inside won us over! It can be a damn good starter as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dPd8CoTsnCC-TATDmdjdiUiPBV1TV4oxbp41MB8i3EX2OElNxXsEYl4i53elkHrv1neaWjNQJrnAIsvY_HrWjLp-o3BUeg2nqrIV2UhU0Od7EFDYe7I0jxC4YuxtNX_1zhq9YQ/s1600/IMG_20180922_144202_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dPd8CoTsnCC-TATDmdjdiUiPBV1TV4oxbp41MB8i3EX2OElNxXsEYl4i53elkHrv1neaWjNQJrnAIsvY_HrWjLp-o3BUeg2nqrIV2UhU0Od7EFDYe7I0jxC4YuxtNX_1zhq9YQ/s640/IMG_20180922_144202_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef Kofta</td></tr>
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We were feeling full and content and rounded it off with Crispy Pancake with Banana and Nutella. The look was inviting and Nutella oozed out of it as I held a piece. A fitting end of a thoroughly pleasing meal!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgawwpwZC1rO8vFTfUfLQ9jFH2NoU6uH6nD63PKTarhlVyI6_NF0iVCJMtADTB-ZT-_dLs0Z8m8s7AcVqBeqeKzn1IEFFeBYuZvBOTJnq6d-rZs2bVn6oOgm-V2hqlJlXQ1bsZg/s1600/IMG_20180922_145907_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgawwpwZC1rO8vFTfUfLQ9jFH2NoU6uH6nD63PKTarhlVyI6_NF0iVCJMtADTB-ZT-_dLs0Z8m8s7AcVqBeqeKzn1IEFFeBYuZvBOTJnq6d-rZs2bVn6oOgm-V2hqlJlXQ1bsZg/s640/IMG_20180922_145907_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crispy Pancake with Banana and Nutella</td></tr>
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The prices are pocket-friendly. Our bill came to around Rs 2200 after eating to our heart's content and repeating a few dishes. A great afternoon spent over delectable food and good company.<br />
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I have to come back, especially if I have a beef craving.<br />
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#Beef #BeefDishes #Tibetan #KolkataFood<br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry"><span style="color: blue; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-28024001717884638172018-09-25T18:53:00.000+05:302018-09-27T00:00:48.898+05:30Chaats of ISKCON #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Due to hygiene issues I cannot have phuchka on the street as per clinical advice. I haven't had it for long despite a weakness for it. So after I spotted it being served in the ISKCON temple premises at Albert Road, a much unlikely place for it, after we shifted our office to Camac Street, I went for the phuchka one evening as I was feeling like a snack break from work. <br>
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The phuchkas were finger-licking good and the tamarind water was perfectly strong! They were more or less uniformly sized, crisp, with adequate filling and the tamarind water with chopped coriander leaves was served in a full glass. So, you pour the water in the phuchka just as you like it before putting it inside the mouth. The filling had boiled potato, boiled chickpea, boiled moong mixed with spices. The man at the counter asks how hot the customer would like it- normal (moderate) or very hot. He uses chilli powder/ green chilli/ both accordingly in the filling. Thankfully, like it happens in central Kolkata and with phuchka-sellers having mostly non-Bengali customers, the tamarind water did not have a strong taste of cumin powder. It was pure tamarind water like they serve it in north Kolkata and actually a better version of that. Also, considering tamarind water is the most sought after ingredient of phuchka and customers often ask for a free refill after their serving, a glassful of this just for you is tempting! <br>
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The phuchkas are made in-house and are better than roadside ones which are not of uniform size, are sometimes overfried and <span style="font-family: sans-serif;">invariably </span>fried in cheap cooking medium which gets burnt in the process. These phuchkas untick all these points. At Rs 38 for eight pieces, it is definitely at a premium than its roadside cousin but worth it because of the hygiene, overall quality and taste.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are iron benches and tables to have your food in a serene setting on Albert Road, with the Victoria Square park opposite it.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BFHsIDXPS6Op2FuX9pTvtQ4Ni-wRFpFeZQuXEaRtO6X5bWclryIICUyLeKEOMAXdd_zpca8ClgULfC0GUiF2veP2DoICgkHA5kl8jPAmrgd1j8_dE1bE2iBIiPfzh21DzfNtXQ/s1600/ISKON+Albert+Rd+phuchka.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BFHsIDXPS6Op2FuX9pTvtQ4Ni-wRFpFeZQuXEaRtO6X5bWclryIICUyLeKEOMAXdd_zpca8ClgULfC0GUiF2veP2DoICgkHA5kl8jPAmrgd1j8_dE1bE2iBIiPfzh21DzfNtXQ/s640/ISKON+Albert+Rd+phuchka.jpg" width="640"></a><br>
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I am definitely going back for the dahi phuchka, papdi chaat and dahi vada. Watch this space for the series to continue.</div>
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#Phuchka #KolkataFood #StreetFood #IndianStreetFood</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry"><span style="color: blue; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-51735034657205883582018-08-19T13:41:00.000+05:302018-08-19T13:41:32.965+05:30Kolkata Clicks #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's World Photography Day today and Kolkata Curry is celebrating it through a curated photo post as part of a new photo series with select clicks of the city by the shutterbugs.<br />
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The first one is a street click by international award-winning photographer Soumya Shankar Ghosal who is a self-proclaimed street photographer and has championed street photography in the city through his Facebook group Streets of Calcutta. I have seen few viewing the streets like Soumya does. He has an eye for the extraordinary in the mundane street life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KWjN0Qs0Ldqu7iAkDZZJAMj5xs9Ru1dhoxESc-XiJMsmWg73GFzV6qXjQ1xgmECCqLK7kOaEblNEaKpzQigVnOLo8R8mF2hVrv49raCKANW3QW9gwlZk15m9rm0nYWM3FTWALA/s1600/Soumya+Shankar+Ghosal+Aug+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KWjN0Qs0Ldqu7iAkDZZJAMj5xs9Ru1dhoxESc-XiJMsmWg73GFzV6qXjQ1xgmECCqLK7kOaEblNEaKpzQigVnOLo8R8mF2hVrv49raCKANW3QW9gwlZk15m9rm0nYWM3FTWALA/s640/Soumya+Shankar+Ghosal+Aug+2018.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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The next is a click from the folk festival 'Gajan Utsab' by passionate Kolkata explorer Arpita Chanda. As she says, Gajan is one of the oldest festivals of Kolkata and it is much older than Durga Puja. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlavYAMxhSgAxLSP7x7FTo5bmj4dTHwkNyHafuzAVAYHjwyhiJP1ELulFNghYfNI5nV9ptEDIAq5Koe6YhC9qsx_ArQQjewURR7y7hIIn9KoCNFFQHRLbMOQ2OwunrWhFR4XTQnA/s1600/DSC_9726.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlavYAMxhSgAxLSP7x7FTo5bmj4dTHwkNyHafuzAVAYHjwyhiJP1ELulFNghYfNI5nV9ptEDIAq5Koe6YhC9qsx_ArQQjewURR7y7hIIn9KoCNFFQHRLbMOQ2OwunrWhFR4XTQnA/s640/DSC_9726.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Victoria Memorial is synonymous with Kolkata. Everybody loves to shoot it. And then some shoot it like a dream. Here is one such by Arindam Patra.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bM861dlwVwnm9oFqZ1QQn9NiLUosiXBjOL_31FtkriBaHm6hWMFrdHfdp0gt8baNfbsoFowGvsIqk6X5Q63xkOeKK3nq8sfDl335ZJU_tnoqOXjhI2unqBwgaYfeyBl5bTUdDg/s1600/Victoria+Memorial+by+Arindam.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bM861dlwVwnm9oFqZ1QQn9NiLUosiXBjOL_31FtkriBaHm6hWMFrdHfdp0gt8baNfbsoFowGvsIqk6X5Q63xkOeKK3nq8sfDl335ZJU_tnoqOXjhI2unqBwgaYfeyBl5bTUdDg/s640/Victoria+Memorial+by+Arindam.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now, one more from the life on street. A capture of a moment of joy in the dreary life of private bus drivers, by Rupam Sen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxM3NfyNeO8Q3iyRq1cV-KuNFb5TCFUJCAYGQ8n3W9hbZ-zsCIfSJER4m25pvBnVz0mxNHns_zHb1dgOi5r7lTsz8My9G2LeZMrnoF2gce1kSy4se5vSayMGEq167ZT92buwZdA/s1600/Rupam+Sen-+SOC-+19.08.18.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxM3NfyNeO8Q3iyRq1cV-KuNFb5TCFUJCAYGQ8n3W9hbZ-zsCIfSJER4m25pvBnVz0mxNHns_zHb1dgOi5r7lTsz8My9G2LeZMrnoF2gce1kSy4se5vSayMGEq167ZT92buwZdA/s640/Rupam+Sen-+SOC-+19.08.18.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2IBvMdthfBiAFTd6k156eSKqZtZs4hIdKSSiHgQqbPaMMHxW0crbixGNeERmKOtCfXB04tRecL-3ied4wnz8J4QYMgTGw1anoqSCwCut9DaOBSg_vicycVBnsq4a1wUJ3C9XRQ/s1600/Dushyant+Chhetri-+SOC-+Ecospace+18.08.18.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a></div>
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Signing off with a dreamy capture of an afternoon in a new township of Kolkata by Dushyant Chhetri.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW1cdW3Jz-eW8VSOMBlwRcbDAgBJnIkt14MX_EqFrPCcVaOC2u9jZr0S2CjHUUGrPlqDNeEg6dgHGnUu3RChyphenhyphenIPyvwVZ1SEI1XHblY5lovYeg9xDNsz1aejMEgqCYXu2gzInb1g/s1600/Dushyant+Chhetri-+SOC-+Ecospace+18.08.18.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW1cdW3Jz-eW8VSOMBlwRcbDAgBJnIkt14MX_EqFrPCcVaOC2u9jZr0S2CjHUUGrPlqDNeEg6dgHGnUu3RChyphenhyphenIPyvwVZ1SEI1XHblY5lovYeg9xDNsz1aejMEgqCYXu2gzInb1g/s640/Dushyant+Chhetri-+SOC-+Ecospace+18.08.18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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#WorldPhotographyDay #WorldPhotographyDay2018 #PhotoSeries #KolkataPhotos</div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-25541034150835900652018-08-13T13:05:00.000+05:302018-09-13T20:52:55.297+05:30A police library with a difference<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today being National Librarian’s Day, I wish to talk about a new library that charmed me.</div>
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I came to know of it from a Facebook post of Kolkata Police. Known as Kolkata Police Museum on Google Maps, its full name is Kolkata Police Museum, Library and Cafeteria. It’s located at 112 Ripon Street (on the left approaching Wellington).</div>
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I visited it with three friends who got interested hearing of it (two of them read the Facebook post too). The museum is small and spread over two floors. Its main attraction is arms seized by police from various periods of history dating back to pre-independence era.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzEKzCoLqW49SmUHJFn76neLdAkbY2w6EMcRJeYLWrGuitU_Ds3Kct3gsO6BW2On7CrYrJIf0ty7OmnGzKI6J2TmMCr6lA6jQw8tEwKVO8pgZA8eZk-OAqkcHsag-oW2W2wdH6A/s1600/IMG_20180616_105800_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzEKzCoLqW49SmUHJFn76neLdAkbY2w6EMcRJeYLWrGuitU_Ds3Kct3gsO6BW2On7CrYrJIf0ty7OmnGzKI6J2TmMCr6lA6jQw8tEwKVO8pgZA8eZk-OAqkcHsag-oW2W2wdH6A/s640/IMG_20180616_105800_HDR.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyiIfAlMzEdXOw7wkwAEViXPlL8NgIpMrc5ZeYxigx72BDaG7BJbvSg5Vo7Cf1kk6PW7c1NqZp9WHWojmLAulhL0HeKnfKHvavn7lB3Rk97ca6xc_aqf2rm1XnJVCOdapm9D2Vg/s1600/IMG-20180616-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyiIfAlMzEdXOw7wkwAEViXPlL8NgIpMrc5ZeYxigx72BDaG7BJbvSg5Vo7Cf1kk6PW7c1NqZp9WHWojmLAulhL0HeKnfKHvavn7lB3Rk97ca6xc_aqf2rm1XnJVCOdapm9D2Vg/s640/IMG-20180616-WA0003.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
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Photograph by Arnab Banerjee</div>
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It shows the evolution of the police uniform since the colonial times. The winners of various awards/ honours of police are listed. It states that Natha Singh was the first Indian to win a traffic roll of honour and he won honours in two consecutive years, 1938 and 1939. A section familiarizes with various badges of the ranks of police which is an important civil information.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArT51opHACXPCX0y5K5W-fuC_ySo2HiF38_ubSXulbe-hreeacL74ZX74rZ3w0J213n1Fyhyphenhyphen-wkptv_313UB2zQXoupdT2b87c01nGK90x0CE6EtJ5vnjsUXDXn-YZBPaSeBddw/s1600/IMG_20180616_111146_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArT51opHACXPCX0y5K5W-fuC_ySo2HiF38_ubSXulbe-hreeacL74ZX74rZ3w0J213n1Fyhyphenhyphen-wkptv_313UB2zQXoupdT2b87c01nGK90x0CE6EtJ5vnjsUXDXn-YZBPaSeBddw/s640/IMG_20180616_111146_HDR.jpg" width="480"></a></div>
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The history of the house is interesting too. The second prince (Mejokumar) of the erstwhile Bhawal Estate, who is popularly known as 'Sanyasi Raja' (The monk king), thanks to the popular Bengali movie of the same name made on him, fought the famous Bhawal Monk case from this house. It is regarded as one of the most extraordinary cases ever fought in Indian judicial history which took place in 1933-1936. As it happened, a monk came to the estate and claimed himself to be the Mejokumar who was known to have died eleven years back, and demanded his share of the estate.<br>
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Available documents show that it was the residence of Calcutta High Court Barrister RS Tweedle in 1874. After changing hands it landed with lawyer SN Matilal (in 1912) whose daughter Sarajubala Devi was married to the first prince of the Bhawal estate. It went to be part of the estate thereafter.<br>
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The house was decided to be demolished given its pathetic condition at a point of time. Kolkata Police took it as a challenge to restore it, and I must say they have done an exemplary job! Post the painstaking restoration, it was declared a 'Restored Heritage Building of the City' by INTACH. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coming to the library. It took me by surprise by the kinds of books in its collection as it completely beats the perception of a police library. I later realised it was by design, thanks to the Commissioner of Police Mr Rajiv Kumar, as it has been envisioned as a centre for police-citizen connect. The CP is so attached to it that it is said to be his second home and he is often seen there. The surprise element is that it has a wide collection of books for all the members of a family, from the junior to the seniormost. The fiction section is amazingly robust with admirable collection of classic literature, juvenile literature and classic thrillers. The non-fiction range is pretty good too, including study books in various disciplines like finance and management. There are many Bengali titles too, both in fiction and non-fiction. Noticed the now popular book on fascinating cases of Kolkata Police written by senior police officer Supratim Sarkar, titled </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goendapith</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lalbazar</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (The English translation named ‘Murder in the City’ is available too). Before it became a book, the stories were being published in the <i>Rohoshyo Robbar</i> series on Kolkata Police Facebook page and they gradually whipped up a huge following. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-7608-20e9-6520-cd93a1fd7015" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-7608-20e9-6520-cd93a1fd7015" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The library has over ten thousand books.<br></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of our tour of the library, what blew my mind was the extensive collection of comic books in English to hook the youngest readers. Imagine a police library keeping a huge collection of Tintin and Asterix, Marvel and DC!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Sub-Inspector S Sharma, the friendly gentleman who acquainted us through the library, told us, it is open seven days a week, 11 am to 7 pm. However, the best time is weekend as visitors are much less. They encourage one to come with the whole family and spend a good number of hours there. To help the purpose, there’s a cool cafe, interestingly named Off Duty Delights, which serves (non-alcoholic) beverages and a good range of snacks. We liked the iced tea. For the overall feel</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> one of the friends compared it to the British Council Library. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX54d1Ia-Xfya2f1Z2wNuMrjcZU0ZgKy_NVdJgBn7anjBMp0ZIVG8ZcfwmyVZumoG0KXkxOoB6WbLW5JGDgQ-gbm0O0toS2pxvVgNkLFgtBBvlNAbCYsZmZOEbuCaJ_gKNGKu-sQ/s1600/IMG_20180616_122159_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX54d1Ia-Xfya2f1Z2wNuMrjcZU0ZgKy_NVdJgBn7anjBMp0ZIVG8ZcfwmyVZumoG0KXkxOoB6WbLW5JGDgQ-gbm0O0toS2pxvVgNkLFgtBBvlNAbCYsZmZOEbuCaJ_gKNGKu-sQ/s640/IMG_20180616_122159_HDR.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iced tea</td></tr>
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The membership fee is Rs 800 per annum plus Rs 100 as a one-time cost of membership card. You can take books or DVD or both and keep upto two books for a maximum of four weeks.</div>
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#NationalLibrariansDay #Library #Museum #Heritage #History</div>
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If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry">Facebook page</a> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-59171393274518283542018-08-10T18:03:00.000+05:302018-08-10T18:03:25.955+05:30Itsy-bitsy story #3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“I don’t miss mom’s finger-licking rajma masala in tiffin.”</div>
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“Got a good cook?”</div>
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“Dad makes it as good. He learnt from mom when she was ill.”</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You may also read:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/07/itsy-bitsy-story-1.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #1</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/08/itsy-bitsy-story-2.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #2 </a></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#MicroFiction </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">#140CharacterStory </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">#ShortShortStory #MicroStory #FlashFiction #Twitterature </span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-86070424048677533572018-08-04T16:14:00.000+05:302018-08-16T19:59:10.149+05:30Itsy-bitsy story #2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You are back! How was it?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Work-wise, good! The project was interesting, the team was fun, the office is cool and there were loads to learn. But the food put me off.!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I warned you, it’s not a city where good food is easy to find.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I remembered it. Everything from Chinese to biryani, breakfast to lunch was a mess! Strangely those suit their palate! Had to survive on soup and sandwich.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“But you must thank your luck for that.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Why?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You are wearing your favourite fitted shirt after three years thanks to this one month.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You may also read:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/07/itsy-bitsy-story-1.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #1</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/08/itsy-bitsy-story-3.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #3</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#MicroFiction #ShortShortStory #MicroStory #FlashFiction</span></span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-25005690091762653472018-08-01T16:03:00.000+05:302018-08-01T20:24:18.590+05:30Kolkata in art<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I came across these beautiful painted pictures of my city of love on Facebook and couldn't resist sharing them with you after the artist happily permitted. They are done by painter Dibyendu Ukil, based in Chinsurah ,who has studied the art in Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata (popularly known as Art College).<br>
<br>All the pictures are of north Kolkata and the detailing deftly brings out the quintessential life in that part of the city and its fascinating British era architecture, which is one of the reasons why I am charmed by Kolkata forever.<br>
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About the pictures, their finesse reminds me of master artist Subrata Gangopadhyay whose impeccable, lifelike painting works I've grown up with seeing in Anandamela (children's magazine).<br>
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The old world charm exuded by the pictures is very much a reality. It is a delight to many travellers across the globe.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmnViXOPLVpATXvio0uaDYU80V8e6sv54ZuyEKDGnJ24mG9ojDFnU5GHkBBkKSTMrKDbQQfktKX6xYrUR6kcUthGzsle8KHG8GacBt1Dyjy5eAL1u05xldGeHlD5sQepp3LGA1w/s1600/FB_IMG_1533063359124.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmnViXOPLVpATXvio0uaDYU80V8e6sv54ZuyEKDGnJ24mG9ojDFnU5GHkBBkKSTMrKDbQQfktKX6xYrUR6kcUthGzsle8KHG8GacBt1Dyjy5eAL1u05xldGeHlD5sQepp3LGA1w/s640/FB_IMG_1533063359124.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxxkVMcER8Eu_ildO7nCjH4sMLgRh1M7w2hWb5pOCkqKzkn4jX7dkma0yWUbgRTlYwEDqEGUYBZCFNRZgsvZb4bChtVuMosoZlKYJelVbXLihx8AYEe-bu67C_b-tEK5-Q5Bztw/s1600/FB_IMG_1533063380370.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxxkVMcER8Eu_ildO7nCjH4sMLgRh1M7w2hWb5pOCkqKzkn4jX7dkma0yWUbgRTlYwEDqEGUYBZCFNRZgsvZb4bChtVuMosoZlKYJelVbXLihx8AYEe-bu67C_b-tEK5-Q5Bztw/s640/FB_IMG_1533063380370.jpg" width="480"></a></div>
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#Painting #Kolkata #Architecture #Heritage #KolkataArchitecture #KolkataHeritage #LifeInKolkata</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry"><span style="color: blue; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-41377498207643654432018-07-28T08:14:00.001+05:302018-08-16T20:00:23.525+05:30Itsy-bitsy story #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"You don't know her for long. What makes you think of her so much? She's not pretty or attractive, right?"<br />
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"Right. But she is unlike anyone I've met so far."<br />
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"How?"<br />
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"She can laugh at herself."</div>
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You may also read:<br />
<i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/08/itsy-bitsy-story-2.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #2</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.com/2018/08/itsy-bitsy-story-3.html" target="_blank">Itsy-bitsy story #3</a></i><br />
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#MicroFiction #ShortShortStory #MicroStory #FlashFiction</div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-50611744414848024552018-07-14T19:38:00.000+05:302018-07-23T16:50:46.168+05:30The ISKCON Rathayatra 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This was my first encounter with the Rathayatra conducted by ISKCON in the city as my new office is close to its temple on Albert Road. When I reached the temple at around 3.40 pm, the Rathayatra had just set off. The route was: Albert Road - Hungerford Street - Sarat Bose Road - Hazra Road - Hazra Crossing - Ashutosh Mukherjee Road - Jawaharlal Nehru Road (Chowringhee) - Brigade Parade Ground. The pandal at Brigade Parade Ground will remain seven days. After that there will be a return of the procession to Albert Road called Ulta Rathayatra ('Ulta' means return) on a different route via Esplanade on 22nd July.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDl3JDyXBg_arTaWx0HnPixHTkIQ2h9Z6xkEim1LP2jMjyKRDISASjls2Uw5au6y-rCC_ulwR5-lM9ztCsf4VjAaKI5AZZyNeP5xzOgZjKWT7t9hivufz9iktZHCv5-FouU4DDw/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDl3JDyXBg_arTaWx0HnPixHTkIQ2h9Z6xkEim1LP2jMjyKRDISASjls2Uw5au6y-rCC_ulwR5-lM9ztCsf4VjAaKI5AZZyNeP5xzOgZjKWT7t9hivufz9iktZHCv5-FouU4DDw//" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert Road-Hungerford Street</td></tr>
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There are three '<i>ratha</i>'s (chariot)- One each for lord Jagannatha, his brother Balaram (alias Balabhadra/ Baldev) and sister Subhadra. A huge procession takes place around these three and it is witnessed by thousands of devotees and general public.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWyVI1-KPlwPk6eYpYofruMDUyL2MrIe3CxVng7h3d9ZUC9Mnl5btWijugo7AGhbv4wJg8WQKNKL0pxCvbpCIYIwYq6gQWsLX5U0s8B_MFDhF2FRndGRDciU9np-qKbHtPxS5ZQ/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWyVI1-KPlwPk6eYpYofruMDUyL2MrIe3CxVng7h3d9ZUC9Mnl5btWijugo7AGhbv4wJg8WQKNKL0pxCvbpCIYIwYq6gQWsLX5U0s8B_MFDhF2FRndGRDciU9np-qKbHtPxS5ZQ//" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert Road-Hungerford Street</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDxHTWOIQLZ7692Wht5eR739Zjve3OjBP5SEzKIr5hYn0hFGJx284z6zJxs195Q8uRkY7sYDBcxhtHue0QnUlb7rjuz39yw7fYKj48zZp3O-Ajj_XRqi_75NfToXS5JCtbHrX3g/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDxHTWOIQLZ7692Wht5eR739Zjve3OjBP5SEzKIr5hYn0hFGJx284z6zJxs195Q8uRkY7sYDBcxhtHue0QnUlb7rjuz39yw7fYKj48zZp3O-Ajj_XRqi_75NfToXS5JCtbHrX3g//" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert Road-Hungerford Street</td></tr>
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(The above pictures are sourced from a colleague)<br />
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I am confessing herein that, to me, the best part of a puja is its <i>prasad</i>. I came to know from a colleague of this group called Baldev Group (Dedicated to lord Baldev) which was to distribute <i>prasad bhog</i> (rice-based prasad) on the occasion. I, accompanied by a support staff, set out again from the office for the <i>prasad</i>. The distribution would be from a spot on Sarat Bose Road. The <i>ratha</i> (chariot) procession was moving down that road then with huge crowd witnessing it from the side and scores of devotees joining others in pulling the ropes of the <i>ratha</i>. A lot of young photography enthusiasts climbed the road dividers for a vantage point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vlJOyAtTVpfy34yTpu2z5wbfSxPKC6_LBmDR7rTX8ohlhR5VsPtvtrfByeB1l4xkZlIqU3AfrmAluWX3uiULugAfer7wsEqMxjaI0Tr6yR5j4vfodrWGQbA9b8fY2GuZJqCy9Q/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vlJOyAtTVpfy34yTpu2z5wbfSxPKC6_LBmDR7rTX8ohlhR5VsPtvtrfByeB1l4xkZlIqU3AfrmAluWX3uiULugAfer7wsEqMxjaI0Tr6yR5j4vfodrWGQbA9b8fY2GuZJqCy9Q//" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the three <i>rathas</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3KIoJSYObViFV-jpU6TumNXn1C8MlbqfntrdcSf9BZ2XSwKKIbFYqaCzKNHyFGTc4fGDRqjC4yU0elGYWXFW-besoOJl5SNleUVlVsIfJQ2TYnWFIZjo-I2ti-rmL23zsclLhA/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3KIoJSYObViFV-jpU6TumNXn1C8MlbqfntrdcSf9BZ2XSwKKIbFYqaCzKNHyFGTc4fGDRqjC4yU0elGYWXFW-besoOJl5SNleUVlVsIfJQ2TYnWFIZjo-I2ti-rmL23zsclLhA//" /></a></td></tr>
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I figured out the venue in the middle of a thick crowd. Volunteers of the group were distributing <i>sherbats</i> to the people gathered. Devotees from the group had cooked several units of <i>chappan bhog </i>(Literally an assortment of 56 items from starter to dessert) to offer the deities before distributing as <i>prasad</i>. I saw the units placed on table tops being carried to the deity and brought back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN4NhkhasuaKDbIcmfAtGoNLCWmZg3MrjkK58BERCQox0GODsV8wm3Ng7Xq37CQqjnuiB-ENOKyLw7P3Yx6ajL9w339BEM3mKlr3rTV6rbB1ekYrD-9zT-2IRkGEGTCrHv98sjw/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="" data-original-width="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN4NhkhasuaKDbIcmfAtGoNLCWmZg3MrjkK58BERCQox0GODsV8wm3Ng7Xq37CQqjnuiB-ENOKyLw7P3Yx6ajL9w339BEM3mKlr3rTV6rbB1ekYrD-9zT-2IRkGEGTCrHv98sjw//" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chhappan Bhog on way to be offered to the ratha of Lord Balabhadra (Balaram)</td></tr>
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The distribution started soon after, while the procession was still on, from the Pabrai's ice cream parlour. And it was exciting! One could pick up any one bowl/ plate/ pot and take it away. I was choosy as we had to pick up a proper <i>bhog</i> for sharing it among colleagues back in the office. My colleague picked up a pot of <i>khichdi</i> topped with fried vegetables and it had my smiling approval. I was looking for a good finishing dish and spotted a bowl of <i>kheer</i> and wasted no time to pick it up. We left immediately and it soon started pouring. <br />
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I was happy for this experience despite the long walk to the prasad venue at Sarat Bose Road and back to the office in the drizzle. Everyone in the office was happy to share the delicious bhog.<br />
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#ISKCON #Rathayatra #RathayatraKolkata #Rathayatra2018 #RathayatraKolkata2018<br />
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-69232509344322969212018-06-19T17:50:00.001+05:302018-06-19T18:21:19.387+05:30Pratim D Gupta talks 'Ahare Mon'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last August, he served us a delectable <i>Maacher Jhol</i>. Set in Paris and Kolkata, the film gave us a hitherto unthought of Ritwick as an internationally acclaimed Masterchef in a sensitive mother-son tale. It won both critical and popular acclaim.<br />
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This time around, he has trained his focus on pairs of minds of various ages and how they vibe with each other. Simply speaking, an out-of-the-box take on love and companionship, so nicely and aptly named <i>Ahare Mon. </i>It boasts of an eclectic ensemble cast of Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Ritwik Chakraborty, Parno Mitra, Paoli Dam, Adil Hussain and debutante Chitrangada Chakraborty.<br />
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In this short interview, Pratim D Gupta talks on various aspects of his new film in his usual candid manner. <i>Ahare Mon</i> releases on 22nd June 2018.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEhnu1-6LB0dfzT0oYmLNzzuB4MHXd74gjdmHY_R-g5SWLmL4rgzbwn_dpK0knCjj24zc-WJcdeFev3l9sqDLnpJ3rcVfakOaZCfNRYEoyTb1kIJUloHsYF2hlHhaFJkc8mcDmw/s1600/Pratim+%2526+Mamata+on+the+sets+of+Ahare+Mon+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEhnu1-6LB0dfzT0oYmLNzzuB4MHXd74gjdmHY_R-g5SWLmL4rgzbwn_dpK0knCjj24zc-WJcdeFev3l9sqDLnpJ3rcVfakOaZCfNRYEoyTb1kIJUloHsYF2hlHhaFJkc8mcDmw/s640/Pratim+%2526+Mamata+on+the+sets+of+Ahare+Mon+2018.jpg" width="620" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pratim D Gupta with Mamata Shankar on the sets of <i>Ahare Mon</i></td></tr>
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<b>Kolkata Curry: </b>If we call <i>Paanch Adhyay</i> vanilla romance, <i>Ahare Mon </i>seems to be a layered, out-of-the-box take on on the subject. Was there a common thread in conceiving all the four stories? How did the stories fall in place?<br />
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<b>Pratim: </b>I had two of the stories with me for a very long time. The airport immigration officer story which I had first thought of at least 12-13 years back. And the story of the two thieves too was something I have wanted to see on screen for at least a decade. There are two friends of mine in Mumbai - Harneet and Kartik - and I would discuss with them the Michael Tendulkar-Suzie Q love story. But at that stage both were one line premises. The two other stories emerged last year when I thought of clubbing these short stories together into one feature film. The common thread is love, of course, but it's also about loneliness and companionship and the eternal wait for love.<br />
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<b>KC: </b>Given an opportunity in the past, you had a wish to shoot Adil's story with Mithun. They have different appeals and screen presence. What made you select Adil apart from the fact that he is a gifted actor and you admire his work? Did you have to rewrite the track for him?<br />
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<b>Pratim: </b>When I thought of that story, I had Mithunda's face in mind. That was a dozen years back. When I finally sat down last year to write out the screenplay, I knew Mithun da would most likely not be available to play the role of Purnendu Pahari. So I didn't have any actor in mind when I finally scripted that story. I tried a couple of actors from the Bengali film industry first and waited for each of them for weeks to confirm their dates. But they just couldn't shuffle their calendar, despite their best efforts. Adil was like an SOS call although he wasn't aware how panicked we all were. Within a day of me sending him the script, he got back saying, "I've just read a couple of pages and I want to do this".<br />
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<b>KC: </b>I love both the songs- <i>Monta Ahare</i> and <i>Ahare Mon</i>. Written, composed and sung beautifully, they are urbane and very contemporary in sound. But why did you limit the songs to just two in a romantic tale?<br />
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<b>Pratim: </b>It's more of a drama. Not romance in the sense of a Yash Chopra or Karan Johar film. The truth remains that songs hold up the screenplay. So, although I love music and participate heavily in the creation of songs and background scores of my films, I try to keep songs to the minimum.<br />
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<b>KC: </b>The Anjan-Mamata pair is coming back after <i>Jani Dyakha Hawbe</i> (2011). Did you cast them keeping in mind, among other things, their recent and past on-screen chemistry (in <i>Kharij</i> and <i>Grihajuddha</i>)?<br />
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<b>Pratim: </b>Can I tell you the truth? I haven't seen <i>Kharij</i>. And I couldn't complete <i>Jani Dyakha Hawbe</i>. Sorry, Birsa! <i>Grihajuddha</i> I have seen but to be honest, no film or moment from earlier films played any role in scripting the Barun Babu - Charulata Debi portion or while directing Anjan Dutt and Mamata Shankar in <i>Ahare Mon</i>. This is a whole new pitch and believe me they have simply knocked it out of the park. Their hotel scene will remain special.<br />
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#AhareMon #BanglaCinema #BanglaCinema2018 #Cinema<br />
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-90569378534491129072018-06-13T08:00:00.000+05:302018-06-20T13:35:51.530+05:30A freewheeling chat with Srijit Mukherji<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
He has studied Economics in Presidency College and Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has several years of directorial experience in Bangla cinema behind him. He takes an academic interest in tracking box office figures of his films as well as his peers' and deeply analysing audience response to his films. He has complete knowledge of the work of promising new directors and the response to their films. His contemporaries Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Raj Chakraborty have film production houses to their credit for quite some time. He has worked in Hindi cinema where most of the noted directors have their production house. I had often wondered why he was not starting his production house and taking his creative and economic acumen to the next level.<br />
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It was heartening to note a few months back that Srijit Mukherji finally started his production house, thoughtfully named Match Cut Productions, and announced its first production <i>Chowringhee </i>which is a co-production with SVF.<br />
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Srijit opens up on his newborn in this Kolkata Curry exclusive interview for the first time (considering all media).<br />
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<b>Kolkata Curry: </b>You don't need to look for producers for making your kind of films. It could be similar for web series. What was the thought behind setting up Match Cut Productions?<br />
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<b>Srijit Mukherji: </b>There are lots of stories which appeal to me or are close to my heart which already have a storyteller in place. So to be a part of these stories, to facilitate the storytelling process and to bring them to the world, Match Cut was formed. Also, since making films in Bengal taught me a lot of things even outside direction, like production, scheduling, budgeting and marketing, thought Match Cut could be a way to put them to use. The economist in me, I guess, was at play!<br />
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<b>KC:</b> What does Match Cut Productions aspire to bring to the table for the industry?<br />
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<b>Srijit</b>: New stories, new faces, new voices, unmade projects by known voices, indies which appeal to me, new technicians.<br />
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<b>KC:</b> What are your thoughts and plans of working with new directors under your banner? Or handholding independent directors whose films/ content you find promising? You are seen appreciating young talents like Manas Mukul Pal, Indrashis Acharya and Soukarya Ghosal. You presented Pradipta Bhattacharya's national award- winning Bakita Byaktigawto back in 2013. Do you plan to collaborate with some of these names under Match Cut?<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-f010-249b-9595-b871d23e6b71" style="font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Srijit</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Absolutely! Much before </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly,</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I singlehandedly rallied behind the prodigiously talented Shoukarya's </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pendulum</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which blew me away. Even when Manas' </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shawhoj Pather Goppo</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was taken down after an initial run, I protested on social media and used whatever leverage I have, along with Shiboprasad, Shrikant Mohta and Pankaj Ladia to get it back to the halls. I am already collaborating with Paavel on a project, another fantastic talent whose </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Babar Naam Gandhiji</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I offered to present. Then there are brilliant new voices like Indrashish Acharya and Sayantan Ghoshal with whom talks are on about possible collaborations. Have been in dialogue with screenwriters like Padmanabha Dasgupta, Debapratim Dasgupta, Dipangshu Acharya and Saurav Palodhi. Match Cut will look at actively producing or promoting content written, directed or both, by these names above, because I firmly believe they hold the key to making the content heavy Bengal film industry even richer.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: So far I'm aware, except the Kakababu series and </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shibar Phire Asha</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which you chose not to pursue after a point of time, you are not known to have expressed interest in adapting Bengali fiction for films. Why did you zero in on </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chowringhee</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as your first co-production while it has had an acclaimed adaptation in Bengali cinema?</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Srijit</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Before Kabir Suman's </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tomake Chai</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> came and changed everything about life from taking pride in one's mother tongue to grumbling, criticizing, condemning but unconditionally loving one's own city, </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chowringhee</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was that novel which did all of that and more to me, at a tender age. In fact one of the earliest memories of a book cover for me is the iconic stamp laden one which hasn't changed over the years. Or the earliest memory of a book ending was the glow sign of Shahjahan. I have never made a film which hasn't come from inside, from an urge, from a deep love, from some piece of nostalgia. So there, the template or formula or pattern or device is absolutely non-existent for me. </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chowringhee</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> technically might be a literary adaptation, but for me, is an unforgettable story, an indelible experience which fashioned my mind in early years. Much like Julius Caesar which found its way to Kidderpore in </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zulfiqar</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or like Aban Thakur's </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rajkahini</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> found its voice in </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rajkahini</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Begum Jaan.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><br />
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#MatchCutProductions #SrijitMukherji #BanglaCinema<br />
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-62605800713273514292018-06-09T19:31:00.001+05:302018-06-12T11:40:14.591+05:30Waste Band and the pied piper of Tangra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is this bunch of youngsters on stage up to with these bizarre things? Thermocol block, empty paint tins and plastic paint drums, cut iron pipes placed in order, half-filled empty PET bottles and stuff! What kind of musical sound will come out of them? One can’t help but wonder when one sees them setting up. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The sound check follows and the thought is hit out of the park. It’s rock sound, man! Welcome to Waste Band.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-52aae2be-e4ad-1120-9402-26e4da1ce85f"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I came across this band that doesn’t play musical instruments in an annual programme of a new NGO where they performed last, as the main attraction. It plays instruments made out of waste products (as mentioned above) and create musical sound out of them. What I experienced in their session in a cultural show was an absolutely unique innovation in music and a new sound. The band leader plays a guitar (if you call it that) made of a wooden plank and an empty tin! </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Their version of digital percussion commonly known as 'Octapad'</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2w3gJemshq6SX14JuljHHakMT02ejOwSSqpT-peCCqmm4h2nsTlbJkF9nVqsh_jZLgGdKhNeMxdMxXv76-q_Dcwvhkt7du_QWuk4iCzKQFIP_rBKA-wQ3E4bAakjyDWVU0hrmMQ/s1600/IMG_20180603_212045_HHT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2w3gJemshq6SX14JuljHHakMT02ejOwSSqpT-peCCqmm4h2nsTlbJkF9nVqsh_jZLgGdKhNeMxdMxXv76-q_Dcwvhkt7du_QWuk4iCzKQFIP_rBKA-wQ3E4bAakjyDWVU0hrmMQ/s400/IMG_20180603_212045_HHT.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Band leader Sanjay Mandal plays his innovative guitar</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ef7c3c74-e4af-d0b9-ee23-457f3da8a27d"></span><br>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As for vocals, that’s interesting too. The youngest boy who also plays the iron pipes with a spanner sang some rhymes in rap. They also mix a conventional instrument or two when needed. Like this girl, Payel, played flute accompanied by a few of her bandmates on their respective instruments in one of the compositions. I only wished they got a full session to play as they had to cut it short due to lack of time left to close the function. </span></span></div>
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The story behind it, as shared by band leader Sanjay Mandal whose brainchild it is, is an amazing and inspiring social initiative. I am proud to know this has happened in Kolkata.</div>
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Tangra, by Sanjay’s own admission, is an area is Kolkata which is educationally, culturally and financially backward. Boys drop out of school early and do small jobs to support the family. Sanjay, who seems to be in his forties, is one among them. Despite the compulsion and hardship destiny posed, he wanted to do something different in life with the local youngsters of school-going age engaged in earning. So, he started an after-work recreation session of music with instruments built out of things thrown away (They couldn't afford proper instruments and training). Soon the boys got hooked to it and a band was formed. They got noticed by renowned band Bhoomi in one of their early shows in 2006 and performed in their television show <i>Barandaay Roddur.</i> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The vocalist is playing his instrument made of iron pipes with a spanner</td></tr>
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Their journey has taken them to the popular national television show ‘India’s Got Talent’ and NDTV where they performed live. Today, they do shows in various parts of India and abroad.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bagful coins is an instrument for them</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We wisecrack, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Sanjay and his gang live up to it, day in and day out. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The earning from the shows is saved for greater good. Sanjay’s aim is to build a school for the local children. A small piece of land has already been purchased. Sanjay is also getting some of the band members, which now has a few young girls too, trained in formal music. <span style="font-size: 24px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Waste Band</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hope Sanjay Mandal, the pied piper of Tangra, goes from strength to strength with his band of boys and girls embracing music with passion. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If anybody is interested to call the band for a show, Sanjay can be reached at </span></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">9330832732.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#WasteBand #KolkataMusic #IndiasGotTalent</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6283656f-e4d4-02a0-aaf7-8eebda97493c"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></span></span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-49184670546425429872018-05-24T18:55:00.000+05:302019-05-14T15:29:41.126+05:30A tete-a-tete with filmmaker Soukarya Ghosal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Soukarya Ghosal was noticed with his first film <i>Pendulum </i>(Bengali, 2014) which was about a surrealist painter. He made a film for film for television in 2015 (shot like a film as it happens in this Zee Bangla Originals series of films) named <i>Load Shedding </i>which I liked for the most part. As he is ready to release his next feature film <i>Rainbow Jelly </i>(Bengali)<i> </i>on 25th May 2018,<i> </i>he talks to Kolkata Curry neck deep in pre-release work. The most curious bit of <i>Rainbow Jelly </i>is that its protagonist is played by Mahabrata Basu who is a special child.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kolkata Curry: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You Facebook profile says you are an animator. What prompted you to become a filmmaker? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Soukarya: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am not an animator. Actually I learnt the process of animation while doing the post-production of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was a graphic designer and illustrator working with a leading Bengali daily, doing cartoons and writing a few features and page 3 articles. Later on when I came to filmmaking with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pendulum </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I chose painting to be the subject. The protagonist is a painter who takes his audience into his painting and the space of the painting becomes the real space when one goes into his painting. So, the influence of art was there from my first film since I came from that background. While doing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this influence was also there on Ghnoton’s wall and while writing the script I thought that the imagination of Ghnoton would be his own drawings. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a food fantasy. That's a fresh concept. What was the germ of the idea? Why did you choose to spin a yarn through different flavours of food?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">S: </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainbow Jelly </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is known as India’s first food fantasy film. The concept of food fantasy is that you weave a fantasy story around the basic structure of food. My film is about the seven tastes of food- Sweet, salty, sour, spicy, astringent, pungent and bitter. What I’ve tried to say is that we change in character based on the tastes (of food we eat), like chocolate triggers happy hormones. But it’s much beyond that. While writing the story I was referring to Ayurveda where I found an interesting concept - Don’t make medicine your food. Make food your medicine. With properly recommended, different kinds of food you can heal up your body and mind. Any ancient philosophy believes in development of both body and mind. Ayurveda traces it with much more details like chemical combinations of food but I didn't want to go into such depth as my film is a fun film with children all around and a mysterious character. I just wanted to tell a story where something is happening...something funny is happening with the structure of taste and the change in characters. We also included seven colours with seven tastes and seven is actually a magical number. If you see the film you’ll find that there are seven days, seven colours, seven tastes and seven notes of music. We have merged a food fantasy with all of that. It's a fresh concept which came to me while I was learning cooking. I love to eat and I love to cook. While cooking I’ve found that with your state of mind the taste of the food actually changes. I’ve also found that if you are happy the taste of food is different from the food you prepare when you are not happy. So from there the germ of the idea came and I thought that what if the world can be changed with food.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell us how you found your protagonist Ghnoton in Mahabrata Basu who is a special child. What were your ways of getting him follow your instructions on the set?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">S: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found Mahabrata with the reference of Moushumidi (Moushumi Bhowmik) who has sung a song in my film. She had come to know that I was looking for Ghnoton. She goes to a school of 14-15 students and teaches English there. I had briefed her on Ghnoton and she said that she knew someone there who she found close to Ghnoton. So she asked the boy to come to my house. Mahabrata came with his father. Initially I didn't think he fit in because he had numb expressions like all special children. But after four-five minutes when he smiled, it was so radiant that I was convinced that he was my Ghnoton. I immediately locked him. After selecting Mahabrata, his mother Gargi-di called me and asked how much of dialogue there was in my script for him. I said that there was just one scene without him and the film had quite an amount of dialogue. She told me to kindly leave Mahabrata therefore because till then in his school there was no concept of memorizing or writing exams. The concept was something alien to him. But I said that I wanted him. While I write a script I do sketches of characters, in black & white and colour. I told her that the features (of Ghnoton) were very close to Mahabrata. Gargidi then said, “OK, fine, give me a few days.” After three days she sent him to my house and asked me to try out the first few scenes with him. He came to my house, ready with the first five-six scenes. When he was stuck with the dialogue and couldn't recall the lines, I would give him the script, but he couldn't make out anything looking at it. When I asked him, I found out that he actually memorized the script because his mother had constantly narrated it to him like </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ramayana </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mahabharata </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">after his return from school</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and that's how he memorized it like </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shruti </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Veda. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was an interesting finding for me that he mugged up the entire script by listening to it. When he came to the floor he was so ready that he remembered his own lines and others’ lines too. It didn't happen with the other actors who weren't ‘special’ like him. There were directorial assistants to give them the cue (when they couldn't remember the lines) but with Mahabrata my assistants had little to do. With the dialogue he even remembered every narration like the camera was panning or the camera was in the trolley. So Mahabrata was an exceptional case to deal with. I found my protagonist Ghnoton in his smile initially, but later on his numb expressions were very painful for me to change. Then I devised this ‘Smiley method’. I drew 67 smileys on his script- Happy, sad, angry, worried, amazed, irritated etc. I used to make him practise the smileys fast, changing expressions. (While taking shots) I used call out the smiley names and his reaction would change with the command. Mahabrata was an obedient child on the set and above everything he had a tremendous sense of rigour which is a gifted thing. This rigour helps him do certain things that a normal child can not. Actually he is very conscious of his own state and he is constantly challenging the odds he is facing as he always wants to win. And by that he is constantly overcoming himself and developing himself. That makes him easy to deal with as when he used to be stuck with something, most of the times he came up with more rigour to solve the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#RainbowJelly #BanglaCinema #BengaliCinema </span></span><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">#BengaliCinema2018</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #TollyDiaries</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-1018861351843493372018-05-19T17:08:00.000+05:302018-05-21T12:38:23.857+05:30The aftermath of the double blast in food scene<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As if the fear of dead and formalin-preserved chicken in our favourite chicken delicacies was not enough, the carcass meat scam dealt Kolkata a mighty blow last month. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Suddenly we are suspecting our favourite chicken roll, chicken momo, chilli chicken, mutton biryani and kawsha mangsho and being on the alert about everything with chicken or meat in it, be it roadside eateries or well-known restaurants. We want to be sure we are not eating carcass meat or formalin-laden dead chicken in drool-worthy dishes. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other day, I saw that the tawa earlier busy frying parathas now idle, the heap of chicken drumstick and chilli chicken displayed outside now noticeably shrunk and just a handful of customers sitting at a popular street eatery on Arabinda Sarani at Karbagan which I’ve always found crowded. A few feet away, the biryani handis which I always used to find open for filling boxes now covered and the staff waiting for customers in two popular roadside biryani shops. This is a representative picture of the city. </span></span>Biswanath Ghorui aka <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mangsho Bishu, the arrested carcass meat kingpin, has scared the daylights out of Kolkatans.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOmS1sTMWIBhR2amMgKqXQLCq36ZtWikV4hMV9UfGVUnuxYYRHtRSu0GJlUNakuK9F8oU7blXgDXTfcVSeAFlZH6P_J7blEcFocAG41s6PzOdxPoJiS7iISFQhugyJAburEqVNg/s1600/Snacks+Corner+%2528Bentinck+St-Meredith+St+crossing%2529-+Chinese+combo+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOmS1sTMWIBhR2amMgKqXQLCq36ZtWikV4hMV9UfGVUnuxYYRHtRSu0GJlUNakuK9F8oU7blXgDXTfcVSeAFlZH6P_J7blEcFocAG41s6PzOdxPoJiS7iISFQhugyJAburEqVNg/s640/Snacks+Corner+%2528Bentinck+St-Meredith+St+crossing%2529-+Chinese+combo+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kolkata would like to look away from such a sight now</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egg roll in snacking and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dim-bhaat/ machh-bhaat </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or khichudi</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in working class lunch are suddenly seeing an Uber-like surge in demand, beating their respective eternal rivals- chicken roll, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chicken-bhaat </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and fried rice-chilli chicken combo hands down. A sizable population is now preferring egg, fish and prawn (those who can afford) over chicken and mutton even if it is a compromise with the palate. The trust is shaken and customers aren’t taking chances.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Restaurants and eateries are seeing an unprecedented free fall in orders for chicken and mutton dishes and a relatively higher demand in prawn and fish options. As a natural reaction, restaurateurs are now desperate to prove the freshness of their meat and poultry and some of them are even putting up their suppliers’ names and phone numbers on display subjecting them for public enquiry and inspection to earn back customer trust. I read that small restaurant owners from Hatibagan who shop for their chicken and meat themselves and are demanding that chicken and goats be cut before their eyes as a condition to buy.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A huge food group on Facebook is now seeing posts of mostly home-cooked dishes whereas till recently the feed used to be balanced by posts of dining out- predominantly chicken and meat dishes besides fish. I assume paneer jokes circulated by hardcore non-veg Bengalis (Like ‘paneer biryani’ is a joke by itself) are dipping now.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This social boycott is being reflected in Bengali papers publishing recipes of versions of popular non-veg foods made with green jackfruit and green plantain because people are now even wary of buying raw chicken/ mutton that is already cut and insisting on getting it cut before their eyes. I am sure earlier hardcore non-vegetarian Bengalis would quip that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enchorer Kebab </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Green Jackfruit Kebab) was an oxymoron but they are possibly mellowed enough not to react now though they may still be far from accepting those options.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is it a passing phase for a largely non-vegetarian city that loves eating out like few other cities in the country, or will it change Kolkatans' food habit in the long term? Will the Bengali be back with a bang to his favourite chicken roll, mutton biryani and chilli chicken in this year’s Pujo? Time will tell. I will be curious to know. All that I feel is that this will clean up the food chain to some extent and improve people's judgement of food (Like anything that's cheap is not good to go for, because cheap indicates compromise).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#CarcassMeat #Chicken #Formalin #Mutton #Kolkata Food </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-10106321046598590082018-04-28T17:26:00.000+05:302018-06-12T11:41:56.669+05:30Summer survival<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38y1a9as9yJhyPAlPW27zCXMpZGvkJ-P4w26ogcXOXSR2hKIXsHhcyx8XJMHYUnFMu7tzxbteZ-r0YIA9HEV3G1PmmDIGOvI1Y82MAUhuR_0Ga3ZD89V4rn7HYLzAOJUkTJOmig/s1600/%255BUNSET%255" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38y1a9as9yJhyPAlPW27zCXMpZGvkJ-P4w26ogcXOXSR2hKIXsHhcyx8XJMHYUnFMu7tzxbteZ-r0YIA9HEV3G1PmmDIGOvI1Y82MAUhuR_0Ga3ZD89V4rn7HYLzAOJUkTJOmig//" data-original-width="" data-original-height=""></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">A sudden Saturday idea to liven up the workplace. It sucks working on a Saturday, right? </p><p style="text-align: left;">Long glasses of cold coffee. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Infused with vanilla ice cream and chocolate with a few Cadbury Shots thrown in. All by the cooking talent in the team.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Slow sips of bliss! Life is sorted. Cheers!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br></p><p style="text-align: left;">#ColdCofee #Workplace #SummerBeverage #FunAtWork</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">f you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KolkataCurry" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">page</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.</span></p>Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-71101281792290158922018-04-19T17:33:00.000+05:302018-04-20T13:20:55.840+05:30 Film review: Kabir <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Language: Bengali</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Director: Aniket Chattopadhyay</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cast: Dev, Rukmini Maitra, Priyanka Sarkar, Shataf Figar, Krishnendu Dewanji, Arna Mukhopadhyay</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Release date: 13th April 2018</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Bengali suspense thriller with terrorism as a subject and a big star in the lead, shot largely in an express train and on location in Kolkata and Mumbai evokes curiosity. Having been familiar with Aniket's work, which is his lowbrow sitcoms, I went to the show with no expectations.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-c694c988-ddc0-9e47-a867-85d5487bb8e1" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yasmin Khatun (Rukmini Maitra) is leaving Mumbai to catch her train to Howrah on the day a chain of blasts is taking place in important and busy places in Mumbai in 2012. Her taxi driver refuses to go past a point and police, already bogged down by the blasts, is of no help. She gets a lift from a young and friendly man Abir Chatterjee (Dev) who drops her to the CST station. They meet again in the station, then in the terribly delayed Duronto Express in the evening as co-passengers. The journey turns a nightmare for Yasmin as her dark past comes back and she must answer Abir where Imtiaz, a member of Indian Mujahideen, is hiding after an act of treachery against his gang in Kolkata. Where her ordeal leads to through the course of the journey is what the film is about. Giving away anything beyond this will be a spoiler.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0eIOV1o_gfiVws5PNhKJALxTm8g-F6rNbh9V_d9fMlfj-6ziMAJimkNxFVVSZG1Jqf0HzRdP-Wv9YTnFLjVyDOroqWr84iQOK9N3ybVSHTqLsKfcZkxwIQExtFXF_-mAZT5fGA/s1600/Rukmini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0eIOV1o_gfiVws5PNhKJALxTm8g-F6rNbh9V_d9fMlfj-6ziMAJimkNxFVVSZG1Jqf0HzRdP-Wv9YTnFLjVyDOroqWr84iQOK9N3ybVSHTqLsKfcZkxwIQExtFXF_-mAZT5fGA/s640/Rukmini.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rukmini Maitra in the film</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The premise of the serial bomb blasts of Mumbai leading to the capture of a senior Indian Mujahideen functionary is sound (the film is based on the 2011 Mumbai blasts and the arrest of co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (IM) and conspirator of several bomb blasts in India, Yasin Bhatkal). This is a clear departure from Aniket’s style of filmmaking and he has surprised with this one. He has written and made a thriller based on a serious subject like terrorism without losing focus on the flow and not bringing in unnecessary sub plots or a love angle or songs (There is just one sufi song). The storytelling and cinematic idiom are simple and aimed at a larger audience than urban films, so there are few compromises and over-simplification, but the end product looks good and enjoyable. The suspense and drama have been built skilfully into the plot aided by the twists and turns (A good example is showing the two versions of the ‘Imtiaz’ story). The action sequences look real for a change in Bangla cinema. The film is about a train journey and most of it is inside one train compartment, but the pacing has been done well with flashback shots and few shots from the present. Aniket has used shots of the moving train from various angles at different points of its journey (like passing by stations, passing through a bridge, entering and exiting a tunnel) which, in entirety, has not only made the audience feel the journey but has also provided visual relief. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, it didn’t feel like a Bengali film. Aniket’s extensive research for his story is evident and credit goes to him for presenting to us such a different story, though I wish he showed the preparation of the IM gang for the planned blasts in Kolkata in greater detail. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most of characters are etched out well. But STF officer Damayanti’s (Priyanka Sarkar) characterisation lacks meat, and Yasmin’s father (Pradip Mukherjee), should have not been used merely as a storytelling device. Same goes for Ashraf, the terrorist (Krishnendu Dewanji).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rukmini is a revelation in this movie. Not only she looks her part of a strong-minded woman with a wounded past, she brings out the nuances of the expressions competently, given that she was a non-actor two films back. Her laughter at the end was shot and edited tactfully and therefore lost some impact but I understand that it was tough for her to do it in one shot. She should be noticed much more after </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kabir. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dev has cast himself as the protagonist and though his performance is much better than what we see in his mainstream flicks and he has his moments, it needed more work to get under the skin, which includes English and Hindi diction and physical acting (though the director has cleverly justified his Bengali diction). I would alos have liked the character colder and more piercing. The other actors have been well-cast and Arno Mukhopadhyay is impressive on debut as Imtiaz. Krishnendu Dewanji, a talented actor from the stage, didn't have many lines but impresses in silent moments. But I felt Ruksana's father (Pradip Mukherjee) deserved a better-written character. A talented actor like Priyanka Sarkar was miscast. She didn’t look her part of a tough STF officer. A non-Bengali actor, preferably a new face, would be better. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBdsziPowQMtJg57s3_HiBkcnwsmoT9NmHn0XsksiBqXnXKw5BCx-d1faXujGr9hk2b5l-nJhdGOpCWM2E16eTMM1F0PVD_0Fl4DfW9HAdElnGnJZmUYxqG5uNnafUec0o_nUZg/s1600/Arna+Mukhopadhyay+%2528centre%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBdsziPowQMtJg57s3_HiBkcnwsmoT9NmHn0XsksiBqXnXKw5BCx-d1faXujGr9hk2b5l-nJhdGOpCWM2E16eTMM1F0PVD_0Fl4DfW9HAdElnGnJZmUYxqG5uNnafUec0o_nUZg/s640/Arna+Mukhopadhyay+%2528centre%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arno Mukhopadhyay (centre), Krishnendu Dewanji (left) and Shataf Figar (right) in the film</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it needs mention that a good job has been done in casting in the bit roles, eg. the railway catering staff, the policemen on the road and the security force members which have helped build the narrative fabric. Everybody in these roles looks his/ her part. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The movie stands out for the swell job in cinematography by Harendra Singh. The largely hand-held camerawork in real locations and natural light gives a raw, documentary-like texture to the film which makes the narrative realistic yet not losing out on the dramatic appeal. Rabiranjan Maitra’s editing is a decent job and the movie doesn’t drag it its one hour and fifty minutes of runtime. The background score is typical of thrillers but at places it is a bit too loud. The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moula </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">song is pleasant and sensibly placed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a few flawed shots, like Priyanka's lip-matching and accent in the meeting didn't seem right and I didn’t understand how Imtiaz got shot from his back while hidden behind a statue during the encounter without the force changing positions. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But these can be overlooked as </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kabir </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nails it as a suspense thriller with a fresh and gritty subject.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The images have been sourced from the trailer and the song clips of the film on YouTube.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cantarell"; font-size: 15.4px;">#Kabir #BanglaCinema #BanglaCinema2018 #Dev</span></div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-16714423455118640262018-04-11T15:51:00.000+05:302018-04-11T15:51:37.606+05:30Balconies and terraces of Kolkata - 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Kolkata is home to some fascinating old architecture in balconies and terraces. I find many of them head-turners!<br />
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It has been a constant wish to present some of this heritage beauty on this blog, which started with this post- <a href="http://kolkatacurry.blogspot.in/2016/07/terrace-and-balcony-1.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Balconies and terraces of Kolkata - 1</a>. But the wish didn't get justice thereafter. And the second edition comes now, thanks to Arpita Chanda.<br />
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I met Arpita in a Facebook food group and knowing my Kolkataholism, she added me to another Facebook group on old Kolkata which has proven to be a relish! Our discussion on Kolkata has been going on since then. When this fellow Kolkataholic is not at home looking after family (including her very young son), or not practising French, she may well be spotted in the lanes and alleys of Kolkata with her camera to shoot anything she fancies, which can even be old doors and windows. To my pleasure, the range includes old balconies. So, here comes the second edition of 'Balconies and terraces of Kolkata' from her collection .<br />
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All the beauties are from north Kolkata. The first three have an aristocratic touch while the fourth to sixth are rather common. The last one is an inside balcony overlooking the 'uthon' (courtyard).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiB6oFHUhKAqHagXyf1zUR8atrsS2GTPEhhyphenhyphenSe44JhyphenhyphenqbzbayMdmTML-2KFcqDMY07ovViGHFIMrZXE5SOVqEPDAofuMs_h3eI-nsfTAa8joqnyG1PrFbojlya5H_ri1i1XmqpA/s1600/DSC_4055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiB6oFHUhKAqHagXyf1zUR8atrsS2GTPEhhyphenhyphenSe44JhyphenhyphenqbzbayMdmTML-2KFcqDMY07ovViGHFIMrZXE5SOVqEPDAofuMs_h3eI-nsfTAa8joqnyG1PrFbojlya5H_ri1i1XmqpA/s640/DSC_4055.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madhab Kutir, Pathuriaghata </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB9JyWD-o_rfFtm4blwwk54M2vEPXTXQ3C_-8grraFlMLWA_WtBxiiZEmMZC2MBsflrtRfWKklzJOGLOgr_uOy9K0NgtSprgSc-vQWkc48zpduDiWcK7Zdumjo_Zl0OBijG3uUg/s1600/DSC_6590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB9JyWD-o_rfFtm4blwwk54M2vEPXTXQ3C_-8grraFlMLWA_WtBxiiZEmMZC2MBsflrtRfWKklzJOGLOgr_uOy9K0NgtSprgSc-vQWkc48zpduDiWcK7Zdumjo_Zl0OBijG3uUg/s640/DSC_6590.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madan Mitra Lane</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi942On74jhnhX67HH84Lh6ER3OtCaiFX-EbdJAsuxurs7Og9OAVruGuEwG7FMv60apMC9vaKxng9sokbFUbj-OiKEWgpZePrg4jev3xNxt8MlLwp4jYxwkhT7WaNipsiqpmXGKdw/s640/DSC_6610.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="424" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madan Mitra Lane</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPHrFgkdRAWAbrbaYesr_JJCBbEGcQUE9GUmk1iBVgZjiqJIULlcd_ioRTjvao9gNPH_6ZxW15kIM6-7upsmbhLHHJtGy6HCRWuDuGwN1R2XXaKQEnPwfrmWBG3j1pN8j5G2joA/s1600/DSC_7625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPHrFgkdRAWAbrbaYesr_JJCBbEGcQUE9GUmk1iBVgZjiqJIULlcd_ioRTjvao9gNPH_6ZxW15kIM6-7upsmbhLHHJtGy6HCRWuDuGwN1R2XXaKQEnPwfrmWBG3j1pN8j5G2joA/s640/DSC_7625.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bechu Chatterjee lane</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGXMKDrkSU5a_k60X7dAqi2mtrXJyZDpFI5WM3ffyEjsFBzdvObbriVS0MHk10oe6J4-jWhQNy4ETShTgGLXJExsgBETgL6puHyWoDHCNYYFyF6sEwVMHv6LPDMG9OL3eDAyhdA/s1600/DSC_5076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGXMKDrkSU5a_k60X7dAqi2mtrXJyZDpFI5WM3ffyEjsFBzdvObbriVS0MHk10oe6J4-jWhQNy4ETShTgGLXJExsgBETgL6puHyWoDHCNYYFyF6sEwVMHv6LPDMG9OL3eDAyhdA/s640/DSC_5076.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parshibagan Lane</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pUVJTiVprrz8NgfjC6rlwK_SIdgaciczjsHEd4E_boy-z9-zabIyazx0hbWMa0-8ojy_YMWNxFOoKL5nOaJsUX0Z48ktaSEyomTk076pXiP88XAFzj9n4_o5B4t933CWmuOrXQ/s1600/DSC_5244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pUVJTiVprrz8NgfjC6rlwK_SIdgaciczjsHEd4E_boy-z9-zabIyazx0hbWMa0-8ojy_YMWNxFOoKL5nOaJsUX0Z48ktaSEyomTk076pXiP88XAFzj9n4_o5B4t933CWmuOrXQ/s640/DSC_5244.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garpar Road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgygsUQGpULEcU2CqZfGYM-DeXBUcBf1-ORqJ451TfogUsjkz59XUnzOTpoMmp-5NU2gL9f3PCLpZpx0ovoQwWcGj52teCUhmJDlbU1koY9EZ5LD8iJMkRhaAIdIoMxBafTOtZw/s1600/DSC_5013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgygsUQGpULEcU2CqZfGYM-DeXBUcBf1-ORqJ451TfogUsjkz59XUnzOTpoMmp-5NU2gL9f3PCLpZpx0ovoQwWcGj52teCUhmJDlbU1koY9EZ5LD8iJMkRhaAIdIoMxBafTOtZw/s640/DSC_5013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The well-known residence of Mahendra Srimani at Sukeas Street</td></tr>
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#Balcony #Terrace #Heritage #OldKolkata #KolkataHeritage<br />
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27860302.post-37139979191892073002018-04-02T12:42:00.001+05:302018-04-02T12:42:43.018+05:30Five reasons to watch Kabir<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmo6z5hTHw3f-UDOWfLwRUs7Umh1bp4uk2l2ZrJ2hTwX_KLsNyh7q6lkHpdZ3mvJ5geXuacUPLBvNNITOWP6ArokiSsfH0SNS5_kUs-TGKqN1IijKw2XmrFNK_aAFDL_ef_Gnzw/s1600/IMG_20180401_235215.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmo6z5hTHw3f-UDOWfLwRUs7Umh1bp4uk2l2ZrJ2hTwX_KLsNyh7q6lkHpdZ3mvJ5geXuacUPLBvNNITOWP6ArokiSsfH0SNS5_kUs-TGKqN1IijKw2XmrFNK_aAFDL_ef_Gnzw/s640/IMG_20180401_235215.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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1. It is an edge-of-the-seat thriller- a rare genre in Bangla cinema.</div>
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2. It is a film with terrorism as a subject which is indeed novel in Bangla cinema.</div>
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3. It is made by a veteran print and television journalist-turned-director (Aniket Chattopadhyay) which prepares me for a realistic take on the subject. The director wrote the film five years back (not far from its timeline- Mumbai of 2012) but didn't find a backer to count till Dev offered to produce it in 2017.</div>
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4. It has a different look n feel- More than half of it has been shot in an express train (Kolkata to Mumbai). Majority of the shooting has been done with handheld camera in real locations in natural light. Some portions have also been shot guerrilla style.</div>
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5. It doesn't have Bangkok or Europe for outdoor but real locations in Mumbai, for a change. Some of the sites of the 2011 bomb blast (which is part of the story), like Hazi Ali, Zaveri Bazaar and Gateway of India were part of the shooting locations.</div>
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<i>Kabir</i> is slated for a 13th April 2018 release.</div>
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#Kabir #BanglaCinema #BanglaCinema2018 #Dev</div>
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Anirban Halderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15210502797271658022noreply@blogger.com0