A nightmare in the morning

Went to visit a senior manager in a telecom giant in Srijan Tech Park in Sector V yesterday. As I got down at Webel More (crossing) and turned left, I found little place to walk towards RS Software on the main road. There's no sidewalk. And the road is full of trenches (not potholes, mind it!), the brick base is exposed at places, and has muck and muddy water all over, after the morning shower. Was as alert as possible to avoid getting the stuff on road come on my clothes, as buses, auto rickshaws and taxis were passing by endlessly, at the same time stepping on the right place.....but a mini bus proved fatal. Muddy water from a crater got spread all over my clothes, making my appearance absolutely unfit to meet a prospective client.

Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority was formed in 2006 to do justice to the civic job in the state government's showpiece tech zone- Sector V. By the current condition, it is everything but a showpiece. As Telegraph reports today, tech companies are deferring their senior people's visit to office apprehending their reaction to the condition of Sector V. A techie has left his car at home and coming to work in taxi.

The authorities are hopeless to say the least. There have been many other wrongdoings reported in recent times. I feel the management needs a change with immediate effect.

'Shukno Lanka' review

My Shukno Lanka review is live on Washington Bangla Radio.

Shukno Lanka is one of the recent Bangla releases directed by Gaurav Panday, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Debashree Roy.

Do read and drop your valuable comments here.

A hot debate on Facebook

Indranil Roy, a noted journalist of Ananda Bazar Parika, wrote on Facebook about taking a lesson from Raj Kumar Hirani showed in the making of '3 Idiots' in its recently released DVD........and it sparked a red-hot debate participated by producers, directors, actors of Kolkata, beside others (including yours truly).

Follow it here and drop your take in the comments section below.

The rally

My office at Chandni Chowk is at the core of action of today's annual martyrs' day rally by Trinamool Congress at Esplanade. And my desk is by the large window overlooking CR Avenue. Am curious to witness this historic annual affair that is known for, among other things, throwing life in the city out of gear every year and drew over 3 lakh last year by Kolkata Police estimate.

Saw the party supremo, Mamata Banerjee, last evening at the staircase to a dais at the venue near Income Tax building, in talk with Sovan Chattopadhyay, the newly-elected mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Madan Mitra and Mukul Deb, a central minister. That many in the crowd gathered there were busy shooting her picture with their mobile phones was evidence for her celebrity status attained by now.

Hope to update you about the development over the day. Watch this post.

10.41 am: Male voices throwing instructions through the mike for a smooth organisation of flow of people. A Trinamool anthem playing in the background and as the filler. No gathering at Chandni Chowk by now.

Evening snacks

A food post after long!

Was craving for good shingaras (samosa) post-work yesterday. Found this small food joint serving snacks and fried sweets in the evening on Bentinck Street. As a bonus got to dig into a vegetable chop too. Both were delicious and reasonably priced. The shop, named Shivam Food Centre, is at the beginning of the lane opposite the premium sweet shop Kanha near Paradise cinema, bang opposite a food products store.

'Ekti Tarar Khoje' review

My Ekti Tarar Khoje review is live on Washington Bangla Radio. Do read and post your comments here.

Ekti Tarar Khoje is the latest Bangla release produced by Screenplay Films- the house of Aniruddha Roy Choudhury (the producer-director of acclaimed films like Anuranan and Antaheen) and directed by noted cinematographer Abhik Mukhopadhyay, with an ensemble cast of Shayan Munshi, Arpita Chatterjee (erstwhile Arpita Pal), Dhritiman Chatterjee, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rudraneel Ghosh, Tanushree Shankar, Biplab Chatterjee, Arindam Sil, Anindya Banerjee and Arijit Dutta.

The film is also being distributed in North America through theatres, DVD and other popular channels.

Shukno Lanka

Shukno Lanka was an experience! After Antaheen, it was a film that struck the right chord with the audience, almost effortlessly. Take a bow, Mr Gaurav Panday, for writing (story, script and dialogue) and directing this soul-touching piece. Mithun is another experience in himself. This film wouldn't have been possible without him. And folks, this new face Angana Bose was a revelation.

It felt so nice to see the good old urban family audience back at the Jaya Cinema show, incl. several elderly people, a full balcony and fast-filling stall seats, at the second Sunday after release.

A full-fledged review coming up. Watch this space.

The screen god on small screen

Dev was the celeb on Ke Hobe Biggest Star on Zee Bangla yesterday, and girls far outnumbered the boys in fan count. He has equal following among both, by the way. Dev wore his heart on his sleeves and one saw a level-headed, rooted, family-loving individual who can handle big-time following. He spoke lovingly and emotionally as he introduced his native place - a village near Keshpur in Medinipur and his father's joint family.

Dev is a star, who, knowing from a little personal experience on my last job in the entertainment industry, doesn't have an aura of a star. Many a time he doesn't behave like a star in public, which is not advisable for a current numero uno, but actually brings his fans closer to him and love him all the more and makes others take notice too (And it includes people of my father's age group). My father considers only him among today's lead actors in Bangla cinema as someone who perfectly makes the cut as a hero in the looks department.

All those in the last 3 were girls, somewhat proving when it comes to DQ (Dev quotient), it's girls who have an edge. Pratyusha, the winner, was cool and composed all through. She was ecstatic but didn't show it as she got to sit (after winning) just besides her matinee idol. It only came out in the warm hugs she gave him. She had brought nothing special, but a bouquet to present him. Others who lost made it up with the hugs and gifting.

That the show went into two episodes of one-and-a-half-hour each shows the popularity of Bengal's new heartthrob. It also helps maintain Zee Bangla's leadership position in reality shows (Mirakkel, Dance Bangla Dance, Dadagiri etc) among Bengali GECs.

Kolkata on social media

You get to know the result of an ongoing football match sitting at your desk, the accident that just took place a few kilometres away from your office, the current state of mind of a dear friend, see beautiful photographs of the day just shot by a friend or e-friend, know about an eagerly-awaited film's group just formed, join it and interact with its makers, and apart from all this and more, read the comments posted to a post by the member's friends and join the conversation......on Facebook that has hooked Kolkata. Orkut is passe.

You get to know what your favourite film stars are doing now: when and what Priyanka is shooting, when Konkona is lazing, Raima Sen is travelling, when Karan Johar is feeling exhausted after a rigorous gym session and what Bipasha is eating. You know when a star goes to the gym to shed the little weight she put on, how another is promoting his film, more interestingly what Abhishek is telling Bipasha or Priyanka and Amitabh Bachchan are telling the world. Closer home you get regular updates from Jeet about his work and life and Mahendra Soni about his films.......on Tweeter. And you don't get to know a large chunk of it in traditional media (Rather you get to read the tweets of a celeb in the morning newspaper, that you have already read last evening ). It's addictive to be in Tweeter if you wanna closely follow the celebs.

A long-delayed post. But now onwards Facebook and Tweeter, the faces of social media, will feature regularly at this space, about their Kolkata connection and otherwise.

Koel in LBD

My 200th post raises a toast to Koel, the queen of mainstream Bangla cinema, seen in a LBD (with Locket Chatterjee). Though fashionable, Koel is not really known to be glamorous or bold, and is rarely seen in a LBD. She evidently looks fab. The photograph was shot in the launch party for her new film 'Prem by Chance' directed by Sudeshna Roy- Avhijit Guha.


Photograph sourced from 'I Love Bengali Movies' group on Facebook.

'Le Chhakka' review

My review of Le Chhakka is live on Washington Bangla Radio. Do read and post comments here.

Le Chhakka is the latest Bangla release direcetd by Raj Chakraborty and produced by Srijan Arts, starring Dev and Payel.

Three cheers to green move

My morning felt good to read about the state environment department's new circular that lit hoardings now have to source electricity from solar power. Those using generator solely to light up have to make the switch immediately, while others drawing power from grid have time till December '10 to make the switch.

Once this happens, it will save 60-80 MW per day! And a few hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide in generating it. Isn't that wonderful in the times of global warming and climate change?

The move takes a bow from all environment-conscious citizens of Kolkata. As implementing greater use of solar power in core areas of usage (domestic and industrial) is not an easy ballgame and will take time to take place in a significant way, identifying outdoor advertising for this is indeed wise.

Mohun Bagan does it again

A happy news to share here: Mohun Bagan defeated Chirag United 1-0 a while back to become the Kolkata football league champion. And that's three times in a row! Congrats to the green-maroon brigade. A great feat.

Amanush review

My Amanush review is live on Washington Bangla Radio. Do read and post comments.

Amanush is the new Bengali release directed by Rajib (Who debuted with Dujone last year) and stars Soham and Shrabanti. It has been produced by Shree Venkatesh Films.

RIP

RIP, Goopi Gayen.

Tapen Chattopadhyay is no more. But he is immortal in our memory as his legendary screen character.

The leading men

Dev and Jeet at the sets of Dui Prithibi- a Venkatesh Films movie under production. It is Raj Chakraborty's next after 'Ley Chhakka'. Straight from the Tweeter photo album of the producer.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the city lovingly shot by Sayantan Roy, a photographer by passion from the city.

Anybody interested in buying the photographs/ using them can contact Sayantan at sayantan.dts@gmail.com.

First look: Ekti Tarar Khoje

Here's the first poster of 'Ekti Tarar Khoje'- the next release from Screenplay Films (of Anuranan and Antaheen fame). Produced by Aniruddha Roy Choudhury, this film marks the Bangla directorial debut of celebrated cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay (who shot Antaheen) and the comeback of the beautiful Arpita Pal (surely looking her best in this film) who pairs with Shayan Munshi (who we all missed so much after his brilliant debut in Bangla cinema in 'The Bong Connection'). Kolkata can't wait to watch it.

The teaser

This teaser of a movie is all over the city now. Seems to be rolled out about two days back. No prizes for guessing the film for those who've been to this blog in the last few days. The release is more than a month later. Looks like the makers of the film are going to do the whole hog to generate a big initial.

Le Chakka trailer

The trailer for Le Chakka- Raj Chakraborty's ambitious film based on an original script (on which he made a telefilm called Nagar Basanta on Zee Bangla years back) is out. After his first three films that were remakes of Southern hits Raj deliberately changed direction. He ventured outside Venkatesh Films and made the kind of film he wanted to. Le Chakka, written and scripted by Padmanava Dasgupta (Who also wrote Cross Connection), is quintessential Bengali in subject that deals with gali cricket, North Kolkata and South Kolkata divide and Ghoti vs Bangal. Needless to say the film is keenly awaited.