Monthly Archives: June 2016

Restored cult films set for second take

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Kolkata:

Way before Shyam Benegal directed ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’, another Hindi film was made on the freedom fighter. The Piyush Basu-directed film titled ‘Subhas Chandra’ had got the National Award for National Integration in 1966. A DVD of the Bengali version, which had Lata Mangeshkar’s cult ‘Ekbar biday de maa’ in the soundtrack, was released but the Hindi version never saw the light of day. Fifty years later, the film’s print will be restored, along with a number of Bengali classics.

In 1968, Sachin Adhikari had released ‘Pathe Holo Dyakha’, starring Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Jwahar Roy and Nripati Chattopadhyay. However, the prints of the movie weren’t good enough for a DVD release. If all goes well, the print will be restored soon. Another such Bhanu Bandopadhyay film that has never been released on DVD but might soon release is ‘Ogo Shuncho’.

Not just fresh releases of old movies, this year will see the re-release of DVDs of many Bengali films that have attained cult status. YouTube uploads, VCDs and DVDs of the original prints are available but most of these films have problems regarding fungus deposition, stabilisation, white droplet issues, stains, patches and vertical line formation. Poor audio quality is also a major headache. Dialogues are often inaudible and there is a lot of noise in the background. However, things are looking up what with copyright holders now understanding the importance of preservation.

One such important film that is being restored is KS Saigal’s Bengali film ‘Jeevan Maran’. “Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the former governor of West Bengal, had released a DVD of this movie. But we had used the original print. Hence, the quality had suffered. Now, we have decided to restore this film and re-release it,” said Abhay Tantia, the founder of Angel Video that owns the rights of the film.

In the pipeline is restoration work of Mrinal Sen’s ‘Chorus’, ‘Ek Din Pratidin’, Soumitra Chatter-starrer ‘Baghini’ and ‘Monihar’, Robi Ghosh-starrer ‘Aashite Ashiona’, Tarun Mazumdar-directed ‘Palatak and ‘Sreeman Prithviraj’. The 1964-Rajen Tarafdar film titled ‘Jiban Kahini’ is also expected to get restored soon. Work is currently on progress for Soumitra Chatterjee-starrer ‘Ajona Sapath’.

However, restoration work of such films is a pain-staking job. One minute of a shot has at least 1500 frames. “Each frame has to be restored individually. On an average, restoring of a film requires Rs 4 lakh. We have 20 technicians working on three shifts. Yet, it takes more than a month to complete one film,” said Sushanta Das, who is overseeing the project.

However, restoration of classics doesn’t ensure huge dividends. “It’s not financially very rewarding. But monetary rewards is not always the concern when we are dealing with cult films,” said Akshay Tantia, who considers it his responsibility to preserve Bengal’s culture.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / June 23rd, 2016

Wales defender with Kolkata roots stamps his class on Euro

NRI's / PIO's, Sports, World Opinion

NeilTaylorKOLKATA21jun2016

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HIGHLIGHTS

Neil Taylor’s mother, Shibani Chakraborty , is a Bengali from Kolkata. The half-Welsh, halfIndian footballer is the closest to Indian involvement in Euro.

Neil had scored the second goal in a 3-0 thumping of Russia that enabled Wales top Group B and earn the debutant nation a place in the last 16 of Euro.

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New Delhi:

The comments on Neil Taylor’s official Facebook page are both euphoric and cheeky . One says, “Huw….if Ronaldo asks you to swap shirts, tell him to get stuffed…you only swap with goal scorers.” Another comment teases the 27-year-old left full-back on his first ever goal for Wales.”Neil. You scored. How.”

But for any Indian reading the 150 plus comments to Neil’s Monday night post, this one really catches the eye. “Well played lad! Proud of your Bengali origin! Lots of love & well wishes from Bangladesh.”

Neil had scored the second goal in a 3-0 thumping of Russia that enabled Wales top Group B and earn the debutant nation a place in the last 16 of Euro. He never scored for Swansea, the EPL side he plays for.

Not many know that Neil Taylor’s mother, Shibani Chakraborty , is a Bengali from Kolkata. The half-Welsh, halfIndian footballer is the closest to Indian involvement in Euro. As a child, Neil played cricket for his village side in north Wales though football is what he was always devoted to. “Sachin Tendulkar is a huge character and sportsman to me,” he once told The Independent newspaper.

In interviews to British newspa pers, Neil comes across as someone proud of his Indian roots. In 2013, he had visited Kolkata as part of a charity project, Kolkata Goalz, to promote the game among under privileged kids.Earlier as a nine-year-old he had visited the city -a trip to Eden Garden and playing with colours in Holi -being two indelible images of that visit. “What I remembered of the country was that it is just cricketmad. But when I went out this time I saw the change. It was monsoon and you couldn’t even take your feet out of the grass. Sopping! But all the young people were playing football,” he told the newspaper.

Late Monday night, Neil had posted, “What a feeling.. What a night in Toulouse!! The Wales fans were unbelievable, thank you for your support. A night to remember at Euro 2016!!” Neil began his career as a junior at Manchester City . But at 15, he joined the 152-year-old Wrexham, the oldest Welsh club and the third oldest in the world. He made his international debut against Croatia in 2010.

In an interview to BBC earlier this month, his mother said, “Ever since he was a child that’s all he’s wanted to do, play football. He mis sed all his school discos and friends’ birthday parties because, at that time, he was playing for Manchester City (junior team).We’d drive him three times a week to Manchester and back when he was about nine or 10 and not once did he say, ‘Mum, do I have to go?’ He used to sit in the back of the car and do his homework.”

A November 2015 BBC reports says that as people of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin form 5.3% of the 56 million population in England and Wales as per 2011 census. Yet Neil is just one of the seven Asian players with a professional contract in the top four English leagues.”Wolves centre-back Danny Batth and Mansfield left-back Malvind Benning are the only others from the group who play regular first-team football,” the report says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Delhi / TNN / June 22nd, 2016

JU offers rare live recordings for free listening

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

JadavpurKOLK22jun2016

Kolkata :

Imagine being present at a mehfil where Begum Akhtar is presenting a ghazal. Imagine listening to a house concert of Annapurna Devi. Imagine listening to Ustad Amir Khan singing a bandish in Persian. All these can be a part of reality if one goes to Jadavpur University’s School of Cultural Text and Records (SCTR). On World Music Day today, any connoisseur can walk into the kiosks set up in the school and listen to the treasure trove of archived music. The best part is that all that comes free of cost!

Director of the School, professor Amlan Das Gupta said, “Collectors from across India have generously donated to this archive that was set up in 2003. The work done here helps in cultural preservation.” In a country where rare records and tapes are lost at regular intervals, such an endeavour has been welcomed by all.

Barring weekends, the archive storing more than 10,000 hours of music is open to any listener between 11 am and 5 pm. Musicologist Anindya Banerjee donated rare live recordings of courtesans like Malkajaan, Bade Moti Bai, Rasoolan Bai and Siddheswari Devi to this archive. “I’ve donated rare live recordings of my guru, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s rendition of ‘Lankadahan Sarang’ too,” Banerjee said.

Some years back, Delhi-based collector James Stevenson had sent an aluminium trunkload of cassettes by train. Many still talk about the excitement of receiving that trunk at the Howrah station and then transporting a slice of history to the School. Resoom Pal, an intern at SCTR, said, “I was floored to stumble upon Vidushi Annapurna Devi’s surbahar recital in raag ‘Kaushiki’ and ‘Manjh Khamaj’ from this collection.” All recordings are of superior quality than what is available at any online portal, insists Shantanu Majee, project fellow of SCTR. “We try to preserve these tracks in audio files of superior quality that are uncompressed and preserved in large ‘WAV’ format. This is possibly sound at its best quality,” Majee said.

Some years back, collector Ghulam Naeem donated his collection of spool recordings from house concerts at his residence. In the 70s, Naeem used to import spools to record the programmes! After digitization, the clarity and sound precision of these recordings are of international standards.

One such recording is from a mehfil of Begum Akhtar where she sang a rare ‘ghato’ song – ‘Jal jaumuna bharan ke jaun sajni’ – that was usually sung when women went to fetch water. This ‘ghato’ song leads on to another song – ‘Chha rahi kari ghata’ – in the same recital. Arnab Ghosh, PhD scholar at the JU’s Bengali department, was pleasantly surprised when he discovered a live recording of Ustad Amir Khan’s recital of raga ‘Yaman’ in this collection.

“It was a revelation to hear Khan sahab sing ‘Shah Ze Karam Bar Man-E-Darvesh Negar’ by Amir Khusrau. Listening to such superior quality of music is as good as reliving the live performance,” Ghosh said.

So, what are you waiting for? Just pick up the headphones and let the music play!

Rare recordings:

The Hemanga Biswas archive includes the legendary folk singer’s world music collection of English contralto singer Kathleen Ferrier and German actress and singer Gisela May.

Apart from his created ragas like ‘Chandranandan’, ‘Alamgiri’ and ‘Gaurimanjuri’, this archive also has rare recordings of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan playing raag ‘Gour Sarang’, ‘Barhans Sarag’ and ‘Maligaura’.

One house concert has Ustad Vilayat Khan exploring various kinds of raag ‘Kannada’. This leisurely performance is almost like a lecture demonstration.

There is a recording of Ustad Allauddin Khan playing raag ‘Nat’ and ‘Darbari Kanada’ in sursringar. A rare interview of the maestro with Bhopal radio has him singing raag ‘Komal Bhimpalasri’ and raag ‘Sugadh’.

Pt Ravi Shankar’s early 1950s rendition of raag ‘Mian ki Todi’ and ‘Aalahiya Bilawal’ at the Dixon Lane residence of guru Gyan Prakash Ghosh.

A pre-independence duet of Vidushi Annapurna Devi and Pt Ravi Shankar playing raag ‘Yaman Kalyan’ at Delhi’s Constitution Hall.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / June 21st, 2016

The world of Mr Universe

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Manohar Aich (1912-2016)
Manohar Aich
(1912-2016)

♦ Born March 17, 1912 in Putia village of Comilla district in present-day Bangladesh.

♦ At 12, he survived a near-fatal attack of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by the bite of a sandflies but it left him fragile and sickly.

♦ The teenaged Aich got into bodybuilding. His father had ill health and so to support his family he started performing at fairs and other public events in his native village as well as those in the neighbourhood.

♦ Aich met magician P.C. Sorcar at Jubilee School in Dhaka. Sorcar instantly recognised Aich’s capabilities and asked him to join him. While the magician’s feats drew applause from the crowd Aich silenced them by bending steel rods, balancing on his stomach on the tip of a sword, tearing 1,500-page books and doing squats with very heavy loads. But a trick with a spear went wrong and resulted in a life-long scar on his neck.

♦ In the 1940s, Aich joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as airman and met an officer, Reub Martin, who introduced him to proper weight training equipment.

♦ In 1942, at the peak of the Quit India movement, Aich slapped a British officer for making an offensive comment about India. He was court martialled and jailed.

♦ In jail, he would practise bending the steel rods in his cell. He would also practise daily for up to 12 hours with the little equipment he could find in jail. Aich was released from jail in 1947 after India gained Independence.

♦ In 1950, at the age of 38, Aich won the Mr Hercules contest. In 1951 he stood second in the Mr Universe contest in London. The first position went to fellow Bengali bodybuilder Monotosh Roy, who became the first Asian to be crowned Mr Universe.

♦ Aich trained in London for a year, funding his stay by working with British Railways and bagged the Mr Universe title on March 17, 1952, which was coincidentally his 40th birthday. At that time, his measurements were— biceps 46cm, chest 1.2m, forearm 36cm and wrist 16.5cm. His height was 4ft 11” and he won in the Pro-Short division.

♦ He got a hero’s welcome upon his return to India with both Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Rajendra Prasad congratulating him personally.

♦ Aich tried to repeat his feat thereafter but could only secure the third position in 1955 and the fourth position in 1960. He also won gold medals for body building in the Asian Games of 1951 (New Delhi), 1954 (Manila) and 1958 (Tokyo).

♦ Aich performed in a circus, entertaining the spectators with his amazing muscle dancing in the 1960s.

♦ Aich time and again said that the secret for his strength was that he was a teetotaller. He never smoked, ate a simple diet of fish, fruit, lentils, milk, rice and vegetables.

♦ He was a fan of Hollywood actor and multiple Mr Universe title-winner Arnold Schwarzenegger and had watched all his films. He regretted having never met him in person.

♦ Aich passed away on June 5, 2016 at the age of 104 years.

Had you met Manohar Aich? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta – 700001 or e-mail to saltlake@abpmail.com

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Salt Lake> Story / Friday – June 17th, 2016