An evening of Hemanta Mukherjee classics

Performance by Soumitra Bandopadhyay

Kavita Charanji - New Delhi, May 12, 2009

It is unlikely that a musical soiree to celebrate the 148th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore would attract strong protests from a section of the audience. However, that is just what transpired at a recent concert in Delhi by singer Soumitra Bandopadhyay, who presented an evening of Rabindra Sangeet and other popular melodies of the celebrated singer, composer, lyricist, film director and producer Hemanta Mukherjee in Hindi and Bengali. For starters some members of the audience objected to the clubbing of Hindi film songs with Bengali numbers and Rabindra Sangeet. What got their goat even more was the playful yodeling of Kishore Kumar songs by Indranil Banerjee, Soumitra's son.

The angry people had to be pacified by Bijan Mukherjee, president of Impresario India, one of the organisers of the programme. As he said, “Hemanta Mukherjee sang in both Hindi and Bengali. This concert is for all communities, not just Bengalis.” Another unruffled person questioned, “We are gathered here to celebrate music, so why the objections?”

Anyway, barring the protests, the evening effectively centred on the music of the Kolkata-based Soumitra. Among his melodious and meditative Rabindra Sangeet were “Tumi ki kebali chhobi,” “Purano shei din-er kotha” and “Pagla hawar badal din-e.” The Hemanta classics included a song of longing, "Tum pukar lo..," "Naa tum ham-e jaano naa hum tumhe jaane" and the famous "Jaane ye woh kaise log thhe jinko pyaar me pyaar mila" (the latter from the Guru Dutt classic "Pyaasa").

Talking to Soumitra was an eye opener as he related many interesting anecdotes about his late guru Hemanta Mukherjee. As the singer asserted, he knew Hemanta for a span of 13 years until his death in 1989. While Soumitra excelled in Rabindra Sangeet and the Bengali musical items he can be faulted on one score -- the heavy Bengali accent in the Hindi numbers, which detracted from the soothing ambience of the summer evening. But Soumitra had the humility to ask the audience to bear with his imperfect Hindi pronunciation.

While the young Indranil rendered some fun Kishore Kumar numbers with great aplomb, his Bengali songs lacked the depth and intensity of his father Soumitra. But this is only the beginning for Indranil, who can clearly make a mark on the music world.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net

Danny Boyle honoured with prestigious civic award

ANI / May 12, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has been honoured with a prestigious civic award from his hometown. 

The Oscar-winning filmmaker was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Bury, along with rock band Elbow and gold-medal winning Paralympic athlete Zoe Robinson, at a special ceremony in the Town Hall. Boyle said that receiving the Freedom of his hometown was "very touching". "It's really nice. It really means a lot to me, and to my family – my dad still lives in Radcliffe," the ‘Telegraph’ quoted him as saying. 

“It was all very good-humoured today. You need to take these things quite lightly really because although they're significant and very meaningful in many ways, you should always have a lightness about them. "The natural humour here doesn't allow you to take yourself too seriously," he added. 

Mark Sanders, chief executive of Bury Council, said: "Danny Boyle's, Elbow's and Zoë Robinson's successes over the past 12 months have really put Bury on the map, both nationally and internationally. 

Sanders added: "We are really proud of all these individuals' outstanding achievements in their respective professions and by granting them Freedom of the Borough we want to acknowledge their hard work, determination and commitment. This is the council's way of congratulating them all on their successes."

Source: http://www.screenindia.com

Jennifer Aniston wants to star in ‘Mad Men’

ANI - May 12, 2009

Jennifer Aniston has admitted that she would love to star in hit TV show ‘Mad Men’. 

The former ‘Friends’ star has confessed that she’s a huge fan of the US series, which recently won a Bafta for best international drama. The show, broadcast on the BBC, tells the story of a New York-based advertising agency in the early Sixties. Filming has begun on the third series. 

“I like Mad Men,” the ‘Daily Express’ quoted Aniston as saying.  “I would love to be in that, it’s great. I love the era. I would love it if they offered me a role,” she added.

Source: http://www.news.google.com

"Star Trek" weekend box office nudged higher

By Alex Dobuzinskis - May 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Star Trek" keeps getting hotter at the North American box office.

The eleventh movie in Paramount Pictures' reenergized sci-fi franchise earned $75.2 million during the three days beginning Friday, according to final data issued on Monday.

A day earlier, the Viacom Inc-owned studio had issued a preliminary estimate of $72.5 million. Including early sales from Thursday night, the tally now stands at $79.2 million, said Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com Box Office.

The acclaimed film, which follows the origins of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the crew of the Starship Enterprise, was easily the top film at the box office.

The previous weekend's champ, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," slipped to No. 2 with $26.4 million, off a little from its $27 million Sunday estimate. The Hugh Jackman movie was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Source: http://www.reuters.com

‘Jade Goody effect’ sends women rushing to UK’s NHS for cervical tests

ANI / May 12, 2009

A record number of women have been rushing to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) for cervical smear tests since Jade Goody lost her life to the disease on March 22. 

According to Sara Hiom from Cancer Research UK, the tragic demise of the late reality star, who passed away aged 27, had sent the number of examinations soaring sky high. “The Jade effect” had left waiting time for the tests leap from two weeks to as much as two months while the number of hits on the Cancer Research UK website’s cervical cancer pages had also jumped from 100,000 in January to almost 400,000. 

“Jade’s legacy will be to help save lives. Her tragic plight brought important cervical cancer awareness messages into living rooms across the UK,” the ‘Daily Star’ quoted Sara as saying. She added: “Jade’s story has led to hundreds of thousands of people wanting information on the disease.” 

The NHS Cancer Screening Programme further said it was trying to keep up with the towering demand. A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are aware that there has been increased demand on cervical screening services due to recent media attention. 

“Some laboratories are experiencing backlogs but these are being dealt with at a local level.”

Source: http://www.google.com

‘We want to spread the melody of bhawaiya’

The music band ‘Bhawaiya’ recently celebrated its first founding anniversary. The main vocalist of the group, Shafiul Alam Raza talks to Robab Rosan about their planning and objectives

By Robab Rosan - May 12, 2009

New Age: Would you tell us something about the history and objectives of the band group Bhawaiya?

Shafiul Alam Raza: It was my long cherished dream to form a music band that will sing only bhawaiya, one kind of popular folksongs of this country. The band, formed on April 20 last year, aims to spread the melody of bhawaiya songs among the audience of younger generation. We have selected the word ‘bhawaiya’ as our band’s name.

We are mingling the modern instruments with the traditional ones so that the melody of the bhawaiya songs get a new dimension and become suitable for the modern audience both at home and abroad. But primarily, our target audience are the people of the Bengali nation. We want to make the word ‘bhawaiya’ popular among them.

NA: Who are working in your group?

SAM: Ziaul Haque is working as the music director of the band and I am working as the chief vocalist of it.

NA: Is it decided that your band will sing only bhawaiya?

SAM: Yes, we have decided that we will sing only bhawaiya. I take the pleasure of repeating the answer that the band group called ‘Bhawaiya’ is formed only to spread the melody of the folksongs bhawaiya.

NA: How do you want to spread bhawaiya?

SAM: First of all, I believe that if we can sing bhawaiya carefully and keeping the traditional style unhurt or undistorted then we will get many good listeners and hope that their number will gradually increase. We are planning to arrange regular stage programmes to present bhawaiya songs in different places of the country so that the music lovers can enjoy its melody.

NA: You have told us earlier that your band will present the traditional bhawaiya. How will you ensure that you are following the traditional style?

SAM: We have decided that we will follow the style of Abbasuddin, the great maestro of bhawaiya songs as the authentic style of the songs. We will bring some changes in using music instruments.

NA: Is there any stream of modern bhawaiya songs in the country?

SAM: There are many lyricists of bhawaiya songs who are writing bhwaiya on modern events, such as, the Language Movement and the war of country’s independence. The singers are also getting good response from the audience.

Source: http://www.newagebd.com

Avril Lavigne rumoured to be cheating on husband with oil heir

Agencies / May 12, 2009

Singer-actress Avril Lavigne has added fuel to the rumours that her marriage to musician Deryck Whibley is in trouble with some public display of affection with oil heir Brandon Davis. 

The 'Complicated' singer was spotted cozying up to the multi-millionaire during a recent night out, with reports suggesting that she is cheating on Deryck with Davis who is a well known playboy in Hollywood's party circles. Davis who is a close friend of hotel heiress Paris Hilton entered the party at a Los Angeles club with Lavigne and the pair spent all their time together with the Canadian singer sitting on his lap, reported ‘Ace Showbiz’.  The 25-year-old singer married Deryck two years ago and they have been dogged by split rumours since the very beginning. 

While the couple have repeatedly denied that their marriage is in trouble they did not react to the last separation report which was run by X17 Online a month ago.

Source: http://www.news.google.com

For Ultrareality, ‘Housewives’ Turns to Jersey Girls

By Alessandra Stanley - May 11, 2009

All the other housewives, those passels of pampered, primping, social-climbing, Botox-injecting spendthrifts in Orange County, Atlanta and New York, are not the real thing.

All those McMansions, swimming pools, boutiques, charity auctions and spa splurges have been merely rehearsals, introductory rounds leading to the apotheosis of the Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise, “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”

The New Jersey housewives are more real and more riveting than their predecessors because, well, they are from New Jersey, and also because they so closely mirror the make-believe characters in “The Sopranos.”

The best reality shows look like fiction.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com

2 week gap between each new release

Bollywood Hungama / May 12, 2009

Last week, the producers and distributors had adopted the tough stand of releasing new films at single screens and independent multiplexes. It was decided to work out the release dates in a cordial atmosphere, so that they don't eat into each other's business. 

The latest is, the films will be release from May 29 onwards [starting with Vashu Bhagnani's ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’], but to give enough breathing space to the new releases, it has been decided to give a 2-week gap between each new release. Which means, the next big film, after ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’, will arrive on 12th June and the subsequent one on 26th June.

Source: http://www.bollywood.com

‘Terminator’s’ McG takes blame for blow-up

Director says staffers will identify person who leaked audio of tirade

Access Hollywood / May 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES - “Terminator Salvation” director McG said the now-infamous July 2008 blow-up on the film’s set, between star Christian Bale and director of photography Shane Hurlbut, was entirely his fault. 

“It broke my heart, because I take all the responsibility for protecting my actors on the set day in and day out," the director told Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell. "And it’s my responsibility to make sure that they can be free to express themselves in any way they like and it’s a real violation of the family of the set community.” “You can take anything out of context and you also don’t want artists censoring their performance, so you gotta be really careful with that,” McG continued. “You have faith that those outtakes never get out, to the Web sites or on the streets, in any capacity that would be unflattering or not in the service of the picture.”

The director told O'Dell that tensions were running high on the set that day intentionally. “We were making effectively a war scene, and I wanted the blood up of all my actors … what would be more offensive — if people just sort of sleep their way through a performance?” he said. “Everybody was very wound up and everybody was fired up and I wanted (Bale) that way … I riled him up! I deserve all the blame, in fact, throw me right under the bus.” And despite the severity of Bale’s tongue-lashing, McG said the actor and cinematographer are close and quickly made up after the incident. “I’m happy to report that Christian and Shane Hurlbert are actually friends and later that day we just kept on truckin’, so (the tirade) was indeed taken out of context,” he said. He added, “Christian is a very good guy, he’s got no entourage, drives around in a pickup truck, no assistant, he’s just focused on being an actor, and he’s really really a good guy.” 

McG also told O'Dell that the release of the audio is currently being investigated. “That’s the proprietary material of Warner Bros. and Sony and the owners of the franchise … it was wildly illegal for that to be leaked in that capacity,” he said, explaining that staffers are in the process identifying the person responsible for the leak. 

“I feel like I owe it to my actor because it happened on my watch," the director said. "And I take it very very seriously in that respect.” “Terminator Salvation,” directed by McG and starring Bale, Sam Worthington and Bryce Dallas Howard, opens May 21 in theaters.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com