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Raj Kapoor in focus
"I am the traveller who comes but once. I dance and sing to fill your years with joy and then I go away, knowing that you have had a hearty laugh." These words of Raj Kapoor were placed, among many others, in a unique exhibition of his memorabilia.
In a strikingly unusual ode to Raj Kapoor, Zee Cinema is presenting a film festival featuring the magic chemistry of music, storyline and entertainment that define the agelessness of the cinema of Raj Kapoor. ZEE Cinema is telecasting a RK film every Sunday at 8.30 pm under the apt title of The Showman Show. This grand festival was launched with a unique exhibition at the Sanskriti Art Gallery in Kolkata on October 3 unveiled by Randhir Kapoor, the eldest of Raj Kapoor's five children. The festival will be dotted with one-minute interstitials called Aaj Bhi Raj – A Retrospect during breaks in the telecast. These information bytes will offer interesting snips from the life of one of the greatest entertainer in the history of Indian cinema.
"Indian cinema has evolved and grown with each Raj Kapoor film. We are happy that RK Films is back on television after a gap of three years and that too, on Zee Cinema. It is a pleasure for us to be able to showcase some of the exhibits of Raj Kapoor films in Kolkata, the cultural capital of the country, where his films have not only received critical appreciation but have also been loved by one and all," said Mohan Gopinath, deputy business head, ZEE Cinema, at the exhibition.
As one went around, one could actually see the small puppet used as a metaphor in Mera Naam Joker. One wall was filled with B&W stills of Nargis, Raj Kapoor's muse and co-star who made a legendary pair with the great showman of all time. The harmonium used in Satyam Shivan Sundaram (1973), a rare poster from the biggest flop among RK Films, namely, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, a children's film directed by Amar Kumar, were on showtoo. The dafli used in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai , costumes the actor wore in Sri 420 (1955) such as a pair of battered and bruised brown keds, a bedraggled cap, the torn jacket and so on. The exhibition was spilling over with posters and stills from Mera Naam Joker , Sangam, Kal Aaj Aur Kal, Dharam Karam, JDMGBH, etc. But the prized display was a bunch of family albums from the Kapoor family with photographs that date back to a period lost in time but frozen in pictures.
"Whenever I die, take me to my studio, for it is possible that amidst the glitter of all the lights, I may get up again and shout – Action! Action!" went one quote encapsulating the philosophy of Raj Kapoor in a single sentence.
Battle of Plassey remembered
This year commemorates the 250th year of the Battle of Plassey which played a decisive role in India’s colonial history. In the battle fought on the maidan of Plassey on June 23, 1757, Lord Robert Clive of East India Company defeated independent-mined Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal and effectively ushered in the British rule in India. Commemorating this event, Eastern News Television (ENTV) of Kolkata, has made a well-researched documentary Palashi ki Jung directed by Diptendu Dey.
Love of the records
For the sake of setting records people these days can go to any lengths, it seems. Recently, around 14,000 students from 75 schools in Chennai brushed their teeth together at the Nehru Stadium to enter the record book of the Guinness Book of World Records. However, the purpose of the exercise was to raise awareness of dental care, according to the Dental Association which organised this event. The previous record is held by Manila where 10,000 people brushed their teeth together.
Man’s wrath knows no bounds
First man encroaches on their habitat and when they step into human habitation in search of food he kills them. In a shocking incident, two tigers were poisoned by villagers in the Orang National Park on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river in Assam. Their fault? The hungry cats, both between two and three years, killed a buffalo which was being grazed within the reserve forest illegally. It is a repetition of the incident a couple of years ago not very far from here when five elephants were poisoned by villagers near the Nameri National Park at the foothills of the Bhutan hills.
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