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Crossroads With Love – Anjan Dutt's next
Crossroads With Love is singer-actor-filmmaker Anjan Dutt's new film that has already begun to shoot right across the length and breadth of Darjeeling, that defines the central platform for the film's story. Authored by Dutt himself, Crossroads With Love is a film with four different stories of love of different intensities. Chowrasta is a point in Darjeeling where the characters meet. Like his recent films, Bong Connection, Bow Barracks Forever and Chalo, Let's Go, this film too, has an ensemble of characters with some actors drawn from Dutt's earlier films and some making their appearance for the first time in an Anjan Dutt film.
The film will present a Darjeeling distanced from the picture-postcard beauty one has seen in many films that featured this hill station as the backdrop. It will show a Darjeeling as it is today, overcrowded with its potholed roads, water crisis and political chaos. Dutt explains that he wants to catch the cosmopolitan, confused and chaotic place that Darjeeling is today. They plan to shoot in the heart of Darjeeling, The Mall, the bars, Joey's Pub, INOX, the lower bazaar, the meandering roads, St. Paul's school, Mayfair, New Elgin, Glenary's Keventer's, the works. Dutt is unable to get over the nostalgia he has for Darjeeling where he studied in boarding school and spent a major slice of his growing-up years.
Victor Banerjee, Roopa Ganguly, Atul Kulkarni, Saswata Chatterjee, Naved Aslam, Aparajita Ghosh-Das, Neelu Bose and Nepali actor Bibhash Prodhan form the acting cast for the film. Roopa plays a fading Bollywood actress complete with her starry airs, her nautanki and drama. She comes to Darjeeling with her son and meets her ex-husband (Saswata Chatterjee) who teaches at St. Paul's School. Aparajita Ghosh-Das is a teenager in love with Naved Aslam, a young Punjabi and the two have eloped to Darjeeling. Victor Banerjee is an ageng tea-planter and Atul Kulkarni is a terrorist on the run. "I play Kenny, a terrorist who is forced into the line for basic survival who is now seeking out," says Kulkarni who is making his crossover to Bangla films with Crossroads With Love. The music direction is by Dutt's son Neel. Among those lending their voices to the songs will be Kunal Ganjawalla and Dutt himself.
Indrani Haldar wins Best Actress Award in Spain
Bengali actress Indrani Haldar, who is now doing the title role of Sujata on Sony television, has just bagged the Best Actress Award for Anjan Das's film Jara Britishtey Bhijechhilo at the Madrid Indian Film Festival in Spain. The film, screened in the festival's competitive section, also fetched for its director Anjan, the Special Jury Award. Jara Brishtitey Bhijechhilo is based on some segments of Joy Goswami's noted story poem of the same name. Indrani, who could not personally receive the award, heard of it while she was shooting for her mega-soap in Mumbai. The novel is said to be partly autobiographical. While Joy Sengupta of Mumbai played the poet, Indrani played the most important woman in his life who flits in and out of his life at critical times and is also his muse. "This is my first international Award and I am grateful to Anjan-da for placing so much faith in me. He accepted the award on my behalf and I am thankful for this as well." Incidentally, the same film won the Special Director's Award for Anjan at the Almaity International Film Festival at Kazakhstan. Interestingly, like most films that bag international awards, Jara Brishtitey Bhijechhilo had a lukewarm reception from the mass audience. Anjan Das' earlier film Faltu has just won a National Award.
Painter Paritosh Sen receives Legends of India award
Eminent painter Paritosh Sen was conferred the Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Award for Fine Arts 2008 by West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi recently in Kolkata.
Painter Shuvaprasanna accepted the award at the ICCR Centre on behalf of Sen, who could not be present on the occasion for health reasons.
"The honour that has been conferred to me is the ultimate award a painter can wish for in his lifetime. I can't describe my feelings in words. I am already 90 years old but there is a long way to go to be able to literally live up to this honour," Sen told IANS.
'Legends of India' Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced with the objective of honouring accomplished artists or organisations for their efforts in promoting traditional art forms like music, theatre or fine arts.
The award carries a gold plaque, an angavastra (a shawl) and a cash reward of Rs.25,000.
A pioneer of the modern art movement in India, Sen has excelled in using the human figure set against a two-dimensional picture plane to express his views on contemporary life. His works have been exhibited in India and abroad. Also a prolific writer, Sen has published many works in both Bengali and English.
Legends of India is an independent society whose prime objective is to promote and nurture traditional Indian art forms.
The previous recipients of the Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Award include renowned names like Mrinalini Sarabhai, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Yamini Krishnamurthy and Chandralekha.
Rohit Bal to create designer jewellery
Fashion designer Rohit Bal has announced plans of creating exquisite gold and diamond pieces for Chennai based jeweller Kirtilals.
"I have been retained by Kirtilals for a year for designing as well as branding of the jewellery collection," Bal said.
Bal will launch two jewellery series designed by him during the year. He will also design and launch men's fashion accessories like cufflinks.
"There is lot of intricate embroidery design work in garments. And we plan to have jewellery with embroidery designs. There is also a possibility of launching matching jewellery for the clothes - sherwanis, bridal dresses - designed by me," he said.
Bal has been designing bridal wear for the family running Kirtilals for a long time.
"It just suddenly struck us that we should ask him to design jewellery. His design concepts and aesthetics attracted us," said Seema Mehta, who heads the design department at Kirtilals.
The first collection of jewellery designed by Bal will be launched in September.
PETA seeks ban on tests of cosmetic on animals
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written to Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss requesting him to "ban cruel and archaic tests" of cosmetics on animals.
In the letter dated Feb 7, they said that they want to draw his attention "to the pain and distress suffered by countless animals used to test cosmetics".
"We have written to the ministry drawing their attention towards the pain and distress suffered by countless animals used to test cosmetics and also suggested the superior methods of testing the cosmetics by using them," the letter by Dharmesh Solanki, senior vivisection campaign coordinator stated.
The letter named some of the cosmetic companies as well those who do not conduct any animal test for testing their product.
"Cosmetics' tests on animals have been roundly criticized, not only for the barbarity of the tests but also because results gleaned from cosmetic tests on animals are qualitative rather than quantitative in nature," the letter stated.
Such companies commonly use animals in tests for eye and skin irritation, skin absorption and phototoxicity. While these tests cause acute, protracted suffering for the animals involved, none of these tests have ever been validated to ensure that the results obtained accurately reflect human response.
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