Kolkata Suchetana’s new production consists of two one-act plays. Kana Khonrar Nitikatha adapts Dario Fo’s original about the power equation in a partnership between a blind man and a lame man for mutual benefit. Luculluser Chhaya-bichar is a straight-forward translation of Brecht’s Trial of Lucullus, which judges the Roman commander after his death. Lucullus points to all his military conquests, but the jury decides that they only brought suffering. His cook comes to his aid, mentioning that he imported the cherry plant. Onkar Ghosh directs too seriously, neglecting both authors’ sardonic humour. While the actors of Fo’s parable are believable, the Brecht cast performs woodenly.
Ananda Lal
Veteran musician Dipali Nag formally inaugurated Kala Bhavan, the cultural wing of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which gives its students opportunity to hone their talent with renowned gurus. At Ashutosh Memorial Institute, with peak hour traffic’s sound as its background score, Saptasur Choir flagged off the cultural evening with a beautiful composition. Under the direction of Rani Karnaa and Sudha Bharat, their disciples presented visually pleasing Kathak and Bharatanatyam. Classical vocalist Raka Mukherjee sang light classical. Accompanied by Ranjan Mukherjee and Sanjeev Pal on harmonium and tabla respectively, her emotive Manjh Khamaj thumri, lilting Daadra in Gara, Meera Bhajan and Ragpradhan proved that organised melody is more powerful than disorganised noise and draws rapt attention even in adverse surroundings.
Meena Banerjee
Education for the poor, eye operation and donation of artificial limbs are among the social objectives of the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metropolitan. And what could be a more exemplary means of raising resources for the altruistic projects undertaken than the Rotary Art Vision, comprising paintings by artists of a bygone era as well as by those alive and still vigorously creative? Chitrakoot Art Gallery has once again volunteered to dig into the wo-rks of the city’s best-known artists with a view to raising funds. The fare includes works of such seniors as Shyamal Dutta Roy, Amitava Banerjee, Nikhil Biswas, Kartik Pyne, Wasim Kapoor, Ganesh Py-ne, Jamini Roy, Prankrishna Pal and Man-indra Bhushan Gupta, as also those of the better-known contemporaries like Aditya Basak, Manoj Mitra, Pradip Maitra, Ritendra Roy, and Arindam Chatterjee.
Samir Dasgupta
