1. You had to either take part in the cosplay or in the blogging contest.
2. The best performers from both of them were sent to the next round, where you had to solve a given set of jumbled words within 20 minutes.
3. From there 10 people were selected and sent to the finals. In the final showdown you had to answer a rapid fire round in a span of 20 seconds. 

A lot of cuss words, a lot of sleeping with this person, that person, with him, with her, murder, murder and four more murders.

Its as if scotch, money and lust is what all life has to offer. While some may agree that these are ALL the best things in life, there may be some people who believe that these are nothing but some of the best things life gives us. I, happen to support the second group. Too much of blood, sex and alcohol make this movie very, very stifling. It overpowers the flimsy plot of the movie. The obvious saga which will come to the minds of many supporters of the former, is Game of Thrones. I would gladly like to point out that despite the gore and skin show Game of Thrones has an amazing plot as a breather, something which this movie grossly lacked. All Shororipu did was drown our sensible side in alcohol and stab our intellect over and over again.

The twist at the end comes as a total surprise. The surprise is so terrifically dumb that no one could have seen it coming. This script was surely the aftermath of a night soaked in scotch.

Even though Shororipu is regarding the seven sins which involves love, lust blah blah, it could have been portrayed with a sensible story line and not by something just strung along. After every passing minute, I thought OK, there will be something worth watching in the next scene maybe. I was disappointed, to say the least.

Dhee Majumdar and Rudraneel Ghosh came as respite. If you sit on your seats, you will sit for them. As the young Shekhar, Dhee Majumdar has a small role but he does justice to it. Effortless acting on his part, accurate expressions and perfect usage of his baritone voice. Rudraneel Ghosh is a wonder. The timid manager, to calm blackmailer, to a pretty good singer (the male voice in that pointless but peppy item number is his), Rudraneel Ghosh as Shubhankar Nandi was lovely to watch. Chiranjeet Chatterjee as the sleuth Chandrakanta brought a certain sharpness to his character which is commendable. Koneenika Banerjee, as the simpering and nagging assistant was watchable. Sudipta Chakraborty however seemed too loud and definitely overacted her part. Indraneel Sengupta didn't make a mark, but at least he didn't make us cringe so it was alright. Rajatava Dutta is a veteran actor so a brilliant performance from him is nothing but expected, nonetheless the kind of character he tried to portray probably calls for a different cast. That smile of his with his wide open eyes may send chills down your spine though. Sohona Saba, well, she can do better than this, hopefully.

The only scene which will bring a hint of smile to your face is when Chandrakanta says 'Kani ebar ektu popcorn niye esho toh.' and the lights are switched on for the interval.

An average film with a very clumsy end is what all I can say about Shororipu. 

Dhakuria Lake and Calcutta Rowing Club played the host this year to the All India Dragon Boat Festival.


The celebrations started off with professional rowers putting their oars to the water, on boats with a dragon head. The first boat to the shore wins. Mostly a Chinese audience, there were many Indians too rooting for the rowers, there were many Indians who had taken part in the competition. The winners were given trophies after the Chinese Lion Dance was over.

There were throngs of people waiting for the Chinese Lion Dance. It is a wonder to see and you cannot help but appreciate the effort of the boys under the costume. Not being able to see but maintaining your balance and coordination requires talent and a hell lot of practice. The typical music to which the Lions dance was played by a group of Chinese musicians. Here are a few videos for you to enjoy.




The emcee said that the Dragon Boat Festival is incomplete without eating a Zhong. A zhong is basically a sticky rice dumpling with a sweet or salty centre. The sweet filling is made up of bean paste and the salty filling can be anything you want, but the ones which were available had a mushroom filling.



A lot of stalls selling authentic Chinese delicacies were set up serving Chicken/Pork Pao, spring rolls, dumplings, wantons and many more. Tea is a speciality of China, so lemongrass and jasmine tea were available for the beverage lovers.

The Dhakuria Lake has a beautiful atmosphere and the lights and hubbub of the festivities brought about some life to the otherwise serene ambience.


A member of the club said that they should hold such an event in Park Street next time, to which the crowd vociferously agreed.

It was a nice to see the Chinese feeling comfortable and finding a home in Kolkata, away from their native land. It felt good to see the diverse cultures coming together, respecting each other and enjoying the moment.

Lets hope that this acceptance of all the good things in the world continues and many more festivities of such kinds come to the fore in our Kolkata. 

                                                                          Adda Tram

Nandita Roy and Shiboprasad has been raising the bar over the last few years and with Bela Sheshe they had set a benchmark for themselves.

Praktan lives up to the duos much deserved fame.

The two directors have set up a style. They bring back an old pair and narrate a story of two people in a way that makes the audience feel like its their life on celluloid. It is their ability to choose a particular string of the heart and strum it in ways that will make your eyes swell.

Rituparna Sengupta is an architect, an independent modern woman, loves her man so deeply that fails to recognise that her success brews jealousy in his heart.

Prasenjit Chatterjee is a middle class tour guide running his own business, has a busy schedule, actually a romantic but doesn't have time for his wife, is dominating, prefers to be the knight in shining armour and wants his wife to be the damsel, not in distress but always dependant on him.

All goes well at first but love flies out the window when money matters come barging in through the door. Prasenjit's character Ujjan oversees the love of his wife when she gifts him and thinks its her attempt in showing him that he doesn't have standards like hers. Rituparna's Sudipa tries to get her husbands attention by making compromises, by planning trips from her own pocket just so that the two can spend some quality time together, but doesn't understand that her attempts to draw him near are actually pushing him away as it hurts his self esteem.

Sudipa's last attempt to salvage their marriage goes in vain and the two separate.

The entire film is set on a train ride from Mumbai to Kolkata and is shown on the basis of a conversation between two women. The two women being Aparijita Adya and Rituparna Sengupta.

On the side we have a group of four musicians in the train to bring in a light note with their music, otherwise the movie would have been a tad bit too dour. We also have a newly married OTT couple, Biswanath Basu and Manali Dey, coming back from their honeymoon and an elderly couple, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabitri Chatterjee, returning to Kolkata after a visit to their son's family.

 

The reason for showing the three married couples is to show the stark contrast between the various stages and types of marriage. The young couple returning from their honeymoon shows the enthusiasm, love and concern a couple share at the start, how they don't realise that marriage isn't always a smooth sail. The elderly couple shows how love and loyalty stands the test of time and stay together till the end. The two women show how mistakes can make a marriage go wrong and how they can be rectified given a second chance and a change of heart.

However a particular aspect was a botheration. Here they showed that a woman who is driven to make a successful career is the one who is refused to lead a smooth marital life, and the woman who forgets about herself and thinks that the sole reason behind her existence is to serve her husband and care for her child, comes out successful, makes no sense as such. What were they trying to say ? That a woman after marriage needs to let go of all her dreams, and just be a thing in her in-law's house to be pushed around ? A working woman wishes to have a husband and child as well. They are not devoid of feelings just because they earn money and wish to make a mark in her life. Whenever Sudipa told Molly that she has learnt a lot about life from her, learnt that compromises are required in a marriage, I couldn't help but feel a little agitated. Why does the compromise need to be forgetting who you are ? Why should the compromise be one sided ? Leaving the job isn't a compromise. Its a sacrifice. Learning to figure out some time for your loved around your hectic schedule is what is required.
This is the only complaint I have regarding this film. The message which came across is not appropriate.

The climax and the end is something that I shall not reveal. It is for you to find out by hitting the nearest theatres. All I can say is that it is a lovely portrayal of the past and present. The last scenes between Ujjan and Sudipa and the last line by Molly(Aparajita Adhya) to Sudipa will either leave you with a smile or with a tear in your eye.

The music of this movie is praiseworthy, especially the the songs Bhromor and Tumi jake bhalobasho. After you leave the theatres hunt these two on the net and play it on loop. For sure.
As for the acting Rituparna has showed a different dimension to her performance after a long time. Aparajita Adhay though natural and effortless mostly seemed a little loud at parts and Prasenjit has lived up to his name definitely.