ART IN LIFE 2011 Curtain Raiser at CIMA GALLERY

I was so looking forward to visiting CIMA GALLERY for this event after visiting ART IN LIFE 2010. Last year when I first visited CIMA GALLERY, a lot of myths were broken. I, like most people, felt that Art Galleries are meant for the upper crust of society, and yet when I visited the gallery for ART IN LIFE 2010, I was shocked to see items as cheap as Rs. 50 too.

The ART IN LIFE Project is the brainchild of the curators of the Gallery who go to extreme lengths covering the length and breadth of the sub-continent scouring the art and artisans to bring their creations to us. It is their endeavour to keep these Arts alive and ensure that better commerce prevails to keep these artisans true to their art. Their belief is that if these artisans don’t get their livelihoods from these beautiful creations, they are forced into seeking opportunities in other fields and thus with them dies a legacy of our heritage and culture.

ART IN LIFE 2011 opened privately to a bevy of Celebrities and Socialites of Kolkata and it was a pure joy to see the likes of Rituparna Sengupta and Kiran Uttam Ghosh who went crazy shopping. Aparna Sen was the first to show up followed by Rituparno Ghosh and Anamika Khanna . The gorgeous Moon Moon Sen too floated in like a butterfly. Madhu Neotia just couldn’t get enough of the simple yet exquisite saris.

Aparna Sen

Rituparno Ghosh

Rituparna Sengupta

Moon Moon Sen

RJ Purbasha of 91.9 Friends FM

All I would say is that if you’re looking to buy some nice stuff for yourself or your home or better still as a gift for someone this Durga Puja, ART IN LIFE 2011 at CIMA GALLERY is the place from 02 September to 01 October 2011.

CIMA GALLERY

Sunny Towers (2nd Floor),

43, Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue,

Kolkata, India 700019

Date: 02 September to 01 October 2011

Hours: Daily: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm

Phone: +91 33 24858717

Website: http://www.cimaartindia.com/

Friends Flex being put to good use

I was driving down towards Gariahat and just outside CC&FC a track which was several cars ahead of mine caught my eye. That Yellow Circular Print could only be one thing. So I zigzagged through traffic until I finally came up right behind this truck and sure enough there it was staring me in the face. The Smiley from our logo. This black Flex that was being used as a cover for the back of the truch was a print from one of our Outdoor Campaigns.

Cheers! 91.9 Friends FM

Friends Music Festival 4: Day 2

Venue: NAZRUL MANCHA, SOUTHERN AVENUE, KOLKATA

Date: 05 DECEMBER 2010

Time: 5:30 PM

AMIT KUMAR

AYUB BACHCHU & LRB

PACKED VENUE

STAGE VIEW From Sound Console

Friends Music Festival 4: Day 1

Venue: NAZRUL MANCHA, SOUTHERN AVENUE, KOLKATA

Date: 04 DECEMBER 2010

Time: 5:30 PM

ARUNDHATI HOLME CHOUDHWRY & SIVAJI CHATTERJEE

PURNA DAS BAUL

PANDIT AJOY CHAKRABORTY

Friends Music Festival: Day 3

Day 3 set a record at Nazrul Manch of over 4000 which they hadn’t seen in the past 5 years which resulted in an electrifying performance by Usha Uthup which was followed up by Chandrabindoo. Nachiketa had a brief performance, but managed to get the crowd on their feet. The next band Lakkhichara dazzled the crowd with their stage antics, dazzling lights and hard rock music. The final performance that brought a close to the three day soiree was a wonderful performance by Bhoomi who celebrated 10 years of being together.

Usha Uthup

Chandrabindoo

Nachiketa

Lakkhichhara

Bhoomi

Friends Music Festival: Day 2

Subhamita set off proceedings for the second day with Bengali Modern Songs. Dohar a popular folk band from Kolkata took the tempo up and even brought up all the Friends FM RJs on stage to sing along with them. The very talented Purbayan Chatterjee on Sitar accompanied by Pt. Anindo Chatterjee had the audience in wraps with a stupendous performance. Thereafter Raghab followed by Lopamudra Mitra rocked the packed venue on the second day of the Friends Music Festival.

Subhamita

Dohar with the Friends FM RJs

Purbayan Chatterjee & Pt. Anindo Chatterjee

Raghab

Lopamudra Mitra

Friends Music Festival: Day 1

91.9 Friends FM presented its third edition of the Friends Music Festival between 4-6 December 2009 at Nazrul Mancha. The event originally conceived as an event to celebrate its 1st anniversary in February 2008, has grown and become a calendar event for the city’s music lovers. It as also a platform for our loyal listeners to witness live performances of their favourite musicians and also get a glimpse of their favourite RJs who host the show over the three days..

Starting at 5pm everyday the festival showcases various genres of music like Rabindrasangeet, Indian classical, Folk, Bangla Adhunik, Bangla Rock and Fusion. Prominent artists set the stage alight and the crowd swinging to their music at the Festival over three days. To keep the festive mood alive, there were various food stalls, music stalls and other exhibitors at the event.

Day one started with Madhuri, a group from Shantiniketan who ushered in the Festival with Rabindrasangeet. Srikanta Acharya built up on the Rabindrasangeet and also some of his popular songs. This was followed by the celebrated artist Rezwana Chaudhury Bannya from Bangaldesh who had the audience glued to their seats with her exposition of Rabindrasangeet. The most colourful and enthusiastic performance by folk singer Baul Tarun Khyapa and his troupe was as much a photographers delight as was entertaining. The evening was wound up by Bickram Ghosh's Rythmscape with Gregg Ellis. Bickram on the tabla & Greg Ellis on the drums jammed with each other and wowed the audience to near disbelief.

Madhuri - Shantiniketan

Srikanta Acharya

Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya

Baul Taurn Khyapa

Bickram Ghosh's Rythymscape & Greg Ellis

Early Morning Shoot for an Ad Campaign

This was one of the second campaign shoot I was going to be in. I had done one with Roopa Ganguly just a month ago and this one had me lifting weights. Of course the other great thing was that my SWIFT also got to be in one of the shoots. So now my SWIFT had professional Modelling experience.

My First Photoshoot Experience

The highlight of my Sunday drudgery at work was getting to step out and visit the location of a photo-shoot commissioned by me for a new Ad campaign we were going to start soon. The best part was that I was also going to be a part of it in the sense that I was going to be in the shoot.

When I got to the studio, I got to know that the film-star, who was supposed to be the lead in the shoot, was still awaited, so all the models including myself had to sit in on a make-up session which happened rather quickly. Gosh my first make-up session. My first proper photo-shoot with me in it! This was going to be fun.

So the clock kept ticking as we waited. The photographer kept checking the lights and preparing the set or whatever they call it. Huge flash lights kept going off from all directions as he clicked the camera mounted on the tripod and illuminated the entire room. Finally our main model arrived and as she got busy with her make-up, I must say, I was thoroughly impressed at how professional she was. It seemed like clock-work. She knew exactly what was needed and as she was getting her make-up done, she discussed the sequence of shoots and the ensemble and mood required for each of the shots.

I was the second one to go and as I watched the first set of shots happening, I thought to myself, this is no child’s play. Modelling is not as easy as it looks. With each passing shot, I realised how tough it was to capture that perfect shot and the mood, expressions and lighting that was required. The first round took a long time, but finally once it was done, I had to take the stage with the protagonist. Though I was just an accessory in the shot, I realised how difficult it was to get that perfect pose and expression that was required for the shot. Finally after what seemed forever, my takes were done.

All I can say after being in a photo-shoot, is, that if you’re thinking of a career as a model or actor, be ready to slog your butt off.

India Radio Forum: 2009

We made it to Taj Lands End by 9am after going through some short cuts that the Auto wallah went zig-zag through. It was India Radio Forum once again. Like every year, walking down the steps towards the Forum area, one can get that familiar aura of Radio Professionals. Though it is meant for media planners, Brand Managers et al, it as usual ends up as a congregation of the Private FM Radio fraternity.

The session started with the normal CEO panel with the usual suspects. The same old discussion, same old points, and they went on blah blah blah. Radio Rocks because of what it can do for advertisers and Radio is in dire straights unless the government changes some policies blah blah blah. And thank you very much. I had heard enough and was looking forward to some real inside stuff on creating really good radio programs that could captivate audiences.

So session after session on technology and audience measurement and then finally one guy I had heard before, Diamid Moncrieff. A passionate radio guy from the UK who really believes that sounds could influence. I liked that session.

After that, the guy who had been sold the hardest, Mike Reiss. He is the guy who has penned the award winning and whacky TV series “THE SIMPSONS”. His session was full of laughs and though it had nothing to do with radio per se, it did make one wonder about the possibilities. I guess this was the best session and got everyone back in the groove post lunch.

We had heard and seen enough and having no entries for the Awards that was to follow, we headed out once the Forum was over.

Friends Music Festival

Day three and there was no taking chances. I was at the venue by 12 noon. Cactus was the first band to arrive for their sound check. They set-up the stage made their noise and I had to stave off the cops twice in the afternoon due to the noise levels. Must be some old fogies complaining that their Sunday afternoon siesta has be ruined. Anyway Usha Uthup arrived by 2 pm and did her sound check too and was off. Now as I watched the stage piled high with towers and towers of speakers on both sides, the stage performance area itself was reduced to a mass of monitors, equipment, wires, and mikes and it just made me wonder where they were going to stand and perform.

Anyway, taking no chances today, we opened the gates which already had serpentine lines formed outside at 5.15pm. Anjan Datta took the stage at 5.55pm and day three was underway at 6pm on the dot. Anjan performed some of his classics and at exactly 6.30pm left the stage. He had set up the mood perfectly for what was to come. Usha Uthup in her beautiful black sari and her signature sneakers took the stage and immediately got the crowd dancing. It was just awesome to see the crowd on their feet and dancing with abandon. Usha Uthup even after performing for 40 years still has the ability to arouse audiences. She truly is the original Rockstar of Calcutta.

Chandrabindoo, veterans of bangle rock took stage next and kept the tempo up. In customary style just as their performance the previous year at the Friends Music Festival, they ended their presence on stage by calling on all the Friends FM RJs on stage and singing along with them. But by the time Chnadrabindoo was off the stage and Cactus came on, we had gone a little awry on the time front and were running a bit behind the stipulated time. We didn’t want to go in for a repeat of the previous day and though the crowd was never made aware of the time and police restrictions, we needed to tighten up things. Cactus performed their best or so I heard. This was the first time I had witnessed them on stage. They were pretty awesome. They are tight band that delivered a punch and yet maintain melodious tunes.

Finally Bhoomi got on stage and by this time it was quite obvious that this was the day’s last performance. But to my surprise, the crowd didn’t thin out. Each act got respect and discerning ears and claps. The audience was just too good. They danced, they clapped, they swayed, they sat and listened, but most of all they packed the entire auditorium. We had a full house of 3000+ people. The bands were happy to play to such a packed house, we were happy to have been able to pull off such crowds and most of all the audiences were happy to have witnessed such a show for a mere Rs. 40/-.

Well after Bhoomi got off stage, I was happy yet sad. In fact it was a mixed bag of emotions. Getting such a big show together and now that it was over made me sad. At the same time the joy and elation and sense of accomplishment pulled me to the other side. And to see the crowds enjoy themselves so much was just awesome. Well unfortunately for me, I don’t really get to sit back and watch or listen to any of the performances. I’m running between the back stage areas, or clicking pictures in front of the stage, or heading to the gate, that walkie-talkie keeps buzzing and keeps me busy as a bee. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So not that it’s over, well I’m getting all set to start work on the next edition of the Friends Music Festival. Hope to see all of you there!

ANJAN DUTTA USHA UTHUP CHANDRABINDOO CHANDRABINDOO with 91.9 Friends FM RJs. RJ Radhica, RJ Sharmistha, RJ Nilanjana, RJ Ryan, RJ Raja, RJ Purbasha & RJ AmitCACTUSBHOOMI

No Music Festival can be complete without an Audience. And here are some glimpses of the audience dancing to the tunes of the musicians.