Starmark to pay musical tribute to Kazi Nazrul Islam to celebrate his 121st birth anniversary

The online event was earlier scheduled for May 25 but the ravages of cyclone Amphan forced the rescheduling. One can log onto Starmark’s Facebook page  at www.facebook.com/starmarkofficial to cat the event.

Born on the 11th  of Jaistha as per the Hindu calendar (celebrated this year on May 25) at Churulia near Asansol, West Bengal, Kazi Nazrul Islam is remembered for his works such as Bidrohi (The Rebel), Bhangar Gaan (The Song of Destruction) and Rajbandir Jabanbandi (Deposition of a Political Prisoner).

Kazi Nazrul Islam, popularly known as Nazrul, was a flautist, poet, writer, playwright, actor and a song writer-composer.

He produced a large body of poetry and music with themes that included religious devotion and rebellion against oppression. Nazrul's writings explored themes such as freedom, humanity, love, and revolution. Nazrul wrote and composed nearly 4,000 songs collectively known as Nazrulgeeti.

Eminent artistes Dr. Devajit Bandyopadhyay, Riddhi Bandyopadhyay and Samarjit Guha will pay tributes through his songs.

Devajit Bandyopadhyay founder director of the internationally reputed Academy Theatre Archives, is an acclaimed musician, performer, researcher and a theatre and a film activist.

He has specialised in Mancho Gaan or theatre songs of Bengal. He has directed quite a few tele-films and has also authored and compiled several titles on music, theatre, films as well as jatra for Sahitya Akademi, Oxford University Press, Ananda Publishers, the Asiatic Society and many others.

A recipient of various fellowships, he has performed and lectured extensively at various national and international forums. In 2018 he was awarded Munier Chowdhury Samman from Bangladesh and in 2011 he received the Tagore National Researcher Fellowship (2011-2012) by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Riddhi Bandyopadhyay, also popularly known as Pancho Kabir Kannya among the international Bengali music loving community, has pioneered the concept of ‘Pancho Kabir Gaan’ encompassing the compositions of Rabindranath, Dwijendralal, Rajanikanto, Atul Prasad and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

She has also authored a book on Rajanikanto (published by Patra Bharati), based on her research.

She was recently awarded the “Tumi Annanya 2019”, a national- level award. Riddhi has performed as a playback singer for numerous Bengali films and television serials. She has performed, as well as lectured, at various national and international forums, including the most prestigious Ananda Puraskar ceremony.

Samarjit Guha  is a reputed Nazrulgeeti singer and has trained under the eminent singer Indrani Sen.  A senior journalist, he is an author and currently works for an NGO, the Future Hope

In June, Starmark began its Facebook activities with an enjoyable storytelling session for children with Mira Kakkar or Kahaani Nani. This was on June 5. 

The rest of June will witness, besides Starmark’s tribute to Kazi Nazrul Islam, on June 19 at 6pm,  Pikturenama will share its list of favourite cookbooks and recipes. Team Pikturenama—Madhushree and Anindya—have been chronicling their gastronomic and travel experiences in various media. Madhushree is a home chef, recipe curator and a food stylist, and Anindya is a food photographer, writer and an occasional cook.

Together they create magic in their award- winning blog  www.pikturenama.com. These two bibliophiles with polar preferences in books come together to share their favourite food and cookbooks.

On Friday, June 26, at 6 pm, Pinaki De a multiple award winning graphic illustrator and designer and, one of the editors of Longform, an anthology of graphic narratives, will talk about his selection of best Indian comics published between 2019 and now.