“Rabindranath Tagore is the first noble prize laureate from India who received the award for his book Geetanjali. [break]
His 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated all over the world, we are organizing the event here to pay tribute to him,” said Apurva Srivastav, First Secretary, press, information, culture and education at Indian Embassy.
Dr Ram Baran Yadav will grace the inaugural ceremony as the chief guest on May 7. A musical concert, “Rabindra Sangeetanjali” will be held at Nepal Academy Auditorium in Kamaladi at 4:45 PM.
Anandalok Choir will perform at the musical concert. Tagore’s poem in English “Where the head is held high” will be recited and various artists will give solo and duet performances.
“The book Geetanjali was translated in Nepali 50 years ago by late Khagendra Pradhananga and so we are reprinting the book in Nepali with new design. The inaugural ceremony also includes the launch of the book,” said Srivastav.
May 8 @ Kumari Hall
2:30 PM
Teen Kanya (1961)
Length: 56 mins
Directed By: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Aparna Sen
This anthology film was released in India as “Three Daughters”. It was a feature composed of three episodes: The Postmaster - 56 min., Monihara - 61 min., and Samapti - 56 min.
Monihara (The Lost Jewels) was left out from the international release probably due to concerns about length and subtitles not being ready for Monihara. The female characters that are central to the stories link the three episodes.
Acclaimed film maker Satyajit Ray adapted three short stories by Rabindranath Tagore as a tribute to the author to mark his birth centenary in 1961. He also made a documentary “Rabindranath Tagore” as part of the celebrations.
5:30 PM
Kabuliwala (1961)
Length: 1 hours 35 mins
Directed By: Hemen Gupta
Cast: Asit Sen ,Balraj Sahni, Paul Mahendra, Sajjan, Sarang Kumar, Satyendra Kapoor, Manoj Mukherjee,Tarun Bose,W.M. Khan
Kabuliwala, a cinematic adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s famously poignant short story, brings a lump to your throat each time you watch it. The film’s biggest strength is the evocative story and the heartfelt performances by Balraj Sahni as Kabuliwala and Sonnu as Mini. Sahni’s interactions with Mini are suffused with tenderness, his laughter robust, his walk, regal.
To give his character a more rounded feel, he is belligerent and boisterous with the adults -- including a tuneless singer, and has a philosophical side too as reflected in his response to ‘Ganga aaye kahan se, Ganga jaaye kahan re’. Sonnu as Mini is uninhibited, the camera seems to be her best ally.
May 9 @ Kumari Hall
2:30 PM
Charulata (1964)
Length: 117 mins
Directed By: Satyajit Ray
Cast: Madhabi Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sailen Mukherjee, Syamal Ghosal
Charulata is based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore, Nastanirh (The broken Nest) and set in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century. Bengal Renaissance is at its peak and India is under the British rule. The film revolves around Charulata / Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), the childless, intelligent and beautiful wife of Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee). He edits and publishes a political newspaper.
The film was Ray’s 12th feature film. It was also the director’s favorite. Ray described the film as the one which has the least defects. In an interview with ‘Cineaste’ magazine, when asked about his most satisfying film, Ray said, “Well, the one film that I would make the same way, if I had to do it again, is Charulata.”
5:30 PM
Chokher Bali (2003)
Length: 167 mins
Directed By: Rituparno Ghosh
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Raima Sen
Based on the novel Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore it tells the story of a young woman, who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies soon after they are married.
She returns to her village and lives there for a couple of months until she sees one of her relations passing by there on her way to somewhere else.Tagore’s story details the lives of these three and Mahendra’s best friend as they deal with certain issues as distrust, adultery, lies, and numerous fallings-out between them.
The movie correctly depicts what Tagore so skillfully wrote and is a sad, stirring tale of the deceit and sorrow that come from being unsatisfied and unhappy.
May 10@Army Officers Club
5:30 PM
Staging of play based on Tagore’s short stories by Sarwanam- an alternative theater group
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Play based on the life of Tagore set to happen in Kathmandu
