12th and 13th March 2011 - welcome to my creative world

BENGALI
ASSSOCIATION OF
MERSEYSIDE
AND
NORTH OF ENGLAND
12th and 13th March 2011
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, Manchester OL1 1UT
Presidents’s Message
Dear friends,
It gives me immense pleasure and privilege to invite you all on behalf of the
Bengali Association of Merseyside and North of England ( BAMNE ) to support
and participate in our mega cultural function MILAN UTSAV in Elizabeth Hall in
Oldham.
It takes a lot of effort and time to arrange a programme of this magnitude and I
convey my thanks to our Cultural Secretary Devapriya Dev and his team. I also
convey my thanks to the ARCUS group from Kolkata for their effort and support
in arranging this function to entertain us in the North-West of England. My gratitude goes to our sponsors, advertisers and staff of Queen Elizabeth Hall.
My special thanks go to the participants in this function and I sincerely hope
you enjoy this event over the next two days with your friends and family.
I apologise in advance on behalf of BAMNE for any unforeseen imperfections.
Best Wishes
Gopal Chaudhury
Entertainment Secretary’s Message
BENGALI
ASSSOCIATION OF
MERSEYSIDE
AND
NORTH OF ENGLAND
Bengali Association of Merseyside and North of England (BAMNE) is a charitable organisation based at Liverpool. It was established in 1977 and started off under
the name “Liverpool Puja Committee”.
It organised the first Durga Puja outside London in the North-West of England .The
festival has grown in strength & momentum with every passing year since then. The
name was changed to “Bengali Association of Merseyside & North of England" in
early 1980’s as many members were from around Liverpool and North-West of England.
It now has over 500 members. People from various parts of UK and abroad come to
the Kirkby Civic Suite each year in large numbers to celebrate various pujas
(Durga, Kali, Laxmi, Saraawati etc) and cultural programmes.
Organising Committee
President : Dr Gopal Choudhury
Secretary : Dr Somen Ghose
Entertainment Secy: Dr Devapriya Dev
Treasurer: Mr Sandip Chatterjee
Members:
Pijush Das
Somnath Saha
Rinee Bhattacharya
Somnath Kumar
Kaushik Ghosh
Shuvam Roy
Rana Das
Syed Ahmed Ali
Biplab Das
Sabyasachi Sarkar
Bharati Kar
Rajat Banerjee
Bidyut Kumar
Debashis Maitra
Dibyendu Banerjee
Gopali Ghosh
Badal
Swapan Datta
MILAN UTSAV - PROGRAMME FLOW
Day 1 ( Saturday, 12 March)
2:00pm—09:15pm
2 .00 2.15 2.30 2.45 -
Opening Song
Welcome speech – Dr G Choudhury, President, BAMNE
Mr Asis Chatterjee, ARCUS
Inauguration of Milan Utsav by
His Worshipful, The Mayor of Oldham, - lighting the lamp
Speech by Mayor of Oldham, Councillor David Jones
& His Excellency the Consul General of India, Sri Gururaj Rao
3.00 – 4.00 -
Programme by local performers
4.00 – 4.20 -
Tea Break
4.20 – 5.20 -
Sayantani Majumdar
5.30 – 6.30 -
Drama – ‘Sona Chai’ - Sabyasachi / Mithu/ Ramaditya
6.30 – 7.30 -
Saikat Mitra
7.30 – 7.45 -
Break
7.45 – 9.15 -
Ujjaini Mukherjee
10.00 -
Dinner with the Stars at Taj Palace
Day 2 ( Sunday, 13 March )
1:00pm—09:00pm
1.00 – 2.00 –
Programme by local performers
2.00 – 2.15 –
Tea break
2.15 – 3.30 –
Mehreen
3.45 – 4.20 –
One Act Play- ‘ Path Jadi Na Shesh Hoi’- Tanima Sen
4.30 – 6.00 –
Debojit Saha
6.00 – 6.30 –
Break
6.30 – 7.00 –
Felicitation to Guests & Sponsors
7.00 – 8.30 –
Padmasree Usha Uthup
8.30 –
Vote of thanks – Dr Devapriya Dev, BAMNE
ARCUS
( Programme timings are subject to change )
We are Arcus Events Management Pvt. Ltd. We make event grand.
The team of ARCUS is of experience and fresh ensures innovative,
magnificent execution at each event which is unequaled.
We organize large scale cultural events. Our broad networking with
both Hindi and Bengali film industry can offer the most desirable celebrities for the events. We offer a variety of areas including corporate
events and cultural events like concerts, award ceremonies, film premieres, launch/release parties, fashion shows, commercial events. Our clients can rely on us to handle a specific scope of services for the given event, which at its maximum may include all creative,
technical and logistical elements of the event. (Or just a subset of these, depending on the client's
need, expertise and budget). Our team makes the most of their extensive production background to
create astonishing moments your audience will remember. The magic is in the chemistry of unique
ideas and personalities that take place at the meeting or event. We organize the events just not as a
mere event but a get together of all Bengalis or Indians abroad so that they experience home away
home. We arrange the event venue as a kind of cultural cum sales exhibition so it lasts as a wonderful experience in the minds of the audience.
Upcoming events: East London - 28th & 29th May 2011
Harrow London - 1st weekend of June
Nashville, USA - last weekend of June ETC.
ARTISTE PROFILE
USHA UTHUP
Usha Uthup or Didi as she is fondly referred to, sings in more than thirteen Indian and eight foreign languages. This is an achievement by itself. If there is a legend bridging the East and the
West, it is Usha. With her music and charm, she has transcended the barriers of caste, creed,
language and nationality. Usha Uthup has won accolades from India and abroad too:

Rajiv Gandhi Purashkar for national integration for quality music;

Mahila Shiromoni Purashkar for international peace;

Channel [V] award for outstanding achievement;

The People's Support, for over 30 years
Usha is India's first and only international artiste with six english language song releases. For
Usha, music is not just her life-style, but it is an instrument of love! Usha truly lives up to her signature - “I believe in Music"
DEBOJIT SAHA
A Diploma holder in Civil Engineering Debojit Saha,(born in Silchar, Assam) is Indian-Bengali
singer and was the winner of Zee TV’s reality series, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 with the
majority of votes from the North Eastern states of India. He was placed in Ismail Darbar’s Yalgaar Ho Gharana and then started to gain public attention by going through the initial rounds by
being chosen by the judges. He has lent his voice in bollywood movies 88 Antop Hill & Jimmy the
song O more jaan in the Assamese film, Jonda Iman Gunda, which was super hit. He participated in STAR Plus's reality show Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star and was highly appreciated by music composer duo Vishal-Shekhar in this show. He was also a participant in STAR Plus's show
Music Ka Maha Muqqabla on the Team Shaan's Strikers. Recently he has given his voice to the
super hit movie Tees Maar Khan.
MEHREEN
Mehreen .– the Pop Princes pursued music but never thought of stardom. She waited for the right
person with her first demo until she met the “murderer” trio. They together created the revolutionary album “ANARI”. This creation was regarded as the revival of pop music when it was first
played in 1999 on Channel I. This sparked pop music for the second generation of pop artistes
and gave birth to the “neo-pop” in Bangladesh. This fact fetched Mehreen a lot of awards including
the highest recognition among public awards “the Ononna” award for bringing in a new genre of
musical presentation. Till now she has released five solos with dozens of hits for the local market.
Anari (2000), Dekha Hobe (2002), Mone Pore Tomae (2004), Bhalobashar Gaan A Romantic
Compilation (2005), and Don’t Forget Me (2006). Debdash, Dola, Radha, Preme Porechi etc are
some of her mixed albums. For the World cup 2011 Cricket she has sung the anthem which has
gained popularity overnight.
SAIKAT MITRA
Saikat Mitra son of Shyamal Mitra started off his career in music by performing songs originally
sung by his father Saikat Mitra started singing circa 1983, and in 1984, he started singing in Bengali Film Songs as a playback singer for the Bangla movie "Kenaram Becharam" singing his father's compositions in the Film. Saikat Mitra was one of the founders of the record company "Gold
Disc" in 1994, along with the singer Sivaji Chatterjee and Samar Nag. Saikat Mitra subsequently
continued composing modern, popular and Bengali Film Songs, including songs for bengali movies Mishti Madhur, Bijoyee and Miss Mayetreyee. Sagarika released the popular album "Kusum"
in 2003 where Saikat Mitra composed tunes to the poetry of Sunil Gangapadhyay’s "Mon bhalo
neyi" and the album "Chini Go Chini" featuring tagore songs performed by Saikat Mitra and V Balsara.
UJJAINI MUKHERJEE
Born in Kolkata, India. Ujjaini was introduced to music by her parents at a very early age. She
started taking lessons of Hindustani Classical Music at the tender age of two and half years and
received vocal training from the Maestro Pt. Ajoy Chakroborty and Pt. Biresh Roy. At the age of
10, Ujjaini was awarded by Pt.Ravi Kichlu for rapid development in Hindustani Classical Singing.
Simultaneously she was learning ghazal and other forms of semi classical and light music. At the
age of 16 she participated in Hero Honda Saregamapa Challenge 2005 and achieved the 7th position in the final countdown. Immediately followed Hero Honda Saregamapa Ek Main Aur Ek tu
where Ujjaini grabbed the wining trophy along with Aishwarya. Since then there has been no
looking back. She has given her voice in many Bengali movies like Madly Bangalee, Chalo Lets
Go, Cross Connection and Byomkesh Bakshi. In Hindi Right yaa Wrong, Alag and the latest release Tanu weds Manu and in Telegu Josh.
SABYASACHI CHAKRABARTY & MITHU CHAKRABARTY
Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is a Bengali Indian male actor of TV and films. Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is
one of the most talented and prolific actors of Bengal whose acting prowess is well known all over
India. He made his movie debut in Tapan Sinha’a film “ Antardhan” in 1992 and since, has worked
in several famous television His role as Feluda in "Jotokando Kathmandutei," "Baksho Rahashya,"
"Bombaiyer Bombete", "Kailashey Kelenkari", "Tintorettor Jishu" and "Gorosthane Sabdhan" have
reinstated the nostalgia surrounding Satyajit Ray’s Feluda series. His roles in "Antardhan," "Sweth
Pathorer Thala," "Mahulbanir Sereng," "Parineeta" (Hindi), "Nishijapon" Raj Kumar Santoshi's cop
drama "Khakee"and Mira Nair's"The Namesake" amongst others have earned him wide recognition.
He got involved with "Charbak" theatre group in 1983. He has worked in a number of Hindi movies
and TV shows as well and has directed many TV shows.
Mithu Chakrabarty says "I have become an actor, just by chance”. She did not got through any formal trainings, she had spent two years with theater just to follow her passion for acting. Mithu Chakrabarty has acted in too many Bengali Serials to remember .A few Hindi serial .several Bengali
films.To name a few- a)DOSOR-Rituporno Ghosh b)ANURANAN-Aniruddha Raychowdhury c)
BONG CONNECTION-Anjan Dutt d)BALLYGUNGE COURT- Pinaki Roychowdhurty e)TEEN EKKE
TEEN-Moloy Bhattacharya.
RAMADITYA RAY
Ramaditya Ray is a doctor by profession based in Kolkata. He is emotionally attached to plays as he
loves acting. He is a technical coordinator for various cultural shows; we also got an opportunity to
get to see another side of his versatility as he is the technical coordinator for our event MILAN UTSAV. Ramaditya Ray has worked with Utpal Dutta and Jochhon Dastidar and directed Manoj Mitra’s
Parobash at Banga Sammelan in Detroit where Sabyasachi Chakraborty was part of the cast. He
has directed plays for the Indian Life Saving Society for the last five years.
SAYANTANEE
Sayantanee trained under her father Late Prabir Majumder and later learnt North Indian Light Classical music from Debiranjan Banerjee. She also received vocal training in Ghazals from Late Ustaad
Sagiruddin Khan Sahib. Sayantanee sung a duet with the great Vocalist Manna De for the film
“Suryasakkhi” at the age of fifteen. Sayantanee has given her voice in many Bengali films like Batasi, Sudhu Tomary, Ek PoshIa Brishti, Baba Taraknath and Karoti to mention only a few. She also
lent her voice in many films from Bangladesh and playbacks in Assamese, Oriya and Nepalese
movies. She also performed in more than 3,000 advertisement jingles. She also played a major part
in Salil Chowdhury’s Chorus group of singers. Sayantanee has also sung for numerous television
series which include Shimana Chhariye, Khelaghar, Ebong Computer and so on. Thereafter,
Sayantanee left Calcutta for America and Europe where she became a household name synonymous with hundreds of Karaoke CDs of Hindi music. While experimenting with karaoke, Sayantanee got introduced to the Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, with whom she performed in Dacca, Bangladesh (1999). Sayantanee has recently been awarded the Kalakar Award for the Best Female Vocalist in a Private Music Album.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ARCUS group, Kolkata
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham
HDFC Home Loans, London
ICICI , UK
Delhi Sweet Centre, Manchester
Typhoo Tea, UK
ASM Foods
Raza Food & Catering
Taj Palace, Oldham
Roy & Co
Euro Caterers
Khalid Coaches
Norton Grange Hotel
New Image
B & B Graphics
Manchester Bengali Hindu Association
GMBA
Bharatiya Ashram, Dundee
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Samir Kumar Dhara, Thriven Marketing
India Ltd
Mr R A Faisol Choudhury,
Channel I, Europe
Bengal Station
Global Tea and Commodities Ltd.
Rinee Freelance Digital Artist