| A talented musician Bimal Dev Medhi is a familiar  name in the arena of Assamese modern songs. The publicity shy, talented singer-composer has been broadcasting his songs since 1983. Despite his busy schedule as a responsible forest officer, Dev Medhi devotes his time to music. He has a good number of romantic melodies to his credit. Dev Medhi is equally good as a composer and has tuned songs and composed music for well-known artistes like Pulak Banerjee, Shanta Uzir, Mahananda Mazindar Barua, Ridip Dutta, Namita Goswami, Hasina Hazarika, etc. Bhaktideepa, a cassette of devotional songs tuned by Dev Medhi and sung by Pulak Banerjee and Shanta Uzir with the lyrics by Arpana Banikya, earned so much popularity that a second edition had to be released. Phoolore Dalisa, an album of modern songs by Dev Medhi, with Shanta Uzir and Parineeta Goswami, bears the testimony of the talented singer-composer. |
| Kalpana shines Kalpana Patowary might not have  bagged any coveted titles or topped any fancy polls but, this Assamese singer is surely walking away with some big cheques, as she has been reportedly paid a whooping Rs 25 lakh to judge the first mega Bhojpuri reality show titled Sur Sangram, being telecast from June 5 on Mahua channel. With this, Kalpana has made history in Bhojpuri television industry as the highest paid female judge.This versatile singer of Bhojpuri film and TV industry with a number of hits to her credit came to limelight on the small screen with her exploits in NDTV Imagine’s Junoon...Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka! She has also playbacked for a number Bollywood movies like Jail, Billu (Barber), Welcome, the latest being Ram Gopal Verma’s Ratha Charithra. She has worked with renowned Indian virtuoso percussionist Trilok Gurtu on a new album Massical, released by Germany’s music label BirdJam, last May. She has two tracks in this world music album, and one has Assam’s tribal folk blends. |
| New DD serial – Sir The shooting of 13-episode  Assamese TV serial Sir, produced and directed by Pradyut Kumar Deka, was recently completed by Suruj Duara. Interestingly, the story of this commissioned serial of Guwahati Doordarshan is based on Godfather, the widely read novel by Mario Puzo, with Pabitra Kumar Deka adapting it in Assamese with the backdrop of Assam. After a long break, the title role is played by veteran actor Brajen Bora, while Bidyut Chakravarty is portraying the role of the villain. Others in the cast are Chinmoy Phukan, Mallika Sarma, Paran Kamal, Madhusmita Barkataki, Jupitora Bhuyan, Dipjyoti Kakati, Khagen Das, Dipak Roy, Barnali Das, Sewali Das, Nayan Saikia, Manomoy Gogoi, Thomas Bhuyan, Utpal Das, Amlan Barthakur, Pankaj Barua and Mrinal Das. Sir is scheduled for telecast at prime time on Guwahati DD, soon. |
| Mumbai touch A touch of Mumbai for mobile theatre  of Assam. Yes, Rajashree Theatre’s this season’s drama Kait by popular actor Pradip Nishith will have some inputs from the entertainment capital of India. The choreography of two songs in the drama has been done by Bollywood’s Alok Kapoor, while the lead actress Smiley Barua’s costumes have been designed by leading costume designer Gudia Rawat. The actor-dramatist recently returned from Mumbai after accomplishing these ‘first’ feats.Pradip Nishith’s friend since his Hindi serial days in Mumbai, Rajpal Yadav, who is now a popular Bollywood actor, and his another acquaintance Meghna Mallik, who is playing Ammaji in Na Aana Iss Des Lado on Colors channel, were very much impressed with the theme of Kait and hoped for its success. Kait revolves round the lifestyle and indisciplined mentality of a section of youths today. The other plays of Rajashree this season are Jiten Sarma’s Saraighat, Champak Sarma’s Boli and Hemanta Dutta’s Phool. The cast includes Champak Sarma, Pradip Nishith, Jayanta Das, Smiley Barua, Simi Goswami, Paran Kamal, Nayan Kaushik, among others. The music is by Basanta Thakuria and Bijoylakshmi. |
Apurba Kumar Das