A show on Tagore tunes and tales

Arts and media personality Chaitali Dasgupta hosted a mesmerising evening of storytelling and songs to celebrate the 158th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore recently at a city club. The show, scripted and presented by Chaitali, focussed on tales behind popular Tagore melodies.

Interdisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee accompanied Chaitali in recounting interesting anecdotes like how Tagore earned a cheque of Rs500 from his father for singing or how he surprised everyone by penning a song at the age of 14 for a play written by his elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore.

Actress Bidipta Chakraborty was at her best as she sang Gahana Kusum Kunjamajhe. Saikat Sekhareswar Ray's rendition of Jete Jete Ekla Pothe entranced the audience. Aaj Jyotsna Raate by vocalist Ranjini Mukhopadhyay was the hallmark of the evening. While Durnibar Saha sang Bhenge Mor Ghorer Chabi with elan, Sujoy's rendition of Shoka Tore was hugely appreciated. The programme was crowned off with Jodi Tor Daak Shune with the audience joining in.

Seen among the audience were author Nabaneeta Dev Sen, filmmaker Birsa Dasgupta, Tagore vocalists Priyam Mukherjee and Ritapa Mukherjee, vocalist Madhuwanti Basu and others. "This programme was also intended to bust a few existing myths about Rabindrasangeet", said Chaitali.