Special Eid programmes aired on BTV

“Jolsha” produced by Imam Hussain, contained a wealth of Ghazal renderings on BTV special programmes on Eid. Atul Prashad Sen, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Mirza Ghalib's contributions to this genre was mentioned. Zakaria Suman's rendering of Ghulam Ali's “Chupkey Chupkey”, with the accompanying dancing in black at the adjacent dais made the Ghazal performance more interesting. Asafudaula's “Brishti Ashey Hotath” sung by Samina Yasmeen, was compelling. Dressed in white with the grey pearl necklace was indeed a joy to behold. Sachin Dev Burman's famous song, written by Ajay Bhattacharjee “Jodi Dokhin Paban” was presented by Sanjoy Dey. The piece was heart rendering. Bahadur Shah Zafar's “Bijli Gir Pari” and “Hamney Tumko Bula Key” were just as nonpareil. The dancing girl in dark paisley green was an added attraction. Jamal Hossian singing the Mehdi Hassan ghazal “Aap Mujhey Chhor Key Chaley Gaye” was just as good, while Misbah Ahmed's singing of Jagjit Singh's “Shaafaq Ho Phul” was superb.

Abul Hayat's play with Ziaul Hassan and “Malati” was not one to be ignored. Jayanta Chattapadhyay acted with a soul-rendering pitch as did his son and daughter in -law. It was certainly not just one run-of-the-mill play. The moral of giving minorities their due and admitting that Muslim majorities tended to be harsh to them was a reality which was not to be ignored.

“Onek Kotha Hobey” had Azizul Hakim talking about his childhood days, when he made friends shooting birds with pellets, which the young friends made from burnt clay pellets. Azizul's talk of his daughter of five being precocious, and his participation in three films was interesting.

The “Mama Bhagina” episodes With Ferdousi Majumdar and Sadi Mohammed discussed their dear ones, was touching. Similarly Mohammed Ali Shuman and his niece Alifa being nervous about the first stage performance at the Pentagon was also cool.

The Shaheen Shiraz's programme was as entertaining as “Ittyadi” which people wait up for, the day after Eid. It contained competitions like climbing the pole over water, dressing the bride blindfolded, and climbing up greased-up tall palm trees.

Earlier on, the band performance was superb. Different Strokes, singing after 15 years, sang “Dana Mele Orey”. Durbin had the blue and green lights going off, as they do in European performances sang “Mon Ja Kore”. The semi-circle and rectangle steps leading to the podium were fine, as were the musical notes on the screen. Shironaamhin in their pink and green check shirt performed what they had in their last album.

Piracy sang “Gota Kash Phool”. There was keyboard, guitar, and drums playing rhythmically, while the vocal had a soul pitch. Bappa Mazumder belted out Brishti Ashuk and Prometheus poured out their liquid notes in perfect harmony and unison. The effect was magnificent. “Michey Hashi Michey Kanna” was sung after decades.

In the Eid film too, the message of the cruelty by the village 'panchayats” went across well. The unfair treatment meted out to women as second class citizens was also true. The shot, with lens focus on Moushumi's feet and the rain pouring on the two, reminded on of the decades old Nargis and Raj Kapoor's song “Barsat Mey”. This was when the song “A(n)ka Baka Nupur Hetey Jay” was being belted out. Despite the song and dance extravaganza and the unavoidable melodrama, the messages of the film did not go array.

In the get together of well-known office workers and career personalities, sharing their memories of Eid in “Chena Jana Manush Gulo” Leila Afroza, in green and gold, maintained her supremacy as a recitor. The flowers on her wrist and her hair frizzed gave her a new outlook. Rita with her flamingo pink sari was effective in her rendering of the Tagore song, as was her explanation of why she continued with her career. Ferdous Ara sang “Debo Khopaye Tarar Phool”. The stage setting was not too garish.