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Kumartuli—The Workshop Of The God Makers In Kolkata! And Durga Puja!

Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year.  With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...

Drishyam The Conclusion: Flawed Disappointing and Inconclusive!

Drishyam: The Conclusion co-written, produced and directed by Abhishek Pathak , the third and presumably the final film of the crime-thriller Drishyam Hindi Franchise , released all over on October 2, 2026 and had in the meantime this Ajay Devgn starrer has become a blockbuster superhit, grossing over Rs. 300 crores domestically and nearly Rs. 460 crores globally so far; and also becoming the second highest grossing Hindi movie of the year and the second highest grossing Indian movie of the year. Curiously enough, the first Hindi Drishyam of the Series in 2015 directed by Nishikant Kamat , an adaptation of the original Malayalam Mammootty-starrer all-time blockbuster in Kerala crime-thriller Drishyam in 2013 directed by Jeethu Joseph , was not a blockbuster nor even a proper hit, only a semi-hit per the box-office verdict; however, thanks primarily to word-of-mouth publicity the film emerged as a cult film thus creating an immense interest for the sequels over the years. Both the se...

Nana Patekar (1951-2026): Tributes to a Firebrand Actor of Indian Cinema!

Someone laments inconsolably, ‘It’s no time to go! He had so many things to do!’ which is quite a natural reaction in matters concerning death, irrespective of the age or the state of health or the circumstances surrounding the person. The pain is always there, only the intensity might vary depending on how close to heart the person is to us, personally or otherwise. No doubt, the personal loss is the most intense one in any tragedy, often leaving the bereaved unable to handle the pain. The screen icons or the celebrities become very close to us over the years even though we never meet him/her at a personal level and thus their passing-away leaves us grieving and in shock. The loss of Nana Patekar is a very intensely shocking pain to me at a personal level, although I never knew or met him personally; his screen images and performances endeared him to me over the decades till I last saw him in Houseful5 movie just months before. Born as Vishwanath Patekar in Maharashtra, Nana Patekar...

Amusing Dynamics of Two Television Shows!

This post is not a researched article nor even an entertainment news item! It’s an account based on personal observations that, as I perceived, might indicate rather funny amusing goings-on behind the scenes! I’ve decided to write it down here since it involves two huge movie personalities, two great shows and the Sony Entertainment Television (SET). The huge Bollywood celebrities are none other than Amitabh Bachchan and another stalwart but a younger actor Ajay Devgn . The great shows are the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) quiz hosted by Amitabh Bachchan and the Crime Patrol 2026 hosted now by Ajay Devgn. The two shows are currently being broadcast on SET. Season 18 of the KBC started from August 10, 2026 with its traditional slot of 9 pm to 10.30 pm Monday to Friday. When Amitabh Bachchan seemed to be struggling to finally shift from the accustomed heroes’ roles to character roles the KBC Show, launched on Star Plus channel in 2000, re-established him as an actor whom people of a...

Dharmendra No More!

A Hero adoration, fascination and love for whom never left my heart—from my childhood days to the present day. Yes, the Hero for me! Embodiment of a person I could trust and depend upon since my tenderest years! Let it be just a screen person or an image only, he lived in my heart like the dearest member of the family! Yes, he's been family, also like a father figure, like my own father! A protector, the He-Man who destroys evil with his bare hands; an umbrella that covers the weak or the vulnerable at every dark corner; and the Hero who conquers all obstacles and hurdles with smiling ease! Dharmendra ! The name itself is a legacy and the countless images that follow and immerse the legacy in colorful vastness! My heart housed in an ageing frame now is still immersed in the legacy! What a hero Dharmendra (1935--2025) has been! Almost hero-worshiped him @5 and still adoring him @65, and mourning his loss today with an inconsolable heart! Kudos for one of the greatest movie heroes o...

Ashish Warang: A Shocking Untimely Loss!

It's really heartbreaking that a powerful character actor should pass away at the age of just 55 while in prime as far the career goes or the huge promise of a lot more to come. Ashish Warang , an actor of Bollywood and the Marathi film industry , had suddenly passed away on Friday, the 5th of September, 2025. There was a total lack of clarity about his demise initially; only today his friends have come out with a statement that he had not been well for some time. First he had jaundice and although he'd recovered from the disease more complications followed in the next few months, finally leading to a cardiac arrest that proved fatal for the sturdy actor.  Ashish Warang acted with most of the leading Bollywood stars in supporting roles--almost always as a cop. I immensely liked his performances; however, those were very brief roles which didn't linger on in my mind enough to enable me to associate his name with the roles. His face has been very familiar to me, but unfort...

Fifty Years of 'Sholay': Celebration by India Post in Mumbai!

The Golden Jubilee of the iconic Hindi movie ' Sholay ' was celebrated by the Maharashtra Postal Circle of India Post at an event organized in Mumbai today. On this auspicious occasion the Maharashtra Postal Circle released two specially designed picture postcards and a presentation pack, featuring an exclusive golden cancellation . The event marked 50 years of the cult classic 'Sholay' since its original release on August 15, 1975.  Amitabh Singh , Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra Circle, officially unveiled the commemorative items and presented the first album to Ramesh Sippy , the acclaimed director of 'Sholay' . The ceremony was attended by noted personalities including Shehzad Sippy , Rohan Sippy , Kiran Joneja Sippy and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur . Senior postal officers, Kaiya Arora , Director of Postal Services (Mumbai Region), Simran Kaur , Director of Postal Services (Headquarters), Maharashtra Circle and Rekha Rizvi , Director, Mumbai GPO we...

Web Series IPF: Disappointing and Just A Simplified Time Pass!

Rohit Shetty’s directorial abilities are at stake, as far as the supposed OTT version of his famed police franchise is concerned. The first and the best movie of the franchise continues to remain to be Singham (2011); even though the Singham sequels and other movies like Simmba (2018) and Suryavanshi (2021) are fairly gripping and absorbing. But Indian Police Force-Season 1 (IPF)  that release on Amazon Prime Video recently is not. Obviously, the ebullient director has not properly concentrated on developing the plot and the script. His favorite scenes of cars crashing and blasting in air, punchy fights and elaborate gun-fights and chases are all there; but he should’ve understood that such scenes, though very well shot, do not create the desired effect on the small screen as these do on the big screens of PVRs, INOXs, Cinepolis’s and so on. Even if we overlook this particular aspect, we’re in for further disappointment as the action drama unfolds. There’s just no suspense in the...

Populated Movies Revisited!

Many years back I wrote a piece titled 'Populated Movies' that was later included in my first book ' Laugh and Let Laugh ' in 2017. In that piece I argued that since India is an overpopulated country with high unemployment rates the creative art forms do adjust to that reality by trying to generate maximum employment opportunities in their projects. For example the goons in a mainstream Hindi movie: whereas just one bullet through the head by one villain is enough to kill the hero or the protagonist, the chief antagonist or the main villain sends an army of goons armed with an assortment of weapons for the job. I argued that this is done with a view to generate more employment. But I was mistaken, and so I just want to admit this here.  My argument got almost fatally shot after I watched all the three movies of the 'John Wick Franchise' (2014 onward). I failed to keep count, but hundreds of hapless goons got killed in each of the movies at the hands of the '...

Web Series ‘Hush Hush’: A Promising Plot Peters Out to a Morbid Melodrama!

The Web Series Hush Hush Season 1 started streaming on Prime Video from the 22 nd of September 2022. It has at least three very important reasons for being watched eagerly by a lot of viewers. First, filmmaker Tanuja Chandra whose intense flick Dushman (1998) is still remembered by movie fans features as one of the directors and producers in a clearly women-oriented story with mostly women in the crew too. Second, the cast is tremendously interesting and exciting with two of the most beloved babes of Bollywood since the eighties Juhi Chawla and Ayesha Jhulka coming back/appearing on the OTT Platform for the first time, and joined by the immensely talented Soha Ali Khan , Shahana Goswami , Kritika Kamra and Karishma Tanna . Third, the story begins on a very taut and promising note, seemingly doing justice for a mature series in the Suspense genre . But unfortunately, that lasts only till the third episode, and then, rather inexplicably, the storytelling breaks up and meanders to...

Movie Jugjugg Jeeyo: Divorcepanti Could Have Been a More Apt Title!

If you had ever got the idea of perceiving ‘divorce’ as one of the funniest and craziest words or concepts in human conjugal life and then had dismissed the idea as a wild one…well, you were not entirely wrong. For your solace or rather vindication we have here a movie titled Jugjugg Jeeyo (correct Hindi form is ‘Jug Jug Jeeyo’ meaning ‘live long and prosperous,) that reduces ‘divorce’ to the kind you’d perceived, doesn’t matter if you’d done so with experience leaking or not as the movie itself doesn’t bother about that either. Your conviction is further heightened by the fact that the movie is not of the ordinary type, having the iconic Karan Johar as one of the producers and his famous banner ‘Dharma Productions’ to boot. And then, the star-cast is really mouthwatering with the ever popular veterans Anil Kapoor and Neetu Singh along with the immensely talented actors of the younger generation—Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani in the lead roles—supported well by the ebullient television ...