Rama Prasad Banik dies at private hospital in Kolkata

Prominent theatre personality of Kolkata, Rama Prasad Banik died on Monday, the 27th of December night at a Kolkata city private hospital where he had been admitted on 25th night. The exponent of theatre in Kolkata was 56 and had been admitted due to severe respiratory problems. The actor suffered health problems
while giving a performance on stage in a place near Kolkata. He is survived by his mother, wife and two daughters.

The news about his demise came as quite a shock to most of his fans, who have been avid followers of theatre ever since this great personality began his career. The playwright, actor, director from Bengal was not only popular in India, but also abroad as he had traveled extensively with his theatre group in the US, Canada, and Britain.


Rama Prasad Banik reportedly began his career as a child actor. Then as he joined Sambhu Mitra’s theatre group named ‘Bahurupee’ he got to take part in many plays. Thus while being attached to this group he enacted several characters in plays like 'Putul Khela', 'Dasha Chakra', 'Cherra Tar', 'Char Addhyay' etc.

However it was his stellar performance in the film titled Jadi Arekbar that stole away all hearts. After his stint with the 'Bahurupee' group was over he came up with his own group called the 'Chena Mukh'.With his own group he came up with some great plays like 'Trata', 'Tempest' etc.

Throughout his life he had tried to propagate theatre into the mainstream of performing arts and he was a very prominent part of the Nehru Children’s Museum theatre classes where he has trained innumerable artists under his talented wings.

The great contributions by this talented personality have been recognized and thus he was given the national scholarship for contribution to theatre and received awards from All India Critic circle along with the Paschim Banga Natya Akademi.
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Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor & Neil Nitin In A Twitter Conversation

Sonam Kapoor lost oodles of weight before entering Bollywood, but her taste buds are still very active and she is busy binging on Goan food along with her ‘Players’ co-star Neil Nitin Mukesh. And guess who is jealous? Abhishek Bachchan!

The actors are shooting in Goa for their upcoming film ‘Players’, which is the remake of hit Hollywood movie ‘The Italian Job’ that also stars Abhishek and Sikandar Kher.

Sonam wrote on microblogging site Twitter: ‘Eaten so so much at Mum’s Kitchen in Goa!! Nothing beats Goan food.’

Neil also tweeted: ‘Got the day off in Goa. With my father at baga beach @ britto’s. Great to see so many kids here. Lovely weather. Awesome place great food’.

To which Abhishek replied: ‘Will the two of you stop eating and get serious about your work please!! Start starving like the rest of us!!! These children are out of control!!!’

Neil, who calls Abhishek his big brother, then said: ‘When I have a big brother like you I know you won’t let me ! So please work harder than you already do for us.’

Abhishek said: ‘Good try!!!!! Not gonna happen.’ Sonam also joined in the conversation, saying that Abhishek was jealous.

‘You are just jealous!! Bwahhahahahahaha!!!’, she posted.

Abhishek then said: ‘Jealous?? We’ll discuss that when you see the rushes and both of you will be looking like the house we’re shooting in.’

Neil replied: ‘Ok this is what you give us on Children’s Day. Fine we will.

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Meet Vikram Seth's 'Suitable Girl' in 2013

Readers who loved 'A Suitable Boy' will soon have another Vikram Seth novel to munch on: 'A Suitable Girl'. The next magnum opus from the author of The Golden Gate will release in 2013.

Speaking at the first Indian edition of the Hay Literary Festival which began Friday, Seth said his new book would "revisit the family in A Suitable Boy".

"The story of 'A Suitable Boy' is 60 years old and many of the characters would obviously have grown old," he said, and explained that the new work will take this into account. However, Seth also pointedly said, ''I don't intend to fill all the gaps.''

Seth denied that socio-economic changes in India would seriously inspire the sequel. ''I don't think so. It may not include those items except indirectly,'' he said at an interactive session.

Asked what it was like to revisit 'A Suitable Boy', Seth said, ''I haven't read it. It's far too big. I think I will have to do it.''

He added that he hadn't stopped writing poetry, only publishing it.
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Sachin Tnedulkar’s run inspires me, says Ricky Ponting

Australia captain Ricky Ponting is inspired by the way Sachin Tendulkar is playing late in his career, and said he hopes to get better with age like the Indian maestro.

Ponting said the thought of retirement has not crossed his mind, but it would depend a lot on how he fares in the Ashes and World Cup. “Even at my age, we can find ways to improve and I think Sachin has been a great example of that,” Ponting was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I think he made nine international hundreds in the last year at 37 years of age, so hopefully I can do something similar in the coming years. If I play well through the Ashes and well through the World Cup, then I will continue to play. I want to play and if there are younger guys out there that I feel I am keeping out of the team, then I will step aside,” said the 36-year-old.

Ponting had missed the third one-dayer against Sri Lanka to be in better shape for the Ashes. Australia managed to win the game but lost the series 1-2 to the visitors.

Ponting said he and the team management chose to use the time to prepare for Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland on Wednesday.

“All we are trying to do is give ourselves the best chance of winning the Ashes. If Cricket Australia and I and the rest of the team decided it was in my best interest not to play the game, then that is all we can do,” Ponting said.

“We are trying to do the best we can to manage all our players, giving them as much first class cricket as possible,” said Ponting. He said skipping the third one-dayer was already planned. “It was a tough decision to make, the guys had lost seven games in a row,” he said.

“I would have played the third game if it had been one-all, but as it was not, we were two-nil down, so I took the opportunity to come to Tassie ( Tasmania) and prepare for the Shield game.”

Kirsten, too, praises Sachin
India coach Gary Kirsten has called Sachin Tendulkar a batting “professor”. “I think he is a professor in his batting. He has got incredible knowledge about his own batting and basically uses me as a sounding board... He still wants to learn about his batting and still feels he needs someone to bounce ideas off. It has been a real privilege to have had that opportunity,” Kirsten told a cricket website.
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After Kareena, Madhur woos Aishwarya for ‘Heroine’

Mumbai: Exasperated by Bollywood sassy babe Kareena Kapoor’s repeated requests to tone down the steamy scenes in ‘Heroine’, Madhur Bhandarkar is left with no option but to find a suitable replacement of Bebo and what better than Aishwarya Rai Bachchan!

Given the fact that Kareena’s current work commitments make her busy for more than a year, Madhur recently had a covert meeting with Aishwarya to woo her for ‘Heroine’. Buzz has it that Madhur does not have much time as his producers want to start with the project – with or without Kareena. However, it’s Madhur who is desperately waiting for Kareena’s approval. Apparently, Kareena too wants to work for Madhur but is unable to adjust her jam-packed diary for ‘Heroine’.

However, given the gravity of the issue, Madhur downplayed the news of his meeting Aishwarya. Talking to a daily, Madhur said, “I`m still busy with my film and have no time to meet anyone. I will start meeting people soon.”

Meanwhile, a source said, “Ash has never done a movie in which she was a second preference. Let`s see what Madhur can do and who he can rope in if Kareena falls through.”

Who will be Madhur’s heroine – will it be Kareena or Aishwarya? Watch this space soon!
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