Cultural performances enthrall Sylhet

“The play and stage play are clearly different, and plays have their own value in literature, which cannot be differentiated from the literature,” Shaoli Mitra, president of West Bengal Sahitya Academy said on a Saturday at the literary conference being held as part of the Bengal Sangskritik Utshab Sylhet 1017.

She also urged writers and dramatist not to modernise Tagore's plays, as many of them are destroying the merit of the plays eventually.

Saturday's events of the 10-day cultural extravaganza organised by Bengal Foundation, began with writers-painters from Bangladesh, India and Nepal gathering at six sessions of literary discussions for the Kali O Kalam Sahitya Sammilan (Literary Conference) at the Syed Mujtaba Ali Mancha.

The day's literary discussions began with a session dedicated to famous writer Syed Shamsul Haq, titled: “The 60s: Stories of then memories of today” chaired by popular novelist Dr. Md. Zafar Iqbal, where Jyotiprakash Dutta, a famous writer of the '60s, presented the keynote. Subrata Barua, Abul Momen and Proshanta Mridha participated in the discussion.

The next session was focused on the poetry, titled “Dissent in Poetry”, where Gangaprasad Bimal from India presented the keynote speech and Kaysar Haque chaired the session. Abdul Momen and Mondakranta Sen from India participated in the discussion.

Three more sessions were held throughout the day, where West Bengal Sahitya Academy president Shaoli Mitra, writer-researcher Amiya Deb, Angshuman Bhowmik, Sushubhan Bhowmik, Ashish Sanyal, Satarupa Sanyal from India and Mahesh Padwal from Nepal attended. Famous playwright Mamunur Rashid, writer Anisul Hoque, Bangla Academy director general Shamsuzzaman Khan, poet Asad Chowdhury, Fauzia Khan, AbulFateh Fattah, Saiman Zakaria, Sumankumar Das from Bangladesh were also present, among others.

The day's cultural session at the Hason Raja Stage began with Ataur Rahman and his troupe presenting Gambhira, a traditional musical dance presentation originated from greater Rajshahi.

Iffat Ara Dewan's musical performance followed, after which reputed Nazrul exponent Khairul Anam Shakil presented songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Labik Kamal Gaurob, Nobonita Chowdhury and Baby Dewan performed folk songs at the stage next, making the audience move to the rhythms extracted from the grassroots of many regions of the country.

At the Syed Mujtaba Ali Mancha in the evening, Theatre Art Unit from Dhaka staged their play “Amina Sundari”. The play, based on folklore of greater Chittagong area, was written by SM Solaiman and directed by Rokeya Rafiq Baby.

The festival, dedicated to the memory of Gyantapas Professor Abdur Razzaq, will continue at the AMA Muhith Sports Complex in Sylhet till March 3.