RSS 2.0 - News feed for Shyama

Shyama gets warm welcome at the Kolkata Film Festival

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Shyama, Obhi Chatterjee’s widescreen feature film version of Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance drama, had its Asian première at the Kolkata Film Festival. Produced by UK-based Inner Eye, the film was conceived as an authentic reference work. Through subtitles and the film medium, it will raise global awareness of Tagore and the Tagore dance form (Rabindra nritya).

The film features leading dancers, singers and musicians from Santiniketan. Kaberi Chatterjee dances the title role of Shyama, whose songs are performed by Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi. TS Vasunni dances the role of Bojroshen, sung by Jayanta Chatterjee. The production design and costumes are based on Kaberi’s research. So far, Shyama is available in Bengali, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish.

“We were thrilled to be invited to present Shyama at the Kolkata Film Festival”, said Obhi. “It was a great surprise to find that some of the audience were so absorbed by the film that they were singing along at Wednesday’s screening.” 70 years after Tagore created it, Shyama will use the latest digital distribution techniques to help this classic work cross linguistic boundaries as he had intended.

Shyama will be screened at 6.30pm on December 10 at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium of the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, Kolkata, as part of a Tagore Festival called Tagore Beyond Frontiers, which will be inaugurated by the Governor on December 4. Kaberi’s book Tagore dance, which uses production stills from Shyama to illustrate different aspects of this unique, semi-classical dance form, will be published shortly.

Notes to editors

Film website: www.shyamathemovie.com includes the first episodes of the 10-part Shyama podcast series introduced by Obhi & Kaberi Chatterjee. Web search term: ‘Shyama podcast’. Production stills can be downloaded from www.innereye.eu/shyama/press/Shyama_production_stills.zip .
The English translation of Shyama by Jayanta, Obhi & Kaberi Chatterjee is published by Inner Eye. ISBN: 1440402043. The Shyama soundtrack album is available from online digital music stores.
Shyama is available on DVD and video-on-demand from amazon.com in the US. It will shortly be released on various global online platforms, such as indieflix.com. With the help of the Java-based video technology of Forbidden Technologies plc, Shyama will also be available free online.
Rabindranath Tagore Centre website: www.tagorecentreiccr.org .

Contacts:
Obhi Chatterjee - M: (+91) 94758 48651 until 22 November
Kaberi Chatterjee - M: (+91) 99336 00358 until 28 November; T: +44 20 8144 9690 from 29 November

Redefining Tagore

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Indian Express feature by Piyasree Dasgupta

Tagore’s Shyama travels to the big screen with subtitles available in eight languages

Long before, ‘cinema’ maintained a discernible distance from the broader ambit of ‘movies’, and ‘world cinema’ enthusiasts in the city raised a toast to the convoluted, transgressive workings of human emotions, Tagore wrote Shyama. The 1939 classic went on to become one of his most celebrated dance dramas which explored how obsession, pride and spite creep into the rosy bubble of love. Its context might be dated, but Tagore’s work holds an unabashed mirror to the grimy underbelly of the world’s most celebrated emotion. And London-based Obhi Chatterjee did the just the right thing in filming Shyama, a work that will be screened in the 15th Kolkata Film Festival ...

Shyama screens at Kolkata International Film Festival

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Shyama will have its Asian première at the Kolkata International Film Festival at the Nandan II cinema at 15:15 on Wednesday, 11 November. Director Obhi Chatterjee, Producer/star Kaberi Chatterjee and Executive Producer/singer Jayanta Chatterjee fly in to Kolkata that morning for the festival.

Commenting on the film's selection, Kaberi Chatterjee said: "We are thrilled to have been invited by the Kolkata International Film Festival to present Shyama. We hope that the Festival audience will like the film as much as Western audiences have so far."

Shyama team mourns passing of lead musician

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Debasis Hazra, one of the two musical arrangers of Shyama, passed away this morning after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Known to Shyama's production team as 'Bachchuda', he was one of the key people without whose support and encouragement the film would not have been made. His amazing percussion sets the pace of the dancing and atmosphere throughout Shyama's soundtrack.

Producer/star Kaberi Chatterjee, who is currently in Santiniketan, said "Bachchuda has been a personal friend for many years and had been teaching percussion at the Sangeet Bhavan for just over 30 years since he was 18. He accompanied all the major Tagore dance drama productions of Visva-Bharati University I performed in both here and internationally. I and many others in Santiniketan today cannot imagine a Tagore dance drama without him. "

Director Obhi Chatterjee (pictured below with Debasis Hazra in Santiniketan earlier this year) said "Shyama gave me a unique opportunity to work closely with Bachchuda. It was easy to recognise that his sense of pace, timing and using percussion to create atmosphere was brilliantly suited to Tagore's music and drama. Apart from his musical skill, though, his warmth, humour, dedication and honesty were remarkable. It was an honour to have had the opportunity to get to know him and to learn from him but I am sad that he was taken from us at such an early age."

The Shyama production team have decided to add a short tribute to Bachchuda as a postscript in the final version of Shyama, which was due to have been released this week.

Celebrating Tagore in Stratford with a screening of Shyama

Mon, 4 May 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Shyama, Obhi Chatterjee’s feature film version of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance musical, will be part of the Stratford Poetry Festival’s tribute to the Indian poet, philosopher, artist and composer on his birth anniversary. The film will be introduced by a live programme featuring Kaberi, Jayanta and Obhi Chatterjee.

Through poetry, songs and dance, the live programme narrated by Obhi Chatterjee will explore Tagore’s creative journey from poetry to dance. Shyama tells the story of a court dancer who falls in love with a foreign merchant, who is falsely imprisoned and faces execution ... unless Shyama accepts her admirer’s offer to take the merchant’s place. Written in 1939, Shyama was Tagore’s last major work for the stage. Perhaps best described as a cross between opera and ballet, it reflects his artistic and philosophical reaction to both the turbulence of pre-Independence India and Hitler’s persecution of Jews in Germany.

The film features leading dancers, singers and musicians from Tagore’s home town of Santiniketan. Kaberi Chatterjee dances the title role of Shyama, the court dancer, whose songs are performed by Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi. TS Vasunni dances the role of Bojroshen, the foreign merchant, whose songs are performed by Jayanta Chatterjee.

Announcing the event, the Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Dr Diana Owen, said: "We are delighted to be able to present this unique work as part of our 2009 Poetry Festival and hope that people will join us on Saturday to celebrate Tagore's Birthday here at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shyama is a very special tribute of poetry and performance which I hope will introduce more people to the work of Tagore, and also highlight the influence that Shakespeare still holds for artists across the globe."

Kaberi Chatterjee added: “We are very pleased to have been invited to present Shyama at the Stratford Poetry Festival. Shyama and Tagore are held by many of the 230 million Bengali-speakers around the world in the same light as, for example, Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in the English-speaking world.”

The celebration will be held at 2pm on Saturday, 9 May at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon. There will be a small ceremony after the film with more of Tagore’s songs at the bust of Tagore in the garden of Shakespeare’s Birthplace.

English translation of Shyama goes on sale

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The English translation of Shyama by Rabindranath Tagore, developed by Jayanta, Obhi and Kaberi Chatterjee for the subtitles of the film version of Shyama is now available as a booklet. The script is introduced by Obhi Chatterjee, who directed the film version of Shyama.

Announcing the publication, Shyama star and producer Kaberi Chatterjee said, "While making Shyama, we realised that there were no published English translations of it. Since several people who have seen the film have commented on the beauty of the English text, we thought we should publish our translation in it's own right." The book (ISBN 1440402043) can be ordered from CreateSpace and will soon be available from amazon.com .

Shyama producer and director launch video podcast series

Sun, 8 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

Shyama producer/star Kaberi Chatterjee and director Obhi Chatterjee have launched a 10-part video podcast series to promote the film. In the first, 10-minute episode of the Shyama podcast, they give an update on the release of Shyama, provide background about how the Nobel prize-winning poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, came to write dance musicals and explain why they made an authentic film version of Shyama. The episode ends with a 30-second clip from the opening scene of the English version of the film.

Each episode in the weekly series will include a release update, background about Shyama, information about the making of Shyama and a 30-second clip from the film. The episodes are listed under 'Shyama podcast' on the iTunes Store, from which the episodes can be downloaded to an iPhone/iPod. They will also be available on the film website www.shyamathemovie.com, and uploaded using TubeMogul to a variety of video-sharing platforms including YouTube, MySpace and Viddler.

Explaining the reasons behind the podcast series, Kaberi Chatterjee said "After test screenings of the film, audiences were fascinated by the historical background of the dance form they saw in Shyama and asked us to find a way of publicising it. We liked the idea of using a podcast to promote a specialised film developed by Four Eyed Monsters' filmmakers Arin Crumley and Susan Buice. As a result, we've been planning to create the Shyama podcast for some time, which is why their names appear in the acknowledgements at the end of Shyama.'

Shyama now available on more platforms

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Shyama has just gone on sale in the US in a number of different formats. The physical DVD includes the English, French, Spanish, German, Hungarian and Bengali versions of Shyama is suitable for all regions and unlocked for personal copying. It can be ordered online from anywhere in the world, with shipping from the US.

The English version of Shyama is also available to people living in the US for video on demand rental or purchase from Amazon Video on Demand. The different language versions of Shyama have been available as DVD downloads since December 2008. The high definition trailer can be downloaded for free on Jaman.

Nobel laureate's home plays host to Shyama

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Udayana, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's former home in Santiniketan, will be the setting of a special New Year's Day screening of Shyama. The building is part of the Uttarayana complex which also includes the Rabindra Bhavan, the research centre and museum dedicated to the life and works of the creator of Shyama.

Most of the cast and crew of Shyama will be attending the screening. Almost all of them are based in Santiniketan, where Shyama was filmed. A number of renowned Tagore specialists will be among the special guests, who will include a member of the Tagore family.

Commenting on the screening, producer and star Kaberi Chatterjee said: "This will be the first time most of the cast and crew will see the end product of all their hard work. I'm looking forward to the reunion ... and to hearing their reactions! Based on the feedback from our test screenings, though, I'm confident they will be impressed. We're very grateful to the Director of the Rabindra Bhavan for giving us this opportunity to screen the film in Santiniketan."

Shyama available in six languages worldwide

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Shyama, the definitive, feature film version of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's classic Bengali dance musical, will soon be available worldwide via the internet. DVD downloads of the different language versions are available for GBP4.89 from the online store of Shyama's UK production company Inner Eye, with a 30% discount for early buyers. The physical DVD, which will be available from CreateSpace in the US in January 2009, contains the English, French, Spanish, German, Hungarian and Bengali versions of the film which have been prepared so far.

Other language versions will be released in the coming months. All versions retain Tagore's songs in their original Bengali. The Bengali version of the complete film will be available for free online from January 2009.

Commenting on the imminent release of Shyama, its producer and lead dancer Kaberi Chatterjee said: "One of the main reasons for Tagore's interest in creating the Tagore dance form was the ability of certain types of dance and body movements to overcome linguistic barriers. Nonetheless, Shyama has remained an undiscovered gem outside the Bengali-speaking world. Through the medium of film, the global reach of the internet and the use of subtitling, I'm very pleased to be able to bring Shyama to the worldwide audience Tagore had intended for it almost 70 years ago."

Anyone who would like to do so is welcome to host a public or private screening of Shyama . The automated system at shyama.bravenewtheaters.com allows people all over the world to set up screenings of Shyama, sending out e-mail invitations and keeping track of reservation requests and the number of places left. Screening hosts are encouraged to use a screening of the film as the centre-piece of an Indian-themed evening.

The Shyama soundtrack album is already available on a number of online digital music stores, including iTunes and eMusic. A series of episodes of the Shyama video podcast will provide an update on Shyama's release, details of the making of Shyama and the background to the original work by Tagore. Each episode will also include a 30-second clip from the English version of the film.

Shyama producer and star to receive award from Indian Prime Minister

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

Kaberi Chatterjee, who has produced and starred in the feature-length film version of Rabindranath Tagore's Shyama, will receive her PhD from Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in early December. Kaberi's doctoral thesis on the influence of different dance styles on the Tagore dance form led the university to award her its first ever PhD in the field of dance.

It was Kaberi's PhD research which originally led to her interest in producing an authentic record of Shyama, which is regarded as the best example of the Tagore dance form. During the 10 years of research for her thesis, she had interviewed several people who had learned the Tagore dance form directly from Rabindranath Tagore. Sadly, most of the people she had interviewed have since passed away. So, she felt that, without a reference version for future generations, the Tagore dance form could change beyond recognition over time.

The degree ceremony in Santiniketan will take place a few weeks before Shyama's global release.

Shyama soundtrack album heads for online digital music stores

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:52:53 PDT

Shyama's soundtrack album, which includes all the songs by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore from the film, will soon be available from online digital music stores such as iTunes, Napster and eMusic. With a 70-minute running time, the 18-track album features the leading, Bengali female vocalist Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi as Shyama, Jayanta Chatterjee as Bojroshen, Prasanta Kumar Ghosh as Uttiyo and Ashok Kumar Ganguly as Kotal, Priyam Mukherjee as Bondhu, as well as Ritapa Bhattacharya, Sikha Chatterjee Chakroborty and Manini Mukhopadhyay Bagchi as the Companions.

Ashok Kumar Ganguly was the music director for the production. The music was arranged by Animesh Chandra (synthesiser and esraj) and Debasis Hazra (Pakhwaj, tabla, khol & dhol). The other musicians in the Shyama orchestra were Sunil Kabiraj (esraj), Dipak Das (sitar), Ch Bocha Singh (Manipuri pung) and Dilip Birbonshi (mandira). Partha Sarathi Chatterjee was the recording engineer. The recording was supervised and mixed by Obhi Chatterjee, who also directed the film.

Revolutionary release for Shyama

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:59:25 PDT

Shyama, Inner Eye’s widescreen film of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance musical, will have its multiplatform, multilingual launch in late November. The film, which will be open to personal copying, will include two logo slots after Inner Eye’s own logo, allowing their sponsors to reach everyone who is interested in Indian culture and dance.

The film tells the story of Shyama, a court dancer, who falls in love with a foreign merchant, who is falsely imprisoned and faces execution ... unless Shyama accepts her admirer’s offer to take the merchant’s place. Shyama features the authentic performances of leading dancers, singers and musicians from Tagore’s home town of Santiniketan. Its subtitles represent the first translations of Shyama from the original Bengali.

Announcing Inner Eye’s plans for the release, Kaberi Chatterjee, who stars as Shyama, said “If someone likes Shyama enough to make a personal copy of it for a friend or relative, their recommendation will help the film, including the sponsors’ logos, to reach our intended audience.”

For the 230 million Bengali speakers around the world, the Bengali version of the film will be available free online. Subtitled versions of the film will be available as paid downloads in formats ranging from iPhone to 2K digital cinema. Shyama’s soundtrack album will be released through online digital music stores such as iTunes, Napster and eMusic.

Bidding for the two logo slots is open until 06:00 GMT on 1 October 2008. With a minimum bid of £10,000 + VAT, the winning sponsors will also be able to use material from Shyama indefinitely in their own promotional material and activities. Potential sponsors should write to sponsorship@innereye.eu to express their interest and receive more details.