Kolkata Art, Culture and Entertainment are showcased in the series of festivals and exhibitions held in Kolkata, the cultural capital of India. Ever since the emergence of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the pioneer of Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century, Calcutta has been the seat of imparting knowledge in art and upholding the rich culture of India.
The art and culture of Kolkata have been immortalized by poets, writers, composers and artists. Kolkata was the base of the greatest Indian poet, novelist, writer, artist and composer Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861 and lived till 1941. Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, an outstanding scholar, writer, and philanthropist established himself in Kolkata. Other eminent poets and novelists of the Bengal Renaissance include Michael Madhusudan Dutta, Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Girish Chandra Ghosh.
Later, novelists Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, followed by Sunil Gangopadhyay, Samaresh Majumdar, Buddhadev Guha, Bimal Mitra, Bimal Kar, Rajhsekhar Basu, Ashapurna Devi, Mahasweta Devi, and Shiersendu Mukhopadhyay flourished in Kolkata city. Among the poets that worked and became famous were Kaji Nazrul Islam, Sukumar Roy, Satyendranath Dutta, Jibananada Das, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay and Joy Goswami.
Kolkata art has come into international prominence because of legendary artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Paritosh Sen, Jogen Chowdhuty, Rathin Mitra and Suva Prasanna.
Kolkata Culture and Kolkata Entertainment
Satyajit Ray, son of poet and writer Sukumar Ray, lived to be the greatest filmmaker not only of Kolkata but also of India. Born in 1921 Satyajit Ray brought India cinema to the international forefront with his maiden film Pather Panchali based on Bibhutibhusan Bando.padhyay's novel of the same name. Pather Panchali won the award for the Best Human Document in Cannes in 1956. Subsequently, till 1991 he made eighteen more films.
Other filmmakers that rose into international
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prominence from Kolkata were Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, Aparna Sen, Gautam Ghoh, Buddhadev Dasgupta and Rituparno Ghosh.
Kolkata Theater forms an important aspect of Kolkata culture. The tradition of drama or plays in Calcutta goes back to the times of Michael Madhusudan Dutta. M.M. Dutta, Dinabandhu Mitra and Girish Chandra Ghosh were the famed playwrights of the 19th century. Gurudev Rabindranth Tagore also composed plays and dance dramas. Commercial theater in Kolkata was pioneered by Girish Chandra Ghosh. Later stalwarts like Sisir Bhaduri, Durgadas Bandopadhyay and Ahindra Chowdhury dominated Kolkata theater world. The excellence of Kolkata Theater was made more prominent by Sambhu Mitra, Utpal Dutta, Ajitesh Bandopadhyay, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Monoj Mitra, Meghnad Bhattacharya and Bibhas Chakraborty.
Bengali songs form a vital facet of Kolkata culture and entertainment. Rabindra Sangeet (songs composed by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore), Nazrul Geeti (songs composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam), Dwijendra Geeti (songs composed by Dwijendralal Ray), Atul Prasader Gaan (songs composed by Atul Prasad Sen), Rajani Kantor Gaan (songs of Rajani Kanto Sen), Lok Geeti (folk songs), and Adhunik (Bengali modern songs) are the various types of popular Bengali songs.
Another name which revolutionized Bengali songs was Salil Chowdhury. He wrote and composed all his songs. His musical compositions were distinct and melodious. He composed music for Bengali and Hindi feature films also.
Bengali songs have been immortalized by Debabrata Biswas, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra, Kanika Bandopadhyay, Shantidev Ghosh, Krishna Chattopadhyay, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Pankaj Kumar Mullik, Sachin Dev Burman, Nirmalendu Chowdhury, Manna Dey, Feroza Begum, Dhiren Mitra, Dhiren Bose, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, Shyamal Mitra, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Pannalal Bhattacharya, Anup Ghosal and Arati Mukhopadhyay.
Magic is another form of Kolkata entertainment. Pioneered by Protul Chandra Sorcar (P.C. Sorcar) and succeeded by his sons Prodip Chandra Sorcar (P.C. Sorcar Jr.) and Provas Chandra Sorcar (P.C. Sorcar Young), 'Indrajal' sorcery has created a distinguished mark in the world of magic both locally and internationally.
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