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Bulbul Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society (BPS), is a popular name in the Bangladesh photography arena. His long career as the chief photojournalist in different national dailies has made him well known in press media.
   Bulbul’s passion for photography developed when he was a little boy. ‘We had a camera but nobody allowed me to touch it. I was very curious to know the apparatus. During the Liberation War, when I was hardly in my teens, my father was murdered by the occupant forces; at the same time our house got ransacked. It was a traumatic time for me, like millions of others in the country. Long after the war I was able to take formal lessons on photography.’
   Bulbul Ahmed started his career as a photojournalist with the Morning Post, an English daily in Dhaka in 1979. In the same year, noted photographer Mufti Monir created an opportunity for Bulbul to work at Dainik Ganakantha.
   Later, he worked with weekly magazines Robbar and Sachitra Swadhesh and started to earn fame in this field. In 1985, he joined Dainik Janata as their chief photojournalist. Later he worked as the chief photojournalist at The Telegraph, The Independent and New Age.
   Bulbul has been the president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society (BPS) since 2000. He was also the president of the Bangladesh Photojournalist Association from 1997 to 1998.
   While talking about the present condition of photography in Bangladesh, Bulbul said, ‘Art photography in Bangladesh has advanced remarkably, much more than press photography. Bangladeshi photographers have received more than a thousand international prizes in the last few decades, which have raised the image of the country all over the world.’
   ‘We are trying to present Bangladesh positively to the world through our organisation. But we need more support from the government. It is difficult for photographers to work with only their own resources. We hope the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy will come forward and work towards the development of this sector,’ said Bulbul Ahmed.
   Ahmed had been honoured with the ESCAP awards in 1990, ESCAP-FEJB award on environmental issues in 1993 and BPS and many more awards in the last several years on different subjects. In August 24, 2004, Ahmed had won the silver medal and a jury award in the Lishui-China International Photographic Competition in China.
   As a photojournalist, Ahmed visited several countries, including, America, Thailand, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, China, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.
   His recent visit to Tibet, the legendary roof of the world, on an invitation from the Chinese State Council Information Office and the China Photographers Association (CPA), gave him the opportunity to exchange views with Chinese and many world famous foreign photographers.
   In the programme, Tibet in the eyes of one hundred photographers, which started on June 25 and ended on July 10, fifty photographers from different continents and fifty from China were invited to the event.
   He visited different places in and outside Lhasa including, Potala Palace. He took photographs of Sera Monastery, Tashi Lunpo Monastery, Shalu Monastery, Zhaibung Monastery and Naiqung Monastery; Ahmed was able to photograph different parts of Shigatse region, Lhalu Wetlands, Mount Xuegula and Mount Dongbula, Mount Dzongri’s ancient fort, Nyang Qu River and old parts of Lhasa City. The organisers had also arranged tours for the photographers to the spectacular Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Great Hall, Tiananmen Square and other historical sites in Beijing.
   ‘This was a great trip and an honour for me to visit and photograph the historically and traditionally rich region like Tibet. I feel very proud and grateful to the Chinese government and the CPA for choosing me as one of the best photographers in the world,’ said Ahmed.

Katha 71, a drama based on the glorious Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, premiered at the Experimental Theatre Hall recently. Produced by Dhaka Padatik, it is scripted and directed by Pritish Kumar Bol and Debashish Ghosh respectively.
   The play, a collage of different events of 1971, is chronologically depicted by the writer. Portrayal of an altercation between a freedom fighter and his son over the issues of the Liberation War is one example. For the son, the war is something of the past and has no relevance to present day; according to him life should move on.
   However at one point he is convinced by his father that the war criminals must be punished.
   Different incidents and features of the entire liberation war are depicted in detail in the play; from incidents like the conversion of professor Jatin Sarker’s family from Hinduism to Islam to the Mujibnagar government, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, shantibahini, rajakar bahini, refugee camps and the horrific genocide.
   The play began from the outdoor, gradually commencing on to the stage. Members of the cast were mingling with the audience. The director used the entire hall as the stage. There was an interaction between the cast and the audience. In the beginning and in the end, the cast invited freedom fighters present in the audience to express their opinion about punishing the war criminals.
   Set design was by Manjur Ahmed, lighting by Abdul Halim Pramanik, music by Saidur Rahman Lipon, costume by Nahid Sultana Swati, videography by Saeed Kajal, props by Kiriti Ranjan Biswas and stage management by Firoz Hossain.
   The cast includes Kazi Chapal, Sifat, Sohel Ahmed, Rabbi, Proshanto, Hasnat, Atik, Redwan, Shyamal Hasan, Anis, Motaleb Hossain, Salauddin Rahat, Rubel, Shuvo, Sumon, Sagar, Naeem, Mithun, Mamun Khan, Sharif Mamun, Reaz, Abubakar Daud Tuhin, Rafik, Bijon Kanti Fhor, Najmun Rashid Shilpi, Kajal, Seema and Deepika.

A cultural evening with Sipra Khan was held at the Indian Cultural Centre, Gulshan on 20 June. Sipra Khan is a renowned classical singer in India and wife of Late Ustad Sagiruddin Khan, a famous Saringi player.
   Sipra Khan started off with Kheyal in rag Marubehag. She performed a bandish called ‘Raasian hoon na jaye’in ‘Ektaal, followed by a Tritaal bandish ‘Paapihara boley boley’ and tarana. Her clear, sonorous voice boomed in the hall enthralling the audience and earning applauses at interval. She rendered both thumri and short Kheyals. Her selection of rags included Khambaj, Shamkailyan, Sursarang, Misro Khambaj and some others. Between each performance sometimes she explained to the audience what notes should be excluded in that particular rag and its differences with a close one. Finally the program ended at around 9:00p.m with called ‘Bhajorey Bhaiya’ in rag Bhairab on request of the Indian High Commission personnel.
   At the end of the musical performance, Neeta Bhushan, first secretary of honoured the vocal and artistes playing the instruments tabla, tanpura and harmonium with flowers. Sipra Khan is in Dhaka to give lessons to her students here. Neeta Bhushan thanked Sipra Khan in her closing speech on behalf , ‘We learnt that Sipraji was here in Dhaka. When Indian High Commission asked her for a classical vocal recital, she readily agreed’.
   Sipra Khan comes to Dhaka every year for about two-three months and gives lessons to youngsters in classical music.

The Los Angeles branch of Britain’s BAFTA film academy said it would honour London-born American screen legend Elizabeth Taylor with its Britannia award for excellence.
   The 72-year-old double Oscar-winner, once hailed as the world’s most beautiful woman and seen as the last great star of Hollywood’s golden age, will receive the award at a ceremony in Hollywood on November 10.
   Also being honoured by the body on that date will be Hollywood heartthrob Tom Cruise, who will receive BAFTA’s Stanley Kubrick Britannia for film, and director Mike Newell, who gets the John Schlesinger Britannia for directing.
   Taylor, who first sprang to worldwide fame at the age of 12 in ‘National Velvet,’ has only rarely appeared in public in recent years and said in an interview last year she was suffering from congestive heart failure and crippling spinal problems.
   She has difficulty breathing and walking and has a nurse constantly by her side, Taylor, who now devotes most of her time to her two-decade-old crusade against the scourge of AIDS and HIV, told W Magazine.
   The star of films such as ‘Cleopatra,’ Butterfield 8’ and ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ is perhaps best known for her exotic love life, which kept her on front pages for decades.
   The pair began a torrid affair on the set of their movie ‘Cleopatra’ in 1962 amid an unprecedented blaze of publicity that spawned a scandal that saw Taylor condemned by the pope.

As in previous years, Pratisrishti will arrange a cultural programme, Barsha Mangal at the auditorium of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra at 6:00pm on July 23.
   The organisers will arrange recitals and songs on Barsha — the monsoons. Traditional sari gaan and songs of boat racing, which are an integral part of the traditional festival of Barsha Mangal, will also be presented in the function. Noted folk singer Saidur Rahman Bayati and his troupe from Manikganj will sing the folksongs. Students of Ustad Mumtaz Ali Khan Sangeet Academy and Rupu Khan will participate in the baramashi gaan.
   Shahriar Salam, of Pratisrishti said that the Barsha Mangal is a centuries old traditional festival of Bengal when blessing is sought from the monsoons. ‘We want to uphold the tradition and reintroduce it to the urban people,’ said Salam.

G Series has released Talpatar Sepai on VCD. The drama is scripted and directed by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki.
   Different roles are played by Tisha, Chanchal Chowdhury, Masud Ali Khan, Shirin Alam, Baby, Nader Chowdhury and others. The VCD is available in the market.

NTV will air Jhut Jhamela at 8:15pm tonight. The drama is scripted and directed by Devashish Kakon and Manirul Hassan respectively.
   Different roles are played by Ataur Rahman, Chitralekha Guha, Nusrat Yasmin Tisha, Intekhab Dinar, Zitu Ahsan, Afjal Sharif, Farhana Mili and others.

Dave Buznick (SandIer, 50 First Dates) was a mouse-mannered citizen until he met therapist from hell Buddy Rydell (Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Nicholson, Something’s Gotta Give. As Good As It Gets). A couple of harmless remarks on an airline flight lands Buznick in the Customers Aren’t Always Right’ side of the law, and a quick judge sentence later, he’s accused of air rage. His only hope? Anger management therapy with the harbinger of temptation and bad vibes Buddy Rydell Guess it takes one to know one. Buznick is going to find out the hard way if he’s really half the man he’s accused of being With Sandier always one charge away from detonation and Nicholson holding the match that lights the fuse, “Anger Management” might just be the cure for viewing normality, guaranteed to blow your blues away.
   Anger Management
   HBO
   9:30pm
   Starring
   Adam SandIer, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei
   Genre: Comedy