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She made the lifeless roots vivacious with her artistic touch .In burnt wood, tree trunks, dead branches, fallen leaves, garland of coconuts or even varieties of twines; she brings back the joyous life in many expressions. With the passage of time she has earned a niche in developing her own style as a sculptor and also earned praises of the art connoisseurs.
   Yes, we are talking about Ferdousi Priyobhashini, a promising sculptor of the country. Already a number of exhibitions have been organised on her sculptures as well as some documentaries that were made on the artist’s life and works. Priyobhashini, is one such documentary made by Mahbubul Alam Taru, which was released in VCD format by Laser Vision on September 4 at the Sufia Kamal auditorium in the National Museum.
   Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed inaugurated the VCD. Filmmaker Manzar-e-Haseen Murad, Morshedul Islam, Anannya editor Tasmima Hossain, sculptor Ferdousi Priyobhashini, AKM Ariful Rahman of Laser Vision and the documentary maker Mahbubul Alam Taru were also present on the occasion.
   ‘Priyobhashini’s spontaneous works resemble nature itself and she does not let life’s cruelties overwhelm her. This film helps to record the life history of one of our freedom fighters and makes us remember our past once again,’ said Abdullah Abu Sayeed.
   Commenting on the documentary, Priyobhashini said, ‘This is not the first time that my life has been the subject of a work of art.
   I think the film could have gone into more details to make it more interesting.’
   Following the interview style, the documentary takes one on a long journey of the artist’s very personal life—her being an artist, her life struggle, family history, her love for the music and many more.
   When asked why he had chosen Priyobhashini, Mahbubul Alam Taru said, ‘As a reporter of Tara TV, I was literally moved by the artist’s works, especially when I came to know that she did not have any academic qualifications, but whose fascinating works created ripples among the art connoisseurs.’
   He further added, ‘Most of us were not aware that Priyobhashini sings well too. I’ve shown her childhood, when she was singing and learning dance from SM Sultan. I’ve presented how she suffered at the hands of Pakistani soldiers in 1971. I have also shown how young women flock to her for inspiration and how she tells them the importance of hard work to shine in life.’
   Taru, who received no academic training in film making except attending a course in video that he did at the Alliance Francaise almost 20 years ago, said ‘The script, camera work and direction of the film Priyobhashini have been done by me.
   I used a 3CCD DV camera. I got some help from the British Council and the magazine Anannya. I wanted to depict Priyobhashini’s struggles. I want to give the film to different channels. The film has English subtitles and is 37 minutes long.’

Suhrid Natyadal’s seventh play, Bhaisab Samne Election, was staged on October 5 at the Experimental Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the city. The play is written by Mahbub Hasan and directed by Nasir Uddin Ahmed.
   The play tells about the manipulation of the political leaders and the parasites surrounding them in the country.
   The play shows how an anti-social person gradually comes to the limelight and climbs the political ladder to become a minister.
   The dialogues of the play were flat and performances were mediocre. However, the performance of the chamchas of the leader (the protagonist) delighted the audience though at some points it seemed like over acting to many.
   The stage, though simple, was well designed and the lighting of the play was effective to create the ambience.

Tohu’s Creations, an outlet has started its journey on October 2 at Uttara. Valerie Taylor of Centre for the Rehabilitations of the Paralysed (CRP) inaugurated the outlet.
   A medley of fashion lines is available in the boutique to delight the consumers. Traditional clothes like punjabee, salwar kameez, sari as well as fusion clothes that are a blend of east and west, such as male and female fatua, skirts, tops, denim trousers are the main attraction of the boutique.
   A portion of the purchase from the boutique will be donated to CRP.
   Touhida Tahu has won the Nipun Nabin Award of Weekly 2000 Eid Fashion Competition recently.

Italy is gearing up for an unprecedented rollout of filmmaker Roberto Benigni’s highly anticipated new film, The Tiger and the Snow, his first film since the universally panned Pinocchio.
   The romantic comedy, which stars Benigni, his wife Nicoletta Braschi, French actor Jean Reno and American musician Tom Waits, will have its official release on October 14 with 800 prints. But that number could come close to 1,000 when accounting for regional theatres outside the purview of national box office tracking agency Cinetel.
   That will surpass The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (738 prints) and Troy (703 prints) as the largest opening weekend release.
   ‘Benigni is more important to the Italian market than even US films, he is a hit, a blockbuster’, said Giancarlo Leone, head of state-owned producer RAI Cinema, whose 01 Distribution arm will release the film in Italy.
   The $36 million The Tiger and the Snow met a lukewarm response following the first press screening in Rome on Tuesday.
   In the film, Benigni plays Attilio De Giovanni, a poetry teacher whose seemingly unrequited love for Braschi’s character (Vittoria) sends him on a harrowing, goodwill adventure to Baghdad in the lead up to the Iraq War.
   ‘I realize that there are a number of modern documentaries that go to the head. My film goes to the heart and hits the heart entering into the conscience and the spirit against the war’, he said.
   The film will be released in France in December but it currently lacks distribution in the United States.

The Marvel comic and TV series finally makes the leap to a full-fledged feature film. Directed by Ang Lee of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ fame, ‘Hulk’ has also been helped immensely by advanced special effects done by the resident wizards at Industrial Light and Magic. Scientist Bruce Banner (Bana) harbors a dark secret. It seems his father David (Golden Globe winner Nolte) has been performing genetic experiments on him at a young age — these are memories Bruce tries hard to erase. One day, an accident in Bruce’s laboratory exposes him to intense gamma radiation that alters him physically and mentally, turning him into a raging green monster when stressed. Fellow scientist and ex-girlfriend Betty Ross (Academy Award winner Connelly) tries hard to help Bruce deal with his inner demons.
   Hulk
   HBO
   9:30pm
   Starring
   Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Nick Nolte