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The three-day theatre festival organised by Natya Kendra concluded with the presentation of Aroj Charitamrita at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Sunday evening.
   The festival that began on October 9 was organised on the occasion of the 19th founding anniversary of the theatre group.
   The play Aroj Charitamrita, written by Masum Reza and directed by Tariq Anam, features the life and works of the farmer-turned-philosopher Aroj Ali Matubbar.
   Abhik Pagol impersonated the young Aroj while Obid Rayhan played the role of the philosopher’s adult age.
   Jhuna Chowdhury, Iqbal Babu, Niaz Mohammad Tarik, Sangeeta Chowdhury, Yusuf Hassan Arko and Lincoln Abhi performed the other roles in the play. Every actor has played a number of roles with slight change in costume.
   For the first time actors in acrobatic movement along with the song ‘search, search’ successfully implied the mission of Aroj Ali Matubbor’s life which devoted in search of truth.
   After the play was over, theatre personalities Tariq Anam and Jhuna Chowdhury called the past and present members of Natya Kendra on stage to mark the occasion.
   Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation president Liakat Ali Lucky delivered a speech and handed over a wreath to Tariq Anam.
   Tariq Anam in a short statement recalled the journey of the group and thanked the audience for their presence in the theatre.

A previously unreleased song by Michael Jackson entitled ‘This Is It’ was unveiled to the world on Monday almost four months after the star’s death, reports Agence France Presse.
   The track was released at the stroke of midnight at www.MichaelJackson.com, marking ‘yet another exciting moment in music history for one of the world’s most revered artists,’ Sony Music Entertainment said in a statement.
   The recording features backing vocals by Michael’s brothers and will be played during the closing sequence of the forthcoming film ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ and feature on a two-disc CD set of the same name.
   A new photo of Jackson taken during rehearsals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles will also be unveiled, the record label said.
   The album will go on sale later this month to coincide with the worldwide release of the movie on October 28.
   Disc one of the album features some of Jackson’s biggest hits such as ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Human Nature’, and ‘Thriller’ arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film.
   The disc ends with two versions of ‘This Is It’, the original and an orchestral one.
   Disc two offers fans the early demo versions of classics ‘She’s Out Of My Life’, ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, and ‘Beat It’. It also features a recently discovered spoken word poem by Jackson entitled ‘Planet Earth.’
   The film will offers a behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place this year in London, Sony said.
   Chronicling the months from March through June 2009, the film is drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show.
   Jackson died on June 25 at age 50 after taking a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs. The coroner’s office has ruled his death a homicide.

South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon has received one of France’s top art awards at a film festival in her home country, reports BBC.
   French Trade Minister Anne-Marie Idrac made Jeon a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters at the Pusan International Film Festival.
   Jeon won a best-actress award at the Cannes film festival in 2007 for her role in The Secret Sunshine.
   Idrac called Jeon ‘one of the most talented actresses in South Korea today.’
   Her previous films have included The Scandal and You Are My Sunshine.
   France’s Order of Arts and Letters was set up in the 1950s to recognise contributions to the arts and literature.
   Recent recipients of the chevalier award have included Kylie Minogue, Jude Law, George Clooney and children’s illustrator Quentin Blake.

‘Embrace Love and feel the Music’, a two-day programme of film screening jointly organised by the Goethe-Institut and Dhaka University Film Society will begin at Dhanmondi Goethe Institut at 3:00pm today.
   The organisers will show two films on each day with the screening of ‘Singing’ in the Rain’ directed by Stanleya Donen and ‘Roman Holiday’ by William Wyler on the opening day at the German cultural centre.
   Robert Wise’s ‘The Sound of Music’ and Woody Allen’s ‘Annie Hall’ will be screened tomorrow at the same time.
   The organisers said they have selected the four classics in this month’s screening to present the two golden decades of 1960s and 1970s of the American films to the young viewers.
   The organisers aim to continue introducing the Bangladeshi viewers with the famous international films.

Singer Amy Winehouse’s new album is expected to be completed next year, according to her record label Island, reports BBC.
   ‘I’ve heard a couple of song demos that absolutely floored me,’ Island co-president Darcus Beese said. ‘Hopefully we’ll have her album next year.’
   He said the singer had been writing and recording ‘in fits and starts’.
   Winehouse’s last album Back To Black, which has sold 10 million copies and won five Grammy Awards, came out three years ago.
   But since its release, the singer has battled drug problems and ill health, and comeback gigs in May had to be scrapped.
   She was writing and recording with producer Salaam Remi, who worked on Back To Black, while living on the Caribbean island of St Lucia earlier this year.
   Last October, Remi said the pair had ‘about four songs done’. The following month, Lucian Grange, head of Island’s parent company Universal Music Group, said her new material was sounding ‘sensational’.
   Winehouse is making a return to TV screens on Saturday, singing backing vocals for her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.
   Bromfield is the first signing to Winehouse’s new record label Lioness, which is an imprint of Island. The 13-year-old’s debut album is released on Monday.

One of the final movies made by late Kill Bill star David Carradine has been recognised at the Raindance independent film festival in central London, reports BBC.
   Teen movie My Suicide shared the best international feature prize - one of eight awards presented on Sunday.
   Colin, a zombie film made for just £45 on a camcorder, received a ‘best micro budget’ accolade as the 17th Raindance festival came to a close.
   Prizes were also awarded at the Dinard Festival of British Film in France.
   White Lightnin’, the offbeat story of an Appalachian ‘mountain dancer’ from West Virginia, won the Golden Hitchcock on Saturday - the annual event’s main prize.
   Veteran actress Charlotte Rampling received a special award as the Brittany-based film festival celebrated its 20th anniversary.
   Carradine, 72, was found in a Bangkok hotel room in June having died from asphyxiation.
   The actor appears in My Suicide as a poet whose verse inspires a high school student to plan his own death.
   This year’s Raindance closed with The Girlfriend Experience, a Steven Soderbergh drama about a New York call girl.

Exhibitions
   Painting Exhibition
   By Russian children-winners of the International contest of
   Art City
   Time: 10:00 am to 05:00 pm
   Date: Oct 2 to Oct 16
   Venue: Russian Centre of Science and Culture
   House no 42, road no 7
   Dhanmondi,
   Dhaka-1205
   
   Jai Bangla
   By Shahabuddin Ahamed
   Time: from 12:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: Sept 28 to Oct 18
   Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
   House no. 275/F, road no. 27 (old),
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   Shells and Souls
   By Asma Sultana Mita, Kazi Mahbub Hossen, Gulam Faruqe Sharkar, Shamim Reza
   Time: 3:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: October 9 to October 15
   Venue: Drik Gallery
   House 58, road 15/A (New),
   Dhanmondi,
   Dhaka
   Theatre
   Jatra festival commemorating Amalendu Bishwas
   Date: Oct 10 to 15, Time: 7:00pm
   
   Jatrapala: Janowar
   Jatrapala: Charanika Jatrasamaj
   Venue: National Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha, Dhaka
   Film show at Star Cineplex
   Monpura
   Britter Bairey
   Quantum of Solace
   Rambo 4
   Gangajatra
   Slumdog Millionaire
   Basundhara City Shopping Mall
   Panthapath,
   Dhaka