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All was set with the superb lighting and the projection screens on both sides of the stage. The hall room of the Winter Garden was overflowing with young fans of the heavy metal band Artcell. Suddenly the band members appeared on the stage amidst loud applause. When the concert began with one of their most favourite songs ‘Shahid Swaranee’, the hall room turned into a festive ground with cheering shouts.
   Heavy metal band Artcell stepped into its 10th year. To celebrate this occasion, the band members organised a concert at the Winter Garden of Hotel Sheraton Friday evening.
   After‘Shahid Swaranee’, they sang ‘Onno Shomoy’ and ‘Dukhho bilash’. The audience enjoyed the songs so much that they also began to sing with the band for the most part.
   The band was formed in November 1999 with a view to presenting metal and alternative rocks with the line-up: Lincoln De Costa as vocalist and on guitar, Khandoker Ershad on guitar, Saef All Nazi Cezanne on the bass and Sadequl Arefin Shaju on the drums.
   After an interval, Artcell performed ‘Uthsaber Utsahe’, ‘Oniket prantar’ and ‘Chilekothar shepai’. They also performed Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish you’re here’ and Metallica’s ‘Unforgiven 1’.
   The audience kept chanting and singing while they were singing the English songs along with their favourite numbers.
   Band members from Miles, Feedback, Warfaze, Aurthohin, Cryptic Fate, Rockstrata, X-factor, Power Surge, Reborn and Mechanix performed at the programme. They congratulated Artcell on their 10th founding anniversary.
   The concert is arranged not only to celebrate, but also to pay a tribute to the band groups that have always stood beside Artcell whenever it needed support, said Manjero Raihan, the band’s public relations officer.
   All the bands sang at least one of Artcell’s songs together with one or two of theirs.
   Miles’s Hamin Ahmed, Feedback’s Maksud, Warfaze’s Kamal, X-factor’s Jewel and Aurthohin’s Sumon performed at the programme.
   Cryptic Fate, Rockstrata, Mechanix, Reborn and Power Surge also rendered their songs together with some of Artcell’s favourite numbers like ‘Odekha Shorgo’, ‘Chilekothar shepai’ and ‘Rahur Grash’.
   The mesmerising guitar playing of Hamin Ahmed, Kamal, Jewel, Sumon and Ershad was an attraction at the programme.
   All the performances had captivated the music-lovers for about five hours.

Eleven critically acclaimed French films will be screened in six days beginning today at the Alliance Française de Dhaka in Dhanmondi.
   Jointly organised by the French cultural centre and Zahir Raihan Film Society, the screening will begin everyday at 5:00pm.
   On the first day, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and ‘The Visitors’ by Jean-Marie Poiré will be screened at 5:00pm and 7:15pm respectively.
   The films ‘Madame Bovary’ directed by Claude Chabrol and ‘Taxi’ by Gérard Pirès will be shown on the second day at the same time.
   On October 27, the organisers will screen ‘Ponette’ directed by Jacques Doillon at 5:00pm and ‘Hate’ by Mathieu Kassovitz at 7:00pm.
   ‘Nelly and Mr. Arnaud’ directed by Claude Sautet and ‘The Savage Nights’ by Cyril Collard will be screened at 5:00pm and 7:00pm respectively on October 28.
   On October 29, the organisers will screen ‘The Lovers on the Bridge’ by Jean-Jacques Beineix at 5:00pm and ‘Léon: The Professional’ by Luc Besson at 7:00pm.
   On the closing day, October 30, the film ‘The Beautiful Troublemaker’ directed by Jacques Rivette will be screened at 5:00pm.
   All the films to be screened at the festival titled ‘Part Five: The Nineteen Nineties’ are made between 1990 and 1999.
   The festival is arranged to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of Alliance Francaise in Dhaka.

Star Cineplex released a blockbuster, Hollywood movie ‘Transfporter 3’ on Friday at its hall in Basundhara City Shopping Mall.
   The movie, directed by Olivier Megaton and starred by Jason Statham, Frank Martin, Natalya Rudakova, Valentina, François Berléand and Robert Knepper, will be screened at 11:20am, 1:40pm, 4:00pm, 4:45pm, 6:40pm and 7:15pm from today till October 29, except on Wednesday.
   The schedule for the following weeks could be seen at the website www.cineplexbd.com.
   In the story, Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of an Ukranian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina’s safe delivery, but he does not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.
   The organisers hope that the audience would enjoy the movie in the cinemascope screen and DTS Dolby sound system.

Pop queen Madonna will lead a groundbreaking ceremony next week for a girls academy she is building in Malawi, where she has adopted two children, officials from her charity said Friday.
   Madonna is expected to arrive in Malawi on Sunday and the ceremony for the construction of the school, which will be named Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, will take place on Monday, they said.
   ‘The academy seeks to provide a model of relevant and effective education in Malawi while advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment,’ said an official who requested anonymity.
   The school on the outskirts of the administrative capital Lilongwe will prepare girls from poor backgrounds for careers in medicine, education or law, the official said.

Oscar winner musician AR Rahman’s Jai Ho has again won laurels, at prestigious World Soundtrack Academy awards in Ghent, Belgium, reports Hindustan Times.
   The song from Slumdog Millionaire won in ‘best original song written for film’ category at the ninth World Soundtrack Awards announced at Ghent, and the ceremony, in addition to Rahman, was reportedly attended by world film music personalities like Alexandre Desplat, Marvin Hamlisch, Reinhold Heil, Johhny Klimek, Alti Ovarsson, Jérôme Lemmonier, Andrew Lockington, etc.
   Acclaimed Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed has applauded Rahman for creating a bridge between the music of
   east and west and for strengthening the worldwide market and stature of Indian music.
   Zed, who is the chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, in a statement in Nevada (USA), urged Rahman to help nourish the next generation with the richness of Indian music, elements of whose theory were first found in ancient Hindu scripture Sama-Veda.
   Music for Jai Ho was provided by Rahman; lyrics by Gulzar and Tanvi Shah; published by KM Musiq Ltd.; and performed by Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaksmi Iyver, and Vijay Prakash.

Exhibitions
   Of Conflict and Harmony
   By Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash
   Time: 11:00am to 8:00pm
   Date: October 23 to November 22
   Venue: Gallery Of Fine Arts
   Asiatic Society of Bangaldesh
   5 old secretariat road,
   Nimtali, Dhaka
   
   Bangladesh- The Land of Diversity
   By MM Zahidur Rahman Biplob
   Time: 3:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: October 18 to October 25
   Venue: Drik Gallery
   House 58, road 15/A (New),
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   Ultimate Destination
   By Lubna Habib, Ranjit Kumar Sarker, Syed Ahmed Saber
   Time: from 9:30am to 4:30pm
   Date: October 16 to October 25
   Venue: Nalinikanta Bhattashali Gallery
   Bangladesh National Museum,
   Shahbagh, Dhaka
   Shudhui Bangla
   Organised by Shudhui Bangla Photographic Society
   Time: 3:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: October 23 to October 27
   Venue: Drik Gallery
   House 58, road 15/A (New),
   Dhanmondi,
   Dhaka
   Theatre
   Mayur o Sangkranti Utsab
   By Aranyak Natyadal
   Date: October 22 to October 25
   
   Rarrang
   Script and direction: Mamunur Rashid
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: Experimental Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha,
   Dhaka
   
   Loko Nayak
   By Prangane Mor
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: Zahir Raihan Cultural Centre
   Sutrapur, Dhaka
   
   French Film Festival
   Organised by Alliance Française of Dhaka
   and Zahir Raihan Film Society
   Date: October 25 to October 30
   Venue: Alliance Française De Dhaka
   26 Mirpur Road,
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   Cyrano de Bergerac
   Filmmaker: Jean-Paul Rappeneau (France)
   Time: 5:00pm
   
   The Visitors
   Filmmaker: Jean-Marie Poiré (France)
   Time: 7:15pm
   
   Film show at Star Cineplex
   Monpura
   Transporter 3
   Slumdog Millionaire
   Basundhara City Shopping Mall
   Panthapath, Dhaka