A celebration of culture at Oriya convention

Art, dance, theater and other facets of Oriya culture were on display at the 40th convention of the Orissa Society of the Americas (OSA) held in Trenton, N.J., July 2-5. Organized by the New York-New Jersey chapter, the annual event was held at the Patriots Theatre at the War Memorial.

Thousands of people originally A from Orissa, who have made North America their home, attended the event to celebrate their culture, ethnicity and heritage with a range of events, including seminars, symposiums, workshops, round table conferences and mentorships followed by cultural programs.

"It was splendid performance by all our hundreds of local talents," Lalatendu Mohanty, co-convener of the convention, told Desi Talk.

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Passing of a legend in the world of theater, left politics

Numerous have been the tributes in Indian media to theater titan Habib Tanvir, who died in Bhopal this month at 85, but they err in failing to mention his American connection.This is in keeping with the partisanship over Tanvir, with rightist ultras tarring him as anti Hindu, and leftists portraying him as anti-American.

The Communist Party of India- Marxist has passed a resolution mourning his death, while a Congress Party legislator, Arif Aqueel, has demanded the country's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, be posthumously conferred on him.

On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party government recently locked him out of Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal's famed arts complex where Tanvir was director of Rangmandal repertory theater.

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Maoist ‘Janayuddha' sweeps Nepal's National Film Awards

The tale of the Maoist uprising that killed over 13,000 people and forced Nepal's king Gyanendra to surrender his crown has acquired a new dimension with the restoration of peace, winning a maverick guerrilla filmmaker the nation's top showbiz awards.

Bimal Poudel, 37, once an underground member of the formerly banned party's cultural wing who made documentary films to propagate the message of the 10-year "people's war", on June 30 saw his debut feature film ‘Janayuddha' sweeping five awards at the state sponsored National Film Awards ceremony.

The film, whose title translates to 'The People's War', currently showing in major theater's in the capital, beat 28 other short-listed ones, mostly from mainstream commercial cinema, to fetch the awards for the best film, actor, actress, lyrics and editing.

It is the first film directly made by the Maoist party under the banner of its newly- established film company, Jana Cinema (People's Cinema).

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