The 3rd day of the 10th edition of Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet or Kalam was held today at the iconic Victoria Memorial Hall. The day began with recitation of shayari by acclaimed poet, lyricist, and screenwriter Javed Akhtar celebrating the centenary year of legendary poet and film song lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi.
Over the past two years of pandemic, people had to face lot of hardships and laughter was the only refreshing thing in life. Cyrus Broacha and Anuvab Pal discussed how laughter was the best medicine during the pandemic period.
Celebrated pop, rock, fusion artist and playback singer from the state of Goa, Remo Fernandes enthralled audience by sharing his musical journey in an aptly titled session called – “Remo Unplugged”. After soulful music of Remo, the audience got a rare chance where Javed Akhtar saab interpreted his most acclaimed poem – Waqt.
Dons of Mumbai have always been an area of interest. People want to know the real story of Dons and how they controlled and expanded their mafia empire. S Hussain Zaidi, crime writer and former investigative journalist shared insights about Dongri Dons to Mafia Queens of Mumbai basis his in-depth research on Mumbai mafias.
This was followed by an engaging discussion on Rocket Boys – the real stories vis-à-vis the reel stories. Mallika Sarabhai, renowned classical dancer and daughter of space scientist Vikram Sarabhai who had been witness to the real rocket stories, shared various anecdotes with Jim Sarbh, who plays Homi J Bhabha in the web series Rocket Boys. Both shared invaluable insights about life of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai and how they led India towards a scientific journey.
The evening ended with a jugal-bandi of poetry and classical music by Srijato and Ustaad Rashid Khan performing on main steps of magnificent Victoria Memorial Hall.
Among various power packed programs, Day 4 (25th March) will see Madhabi Mukherjee, Suman Mukhopadhyay and Poulami Chatterjee discuss the theatre, cinema and roles played by legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee. Jeet Thayil will discuss about his latest novel while retired diplomat, historian, and author, Krishnan Srinivasan will share his insights on the impact of web series on reading of books and novels. Kolkata and football goes hand in hand. In view of East Bengal Football Club’s centenary, noted football historian and statistician Gautam Roy will take back the audience through the history of the club. Finally Mallika Sarabhai will present a special solo Bharatnatyam performance before the culture loving audience of Kolkata to end day four of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet.