Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 895 Sun. December 03, 2006  
   
Culture


'The New Shobuj Opera' crosses 200 episode


The 200th episode of the mega serial The New Shobuj Opera will be aired tonight at 8:30 pm on ATN Bangla. The channel airs the programme on Saturdays and Sundays.

The mega serial features the lives of jatra artistes. Jatra is a local tradition that has been practiced for centuries. The art form had played a vital role in protest against the British colonial rulers. The serial not only portrays the struggles of the jatra artistes but also the production styles using professional jatra artistes. The idea of the story is derived from Mamunur Rashid and Brindaban Das is the scriptwriter.

On the recent success of the serial, director Mamunur Rashid said, "It's true that the serial had lost its momentum temporarily but it is happening because of the storyline. At present the serial is at a turning point. And I'm hopeful that it will pick up again when we focus on reformation of the jatra troupe as well as the background of the artistes."

On upcoming episodes, Rashid said, "The total number of episodes of the play has not been finalised yet. Our plan is to run 1000 episodes. Our goal is clear -- through the play, we will try to portray the ins and outs of a jatra company, not in its contemporary but original form. Because of lack of interest it has become a decaying art form. I intend to bring the rural art form to the city dwellers."

Popular artistes Mamunur Rashid, Zahid Hassan, Tamalika, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Tushar Khan and others perform in the mega serial.

Picture
Tazin Ahmed (R) and AKM Hasan in The New Shobuj Opera