By Special Correspondent
Kolkata has witnessed a wonder on stage on 18th and 19th Sept. “Lotus Make up presents My Name is Jaan”, a SOLO musical act by Arpita on the life of Gauhar Jaan was staged in GD Birla Sabhaghar. Gauhar Jaan was an accomplished singer as well as a Kathak dancer who made a name for herself. She learnt pure and light classical Hindustani vocal music from eminent personalities of her time. She was the first Indian voice recorded on GramaPhone – About 600 songs in 7 languages. Story of Gauhar Jaan is a story of women empowerment and about how talented women have faced impediments – at home to start for centuries.
Musical Solo on stage is the first of its kind in India. There have been solo acts on stage- but singing live while enacting solo along with dancing for almost 2 hours was seemingly impossible till Arpita presented on stage. She sang thumri, drut khayal, keerran, chati, popular old bengali song, Punjabi tappa , rabindra Sangeet and a gujrati classical – all of these live on stage .
A captivating Mise-en-scene was used in the projection and animation as a theatrical device too.
Bengal is always known for its rich culture and heritage throughout the world. A new form of stage was created and possibly this production has the potential make a mark in national and international arena as well. That is the vision behind this magnificent production supported by LoTus Make up.
Abanti Chakraborty as director , Joy Sarkar as music composure and Raktim Goswami as the choreographer have excelled in every bit of their work. Arpita has been training with Rajyashree Chakrabarty for over a year and thus brought out the mellifluous melodies on stage.
The journey of the iconic personality presented by Bengal’s diva was etched in the heart and soul of the audience, not to mention a mesmerising experience, never to be forgotten.