It was an unusual situation at La Galerie, Alliance Francaise de Dacca on the evening of January 5. Usually cultural programmes in our country are delayed for artistes or special guests who arrive late. At La Galerie, the programme too was delayed, for nearly an hour; this time not for the performer or special guests, but rather the organiser waited for the audience to fill up the venue.
The programme featured solo performance by Paris-based Bengali singer Sharmila Roy Pommot (originally from West Bengal, India). The artiste took the stage on time with two companions.
Sharmila, a Tagore singer who is known for her personal interpretation of the Nobel laureate poet’s creations, started with a rendition of the Rabindra Sangeet "Alo Aamar Alo." Rajnarayan Bhattacharya (on ‘tabla’ and ‘khol’) and Sewli Basu (on ‘esraj’) — both from West Bengal — provided ‘sangat’.
Prior to reciting excerpts from Tagore’s musical "Chandalika", Sharmila rendered two more Tagore songs — "Ki dhoni bajey" and "Amar praan-er manush achhey praaney."
The soiree was titled "Songs and Poems of the Four Winds". Songs rendered at the programme represented four different aspects. Apart from Rabindra Sangeet, Sharmila performed songs based on poems from Bangladesh, India and France.
The artiste also went over a comparative performance of songs (composed by her) based on poems from Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Sharmila started the performance with the song "Swadhinata tumi," based on the late Shamsur Rahman’s poem with the same title. The song is featured in Amirul Arham’s documentary on the poet’s life and works. Sharmila has also done playback for Satyajit Ray’s "Jana Aranya" and Peter Brook’s "Maha-bharata".
At the pro-gramme, Sharmila also rendered songs based on Nirmalendu Gun’s "Premangshur rakto chai," and poet Shankha Ghosh’s "Bapjan hey" and "Boka".
Sharmila was born in Kolkata and is at present settled in Paris. She informed that in Paris, she performs her unique interpretation of Tagore songs. The artiste ended the programme with the song "Rakto golap guchchho amakey dio na." The composition is based on a French poem highlighting the brutality of war.
Sharmila Roy will perform at Chhayanat Sangskriti Bhaban on January 10.