Roopa Ganguly
Born	Roopa Ganguly (1966-11-25) November 25, 1966 (age 45) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Spouse	Dhruba Mukherjee (1992-2009) (divorced)

Rupa Ganguly or Roopa Ganguly (Bengali: রূপালী গঙ্গোপাধ্যায়, rupali gônggopaddhae) (born 25 November 1966) is an Indian actress and National Film Award Winning female playback singer in the Hindi and Bengali language film industry, as well as television^[1] She became popular after playing Draupadi in the hit Television series Mahabharat (1988), and in film is most known for her roles in films like Padma Nadir Majhi (1993) by Gautam Ghose, Yugant (1995) by Aparna Sen, and Antarmahal (2006) by Rituparno Ghosh.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

Rupa Ganguly was born in Kalyani near Kolkata, West Bengal, India. She grew up in a joint family.^{[citation needed]}

She passed her Madhyamik Exam from Beltala Girls' High School^{[citation needed]}

She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated undergraduate women's college of the historic University of Calcutta, in Kolkata.^[3]

Career[link]

Rupa Ganguly debuted in the Anil Kapoor starrer, Saaheb 1985, after her graduation from Calcutta. Her second role was in Malayalam film, Ithile Iniyum Varu (1986), with Mamoothy as lead. Though her first role as a lead actress, was the pivotal role of Draupadi, in B.R. Chopra's mythological TV series, Mahabharat (1988), which immediately got her attention,^[4] and also lead to a role in Mrinal Sen's, Ek Din Achanak (1989).

Her other notable works are in award-winning film, Padma Nadir Majhi (1993) by Gautam Ghose, Yugant (1995) by Aparna Sen, Abar Aranye (2003) by Gautam Ghose, Antarmahal (2006) by Rituparno Ghosh, apart from these film appearances she has done, numerous television series, both in Bengali and Hindi, including Sukanya (1998) etc.

After working in a few Hindi films, she shifted to Kolkata, and after appearing in numerous Bengali films through the 1990s, shifted based to Mumbai in 2007, with an English film called, Bow Barracks Forever (2004), directed by Anjan Dutta,^[5] and continued to act in Bengali films. She started working in Hindi TV series, with Karam Apnaa Apnaa (2007), moving on to Love Story (SAB TV series) (2007), and more recently in Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo (2009). She recently won National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for rendering her voice in the bengali film Abhosheyshey.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Rupa Ganguly was married to Dhruba Mukherjee, a Mechanical Engineer, since 1992. After 14 years of marriage the couple separated in 2007, and later formally divorced in January 2009.^[7] They have a son named Aakash.

She lived with her singer companion, Dibyendu, 13 years younger than her, in her Mumbai flat. Rupa has since split with Dibyendu.^[8][9] Her appearance in the concluding episode of STAR Plus's hit reality show, Sacch Ka Saamna (2009), the Indian adaptation of the British reality show, The Moment of Truth, created media stir.

Filmography[link]

• Saaheb (1985)
• Mahabharat (1988 TV Series)
• Ek Din Achanak (1989)
• Kamla ki Maut (1989)
• Pyaar Ka Devta (1990)
• Bahaar Aane Tak (1990)
• Meena Bazar (1991)
• Inspector Dhanush (1991)
• Saugandh (1991)
• Virodhi (1992)
• Nishchaiy (1992)
• Janani aka Mother (1993
• Padma Nadir Majhi (1993)
• Gopalaa (1994)
• Yugant (1995)
• Vrindavan Film Studios (1996)
• Sukanya (1998 TV Series)
• Bariwali (2000)
• Abar Aranye (2003)
• Mahulbanir Sereng (2004)
• Bow Barracks Forever (2004)
• Shunyo E Bukey (2005)
• Ek Mutho Chabi (2005)
• Krantikaal (2005)
• Nagordola (2005)
• Antarmahal(2006)
• Karam Apnaa Apnaa (TV series) (2007)
• Love Story (SAB TV series) (2007)
• Waqt Batayega Kaun Apna Kaun Paraya (TV series) (2008)
• Luck (2009)
• Kasturi (TV series) (2009)
• Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo(2009)
• Sacch Ka Saamna(2009) (TV series)
• Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil(2011) (TV series)
• Jaani Dyakha Hawbe(2011)
• Abasheshey (2012)
• Barfee (2012)
• Aashbo Aar Ekdin (2012)
• Na Hanyate (2012)

Awards[link]

2012:Won, National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer-Abhosheyshey(Bengali).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rupa Ganguly at the Internet Movie Database

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With Passion was a melodic death metal/metalcore band. They were formed in 2002 in Sacramento, California, and broke up in 2007.

Biography[link]

The band hails from Sacramento and was formed by Samuel Mcleod, Shaun Gier, Jeff Morgan, and Jacob Peete, but didn't acquire a permanent bassist until 2003 with Michael Nordeen. Jeff Morgan later left the band and was replaced by Andrew Burt. Keyboardist Brandon Guadagnolo joined the band later on, and with this line-up the band released an EP, In the Midst Of Bloodied Soil.

Jacob Pete, Andy Burt, Sam Mcleod and Brandon Guadagnolo left the band in the summer of 2005, and drummer Greg Donnelly and guitarist John Abernathy, both from Conducting from the Grave, joined in 2006. At this moment, the line-up consisted of no fewer than four former Conducting from the Grave members, the only exception being bassist Michael Nordeen. Later that year, vocalist Shaun Gier left the band and was replaced by Fidel Campos, just in time for the recording of their debut album.

The band released their debut album, In the Midst Of Bloodied Soil, in 2005, with the same title as their EP, through Earache Records--the songs are the same as on the EP, with two additional tracks. The album consisted of technical metalcore with melodic death metal influences.

The band's second album was released in early 2007 on Earache, but broke up soon thereafter. Since then, Conducting from the Grave has reformed.

Members[link]

Final line-up[link]

• Fidel Campos - vocals
• John Abernathy - guitar
• Jeff Morgan - guitar
• Steven Lovas - bass
• Greg Donnelly - drums

Former members[link]

• Shaun Gier - guitar, vocals
• Jacob Peete - drums
• Brandon Guadagnolo - keyboards
• Sam Mcleod - vocals
• Andy Burt - guitar
• Justin Tvetan - drums
• Michael Nordeen - bass

Discography[link]

• The First Battalion: Battle Ensues (Demo, 2003)
• In The Midst of Bloodied Soil (EP, Reflections of Ruins, 2004)
• In The Midst of Bloodied Soil (CD, Earache, 2004)
• What We See When We Shut Our Eyes (CD, Earache, 2007)

External links[link]

• Official site

Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Born	(1935-01-19) January 19, 1935 (age 77) Krishnanagar, India
Occupation	Actor, Recitor, Poet
Website
www.soumitrachatterjee.com

Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay (Shoumitro Chôṭṭopaddhae; born 19 January 1935) is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.

Background[link]

Soumitra was born in Krishnanagar in West Bengal, 100 km from Calcutta, in 1935. Soumitra and his family moved to Howrah and Calcutta during his early years. Soumitra graduated from the University of Calcutta with honours in Bengali literature. He has lived for a number of years in Calcutta in Satyajit Ray's old apartment. He studied for his M.A. examination in Bengali from the University of Calcutta. He worked in All India Radio before pursuing a career in films.

Work with Satyajit Ray[link]

Soumitra's film debut came in 1959 in Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar. As noted on the official website for Ray, "At that time, Soumitra Chatterjee was a radio announcer and had only played a small role in a Bengali stage production."[1] Soumitra would eventually collaborate with Ray on fourteen films. His centrality to Ray's work is akin to other key collaborations in the history of cinema — Mifune and Kurosawa, Mastroianni and Fellini, De Niro and Scorsese, DiCaprio and Scorsese, Max von Sydow and Ingmar Bergman, Jerzy Stuhr and Kieślowski. He also worked with Sharmila Tagore in a number of Ray films.

Chatterjee was cast in diverse roles by Ray and some of the stories and screenplays that Ray wrote were said to be written with him in mind. Soumitra featured as Feluda/Pradosh Chandra Mitter, the famous private investigator from Calcutta in Ray's Feluda series of books, in two films in the 1970s Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath. Ghare Baire, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name and one of Ray's major ventures of the 1980s, featured Chatterjee in a leading role in the character of a radical revolutionary in a love triangle with his friend's wife. These roles showcased Chatterjee's versatility in playing diverse characters, especially in an urban setting. In Shakha Proshakha, Chatterjee turns out a moving performance in the role of a mentally handicapped son of an aging patriarch on his deathbed and the only source of his father's solace, as his siblings squabble.

Other works[link]

Besides working with Ray, Soumitra excelled in collaborations with other well-known Bengali directors such as Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. He earned critical acclaim for his role of an impostor in Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum. He was equally confident in playing the swashbuckling horse-riding villain in Sinha's Jhinder Bandi giving the legendary Uttam Kumar a tough challenge. In Teen Bhubaner Pare, he again shared the screen with the beautiful Tanuja, and his flamboyant and peppy way of teasing and wooing Tanuja in the very first song-sequence ('Ke Tumi Nadini') overnight earned him the 'star' tag along with Uttam Kumar. He acted with great aplomb with the iconic Suchitra Sen in Saat Pake Bandha. He did couple of movies with Uttam Kumar such as Stri, Devdas, Protisodh. His comic timing was brilliant and highly appreciated in Mantramughdha, Basanto Bilap, Chhutir Fande and Baksho Badal. The last one was a fine example of witty comedy written by Satyajit Ray.

In the later years of his film career, he kept wowing his audience with memorable performances in films such as Koni, Atanko, etc. Soumitra is known for his experimentation with roles. He played the role of Shekhar in the 1969 Ajoy Kar version of Parineeta. Soumitra has been active in Bengali theatre as an actor, playwright and director. He is a well-known poetry reciter, and has acted on TV and in indigenous folk drama (jatra).

Awards and recognitions[link]

A living legend on his own terms, Soumitra has received the 'Officier des Arts et Metiers', the highest award for arts given by the French government, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Italy. He turned down the honorary Padma Shri award from the Indian government in the 1970s; in 2004, he accepted the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from the President of India. He has been the subject of a full-length documentary named Gaach by French film director Catherine Berge.

In a gesture of protest against the National Film Awards committee's bias in awarding popular and mainstream cinema, he turned down the 2001 Special Jury Award for Best Actor. However, on 9 June 2008, he was awarded the 2007 National Film Award for Best Actor by the Government of India. On 21 March 2012, he was selected by the Government of India to be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.^[1]

Select filmography[link]

For detailed list, see Filmography of Soumitra Chatterjee

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Soumitra Chatterjee

• Biography at calcuttaweb.com
• Biography from satyajitray.org
• The Enigma That Is Soumitra Chatterjee
• Interview-based profile on Write2kill.in
• Interview in CNN-IBN
• Interview in Times of India
• Award comes “too late in the day” for Soumitra -- article in The Hindu
• Soumitra Chatterjee at the Internet Movie Database
• BengaliMovies profile

References[link]