Highlights:Sukamal Dasgupta’s Kabya Sangeet comes to life through the melodious voices of two talented singers Sagnik Sen and Sounak Chattopadhyay every Tuesday and Friday.
Highlights:Unveiling the collection of Late Sukamal Dasgupta’s unparallel poems set to music and sung by Sagnik Sen, Sounak Chattopadhyay & other young talented artistes on a brand new Youtube Channel, this Bengali New Year.
Highlights:Relaunch of famous Biliti Chhara, an adaptation of English Nursery Rhymes in Bengali by Late Sukamal Dasgupta in Jan 2020
Highlights:As promised, the first batch of beneficiaries received the unique & comprehensive Broadway Health (Insurance) Card on 12th December, 2019 at Tollygunge Club at 3pm
Highlights:Calcutta Broadway unveils its unique initiative ‘Broadway Health’ – for junior technicians and artists who help create the magic behind performances
Highlights:Sohag Sen, a 40 year veteran of the Theatre movement joins Calcutta Broadway’s advisory panel
A Million Dreams for the World We’re Gonna Make
That’s what Bikram Dasgupta (BDG) Foundation promises through its unique platform Calcutta Broadway (CB), to ‘give back’ to performing artistes, who entertain us, make us smile, feel the fun or delve into the depths of intellectual and social activism by weaving magic through music, theatre or dance. Well-known entrepreneur and technological bigwig Bikram Dasgupta’s latest initiative CB, launched in 2019, has not only successfully promoted talented budding artists, but also took care of their needs through unique initiatives like Calcutta Broadway Health Card. Bikram Dasgupta’s primary wish is to present to the world upcoming young artists in the field of performing arts who otherwise do not get a platform to showcase their talents. Just like he brought innovations in the field of technology, BDG is out here to bring a whole ‘New World’ of entertainment that Kolkata has never seen before!
hrough Calcutta Broadway, Gen Y will get a chance to delve into the rich cultural heritage of Bengal, including mind-blowing theatre and music. This platform blends the nostalgia of Calcutta’s old stage memories with contemporary fusion music and plays, encouraging Gen Y to preserveour heritage. Other than the unique Health Card, Calcutta Broadway through Sponsorships, Scholarships, Awards and Workshops will hold events in the days to come that will surely take forward the cultural scenario of Calcutta to newer heights!
Come join the movement! If you are a budding artist and wish to be part of our initiatives, contact us at contact@calcuttabroadway.com.
Upcoming Events
Calcutta Broadway's New Musical Presentation
'Nahi Khoy Nahi Shesh'
Calcutta Broadway's new musical extravaganza on Baishe Srabon. Remembering the Bard was never more relevant than during these trying times. Join us Live on 8th August, at 8pm to celebrate Life over the pangs of death, pain and sickness. Enjoy an evening of soulful Rabindrasangeet by Manoj Murali Nair, Tathagata Sengupta, Arina Mukherjee, Swakshar Basu and Anindita Maitra. Let us keep your spirits high and tide over all negativities through the Power of our Philanthropy and soul searching songs of Rabindranath Tagore.
People come into our Lives for a Reason Bringing Something we must learn
And we are Led to Those who help us most to grow If we let them and we help them in Return
Broadway Health
Providing meaningful lives | Gifting wings to talent
The Broadway Health Insurance Card was handed over to the first batch of 78 beneficiaries On December 12, 2019 at Tollygunge Club. 6 members of each family are covered under one health card. It is for the first time in India that a 3rd party has taken the initiative of giving comprehensive health insurance benefits to young artistes/technicians from the field of performing arts.
It is for the first time in the history of the Performing Arts industry in Bengal and perhaps in India that Calcutta Broadway, as an entrepreneurially driven ‘private’ platform meant to nurture upcoming talent, has innovated a Heath Insurance product in the form of Broadway Health to provide structured and long term support to the people behind the scenes, on whose shoulders lie the burden of a performance’s excellence, be it junior artists, upcoming musicians, technical helpers and many others. Broadway Health would go a long way in providing a meaning to the life of the junior people associated with the Performing Arts industry while gifting them wings to fly!
" I could not provide her the best medical treatment is what I feel now. Though, I tried my best. My mother left me 2 years back due to that ailment… for me it is a gift from God himself. Probably my mother has conspired from the other world to give this opportunity to me. Big thanks to Bikram Sir and Tanusree di."
Arnab Sen
(Beneficiary)
" He is giving Health insurance to those whom he has never seen, those who are no way related to him. It is indeed a great support for us."
Malay Sarkar
(Beneficiary)
" This is the first of its kind initiative that he has taken. My all respect to him and I wish he keeps on showering his blessings upon us. I wish many more may think alike Mr. Bikram Dasgupta."
Pronoy Mukhyopadyay
(Beneficiary)
" It is really very appreciating task what he has done. It’s a very rare thing."
Rudrarup Mukherjee
(Beneficiary)
" Thanks to Sir that he has thought about all of us and it is really worth appreciating."
Pritha Chatterjee
(Beneficiary)
" You follow your passion and there will be someone to support you from behind and that person is Mr. Bikram Dasgupta."
Debleena Sarkar
(Beneficiary)
" Calcutta Broadway is not only a showcase for Music, Theatre & Dance but also a platform for the selves in the struggling artistes and to look after their material comfort through Broadway Health Card"
Sohini Sengupta
National Award winning Actor, Director
" Broadway Health is phenomenal and fantastic initiative … eagerly waiting for Hemantakaal in June, 2020."
Barun Chanda
Actor
" Calcutta Broadway is an innovative venture in the field of culture…the focus of Bikram Dasgupta is completely different…the three projects announce reflect his dynamic mind and honest intention."
Jawhar Sircar (IAS)
Formar Cultural Secretary, Govt. of India
" Broadway Health card is very interesting and I am sure that lots of people will be benefitted."
Raju Barman
Partner at Rupa & Co and Joint Secretary of the Publishers and
Booksellers Guild
" Salute and hats off to Mr. Bikram Dasgupta… I am really grateful to him for having faith in me as an artiste."
Sagnik Sen
Singer
" In the field of performing arts Calcutta Broadway is one very good initiative. It’s like a breath of fresh air for us, because patronage is something we hardly have. I wish Bikram and Calcutta Broadway all the best."
Sohag Sen
Thespian
" Today is a fabulous day in the lives of a lot of artistes… Bikram Dasgupta is not only a dreamer but also he has always achieved what he wanted to do… we need more of Bikram Dasguptas in this field… the initiative of doing health insurance is a big step."
Tanusree Shankar
Danseuse
Maestros Speak of CB
Leading stalwarts in the field of performing arts speak about Calcutta Broadway. Listen to them as they explain in their own words why CB is The Platform of Bengal’s Performing Arts Circuit today!
Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
Tanusree Shankar
Kaushik Sen
Sohini Sengupta
Snehamay Nag
Barun Chanda
Jawhar Sircar
Raju Barman
Sagnik Sen
Sohag Sen
Tanusree Shankar
Shankar Kar
CB encourages Guru Shishya Parampara
Supported by BDG Foundation, Calcutta Broadway brings forth the ‘guru shishya parampara’ practiced for centuries in India. From time to time, the best maestros in the field of music and performing arts will mentor budding artistes and help them grow.
Group theatre refers to a tradition in theatres which developed in the 1940s as an alternative to entertainment-oriented theatres. According to Smt.Jolly Guha Roy, Director, Bikramgarh Maru Behag group theatre, Group Theatre is “a theatre that is not professional or commercial”, characterized by its tendency for experimentation in theme, content and production, and its aim of using the proscenium stage to highlight social messages, rather than having primarily making-money objectives”.
Interested artists can upload samples of their work for evaluation and to help participate in the Calcutta Broadway movement.
Contemporary dance in India encompasses a wide range of dance activities currently performed in India. It includes choreography for Indian cinema, modern Indian ballet and experiments with existing classical and folk forms of dance by various artists. Uday Shankar and Shobana Jeyasingh have led modern Indian ballet which combined classical Indian dance and music with Western stage techniques. Their productions have included themes related to Shiva-Parvati, Lanka Dahan, Panchatantra, Ramayana among others.
Interested artists can upload samples of their work for evaluation and to help participate in the Calcutta Broadway movement.
Interested artists who wish to showcase their talents can submit videos. If you are chosen, you become a part of the CB Movement! CB will promote your talents for sure!
CB brings back to the children of today, the lost genre of Bengali chhara or rhymes through Sukamal Dasgupta’s unique children’s rhymes. Sukamal Dasgupta was an eminent children’s author of the ’60s, who penned ‘Biliti Chhara’ where he translated popular English Rhymes to their Bengali versions. What started as an exercise to expose his two sons to popular English rhymes by translating them into free-flowing Bengali versions, later turned into a literary masterpiece by itself.
The two-part series of Biliti Chhara soon became hugely popular and was read in every household of Bengal and the world over. The wonderful characters brought forward through these rhymes in the Bengali language, not just gave fun to kids, but also helped them pick up their mother tongue, that many of Gen X and Y are not exposed to unfortunately, due to an immense pressure of English and Hindi in India. CB revives Biliti Chhara,the compilation of these unique rhymes by Sukamal Dasgupta and presents it in the form of colourful books, videos and music to attract children to the world of fun and frolic and to the sweet language of ‘Bangla.’
Bikram Dasgupta knows where it pinches to be alive for budding artists who are not paid high and regular salaries. What happens when they or any member of their family falls ill? To provide them health insurance benefits, he has floated the most comprehensive Health Card, called Broadway Health Card, benefitting already 100 artistes with a view to do more. It is the First 3rd Party Health Insurance Card of India which benefits thousands of technicians and young performing artistes for 6 persons per family, including their parents, spouses and kids.
The Broadway Health Insurance Card was handed over to the first batch of 78 beneficiaries on December 12, 2019 at Tollygunge Club. Click on the link to know more.
Broadway Health Insurance Claim's Review
Supporting Folk Artistes
Taking care of 144 needy Baul families of Santiniketan
BDG Foundation has extended support to 144 Baul families of Santiniketan. These folk artistes have been living in penury, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown and lack of livelihood. This comes as an extension of BDG’s support for the marginalized informal sector, who are facing an unprecedented economic crisis, due to the changed times.
Calcutta Broadway seeks to preserve, leveraging the latest digital technologies the rich and varied body of knowledge – one that has been handed down using the age old ‘gurushishya parampara’ (system of passing knowledge in an intimately hands-on form by the teacher to their chosen pupils) practiced for centuries in the country.
Calcutta Broadway is a unique, entrepreneurially driven platform, designed to promote the rich Indian heritage in Fine Arts with specific focus on Music, Theatre and Dance. A movement such as Calcutta Broadway can only thrive and grow with the active participation of people and groups; both who are creatively endowed and those who avidly follow the art forms.
We look forward to hearing from you; whether you are a budding artist or a group or a lover of the arts. You can write to us on a wide variety of topics be it promotion of budding talent, talent recognition, sponsorships, scholarships, bestowing awards, conducting or participating in workshops, archiving legacy records or knowledge or on any other topic related to either one or all of the arts forms vis-a-vis Music, Theatre and Dance.
We look forward to hearing from you and would get back to you at the earliest.