What makes a visual artist tick in the cacophony of your typical modern existence, which in hindsight has the tenacity to make one increasingly distracted? One of the answers lies with the recently declared winner of the second iteration of the 2025 East London Art Prize, Laisul Hoque. This all-media art prize competition received 900 submissions from artists and collectives living or working within London’s ‘E’ postcode this year. Laisul won £15,000 (over $15,000) and the opportunity to host a solo exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow, scheduled for 2026, owing to his interactive installation art piece “An Ode to All the Flavours” (2024), which was selected from 12 shortlisted artists.
Bangladeshi singer Resmi Mirza, one with a sharply grounded vocal prowess is also one with a tried and true love for folk music since the beginning of her musical voyage. Mentored by the celebrated Khulna Shilpa Kola Academy music teacher and founder of his own Music Academy Sa-re-ga-ma-pa, Mirza Golam Rasul, who also happens to be her father, Resmi found her direction. In a way, she found her calling having come from a musical family — her siblings are self-assured musicians too.
The country might have undergone an unprecedented shift in power this year, marked by various sacrifices that have, and will continue to, drive seemingly necessary transitions across all sectors.
The frameworks of portrayals of gender-based violence in our local productions have been birthed from the need to give voice to the oppressed Biranganas (war heroines)—as portrayed through several films or dramas throughout the years.
The arduous journey of Tamzid Islam Zarir, an ardent Shah Rukh Khan fan, reached its culmination this year during the SRK Day event on November 2. His story, as the current organising secretary of the devoted SRK fan club SRK Bangladesh CFC, gained significant attention earlier this month when he met the Bollywood icon alongside 400 to 450 other fans on the occasion of King Khan’s birthday.
As I stepped into the Central Shaheed Minar late in the afternoon, I was greeted with the jovial and embracing atmosphere of feminists from all corners of the city— and perhaps even beyond. Most were decked out in orange and red sarees, seemingly in line with a theme for the day. Some were even in work mode, going live on social media platforms to share updates on behalf of their organisations.
The intrinsically intricate nooks and crevices of the realities of living with mental health disorders can very well be deemed as being only ever harsher than those represented in media. Even the churning and voicing of these complexities via books or writing can only do so much to make people perceive mental health disorders for what they are. However, when push comes to shove, representations of psychological disorders in any form can mean a further step taken to bring awareness to them — and Bangladeshi projects seem to have touched upon two rather specific ways to represent them.
In all honesty, the filming of the hazed-up and sluggish diplopia, magnified mercilessly by the strong presence of hallucinatory colours resembling questionable club joints and sounds that first seep in vaguely until the individual under the influence, begins hearing properly — has become trite. The fact that an aware audience is easily able to predict the cueing in of an unnecessary drug-addled montage in a project that does not even necessitate such an addition has also become dulling — so much so that I instantly and almost mindlessly give way to a bout of onomatopoeia of disdain.
The film gets going with Hirayama (played by Koji Yakusho) awakening in the still-numbing, navy-bluish time of the morning — ahead of the break of dawn, to initially infuse a sense of hurried alarm. However, the picture becomes clearer when he gears himself in his ‘The Tokyo Toilet’ overall uniform to head out during the still-dulling hours of the day. The janitor doesn’t forget to pay attention to his plants prior to leaving home, gently smiling up at the sky whilst admiring it for a few good seconds, then moving to pick out a ready-made coffee can from a vending machine near his outwardly dilapidated home. He eventually gets in his car, picks out a cassette tape, and drives to work.
The vivacious songstress with the honeyed voice has had a rather bustling month this year — as divulged by Dilshad Nahar Kona herself. Not only did her latest collaboration with Muza, “Daane Baame”, drop this ongoing month but Kona has been touring and performing in around 17 scheduled concerts across Bangladesh, on top of also accumulating praise for singing a romantic rendition of the Rabindra Sangeet “Bhalobeshe Sokhi” on Pavel Areen's “Living Room Session”. Additionally, the versatile musician lent her voice to 11 songs for different dramas and films on television this month alone.
Her’s is a story that is one with all– who have had to and are still working hard to make it in an industry that is elusive. Antara Roy Chowdhury, also known by her stage name Debosrie Antara, hence grew up harbouring a penchant for the ability of music, with the dream of one day becoming a singer. Her younger school-going self was even prepared to sacrifice her drift toward a more substantial career for the love of music.
Meghdol’s main vocalist Shibu Kumer Shill has recently been making headlines for having lent his voice to “Nirbashito Chaand”, from the upcoming Tollywood film “Shri Swapankumarer Badami Hyenar Kobole”. The multifaceted personality, who also moonlights as a filmmaker, author, and an illustrator, had a chat with The Daily Star over the phone.
An irrefutable aspect of content is its capability of churning out sub-trends on top of becoming a trend itself. This year, OTT platforms successfully presented a diverse range of content. Whether it be on the charts or social media, this medium has continued to dominate, proving that users have adapted to ‘the future’ faster than anticipated. Here are the most talked-about western OTT releases of 2023.
“When are you going to have a baby?” is the question that Tithi, portrayed by Nusrat Imrose Tisha, is met with, within the initial five minutes of “Something Like an Autobiography”. It is unfortunately safe to say that even in the year 2023, people somehow find it acceptable to ask this to most married individuals, who especially face these after they've been married for a good number of years.
The ever-beloved golden maknae (youngest in English) of BTS was the last member to have released his solo album titled, "Golden". Jungkook launched the sought-after album incorporating a total of 11 songs in the first week of November to astonishingly record-breaking rounds of acceptance.
If I were to be unabashedly honest, then I would have to admit that even as a 15-year-old, back in the day, I couldn't really grasp the notion of having one ultimate artiste as my favourite singer. I would definitely notice my friends being completely enthralled by their respective favourites, so I surrendered to believing that I'll never really be able to claim a specific singer as my go-to. At that age, I really thought that it was too late for me to determine my ‘stan’. After all, how could I decide upon a matter that simply never felt special to me?
In a male-dominated industry, Chayanika Chowdhury has carved her own mark as a courageous woman, stepping into the silver-screen with films like “Bishwoshundori” and “Prohelika”.
On the occasion of his birthday today, we will take the opportunity to explore some of the more momentous factors of his jubilant personality and eccentric existence.
