AN ICON EXITS
   Date :17-Nov-2020

Time and Tide_1 &nbs
 
AN EXPONENT of remarkable versatility is only bestowed with a radiance that keeps audience captivated beyond the realms of age and time. Soumitra Chatterjee’s long innings as a colossus of Bengali cinema is a wonderful story of a virtuoso breaking the barriers of art and language to make a permanent place in the hall of celluloid greatness. He has left behind a legacy that just cannot be limited only to Bengali cinema. Chatterjee had used the vehicle of Bengali cinema to take Indian cinema per se to the world with performances that were always enchanting and endearing. Walking through roles of different hues and tone, Chatterjee kept marking an imprint whether in the role of Apu or adding a magnetic aura to Feluda. The shining light of the great man’s career will always be the bond he formed with Satyajit Ray for a complex that delivered characters who have become part of every Bengali’s daily life. Such legends are gift from God. Their exit from the stage of life is part of inevitability. But there cannot be a final curtain on the joys that people like Soumitra Chatterjee gave to Bengali cinema as a mighty pillar of entertainment industry.
 
SMITH CHALLENGE
 
A PERIOD of one year can bring about changes that change course of life forever. Australian batsman Steven Smith has gone through that phase of life, living another day to fight an ignominy and redeem himself with a show of tremendous grit and courage. Smith will now lead the Australian batting line-up against India when the two sides begin their big-ticket series Down Under soon. This brings a different challenge for the Indians who last left the Australian shores as deserving victors. However, it had come when Smith and another fallen hero David Warner were not part of the Aussie team. Smith brings a peculiar challenge for the Indians who are yet to find a way past him. Indian bowlers must bank on the chinks in Smith’s armour that came to fore in the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). Though the Oz star denies having too many stresses with short bowling, there had been matches where he was surprised by the short-pitched stuff. India have the bowlers of the class of Jasprit Bumrah to devise a similar approach for Smith. If he is tamed early, then half the battle is already won by India.