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Guru Geeta Chandran's Natya Vriksha celebrates the world dance day every year with a series of performances by young, brilliant dancers from across the country and abroad.
Apart from this, Natya Vriksha also brings eminent culture ambassadors and gurus to come and share their life-time work with the young dancers.
The mornings featured workshops by Santosh Nair, a fine mover on the first day, filled by a workshop on Rythm the following day by young percussionist, Manohar Balatchandirane.
One of the very interesting feature of this year’s World Dance Day program was a lecture by Amb Pavan K.Varma on the topic: The glorious legacy of Indian Culture: Challenges and Opportunities.
There was also a presentation by senior dancer and dance teacher from Baroda, Smt.Rema Srikanth on her personal journey in dance, with about eight of her disciples performing.
This year's dancers were
Odissi: Rajashri Praharaj (Bhubaneshwar)
Kathak: Rupanshi Kashyap (Ahmedabad)
Bharatanatyam: Manasvini Ramachandran (Chennai)
Dance tribute to late Guru Karaikudi P. Sivakumar by senior dancers of Natya Vriksha
Rama Vaidyanathan
Danse bharata natyam à l'auditorium du musée Guimet le samedi 6 juin 2009
En coproduction avec Triveni
accompagnée par K. Sivakumar (nattuvangam), Ramya Sundaresan (chant), Sumod Sreedharan (mridangam), G. S. Rajan (flûte)
"Rama Vaidyanathan est une des danseuses classiques les plus talentueuses et les plus célèbres en Inde. Elle a été formée par le danseur traditionnel Yamini Krishnamurty et par l'éminent gourou Saroja Vaidyanathan.
Ceux qui l'ont vu danser ont été frappés par son approche unique et novatrice de la danse. Rama sait allier traditions et principes fondamentaux du bharatanatyam à son propre style moderne, engagé et spirituel."
Rama Vaidyanathan est une danseuse exceptionnelle qui tout en respectant la tradition y insuffle sa propre capacité créative. Elle a proposé un spectacle éblouissant à l'auditorium du musée Guimet qui reste la référence en matière de danse traditionnelle de l'Inde.
Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge with a suspended span over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the two cities of Howrah and Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate. It is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.
The bridge is one of two on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu, and the newly built Nivedita Setu. It weathers the storms of the Bay of Bengal region, carrying a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. The third-longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, the Howrah Bridge is the sixth-longest bridge of its type in the world.
HISTORY
1862 PROPOSAL BY TURNBULL
In 1862, the Government of Bengal asked George Turnbull, Chief Engineer of the East India Railway Company to study the feasibility of bridging the Hooghly River — he had recently established the company's rail terminus in Howrah. He reported on 29 March with large-scale drawings and estimates that:
- The foundations for a bridge at Calcutta would be at a considerable depth and cost because of the depth of the mud there.
- The impediment to shipping would be considerable.
- A good place for the bridge was at Pulta Ghat "about a dozen miles north of Calcutta" where a "bed of stiff clay - A suspended-girder bridge of five spans of 400 feet and two spans of 200 feet would be ideal.
The bridge was not built.
PONTOON BRIDGE
In view of the increasing traffic across the Hooghly river, a committee was appointed in 1855-56 to review alternatives for constructing a bridge across it. The plan was shelved in 1859-60, to be revived in 1868, when it was decided that a bridge should be constructed and a newly appointed trust vested to manage it. The Calcutta Port Trust was founded in 1870, and the Legislative department of the then Government of Bengal passed the Howrah Bridge Act in the year 1871 under the Bengal Act IX of 1871, empowering the Lieutenant-Governor to have the bridge constructed with Government capital under the aegis of the Port Commissioners. Eventually a contract was signed with Sir Bradford Leslie to construct a pontoon bridge. Different parts were constructed in England and shipped to Calcutta, where they were assembled. The assembling period was fraught with problems. The bridge was considerably damaged by the great cyclone on 20 March 1874. A steamer named Egeria broke from her moorings and collided head-on with the bridge, sinking three pontoons and damaging nearly 200 feet of the bridge. The bridge was completed in 1874, at a total cost of ₹2.2 million, and opened to traffic on 17 October of that year. The bridge was then 1528 ft. long and 62 ft. wide, with 7-foot wide pavements on either side. Initially the bridge was periodically unfastened to allow steamers and other marine vehicles to pass through. Before 1906, the bridge used to be undone for the passage of vessels during daytime only. Since June of that year it started opening at night for all vessels except ocean steamers, which were required to pass through during daytime. From 19 August 1879, the bridge was illuminated by electric lamp-posts, powered by the dynamo at the Mullick Ghat Pumping Station. As the bridge could not handle the rapidly increasing load, the Port Commissioners started planning in 1905 for a new improved bridge.
PLANS FOR A NEW BRIDGE
In 1906 the Port Commission appointed a committee headed by R.S. Highet, Chief Engineer, East Indian Railway and W.B. MacCabe, Chief Engineer, Calcutta Corporation. They submitted a report stating that Bullock carts formed the eight-thirteenths of the vehicular traffic (as observed on 27 August 1906, the heaviest day's traffic observed in the port of Commissioners 16 days' Census of the vehicular traffic across the existing bridge). The roadway on the existing bridge is 48 feet wide except at the shore spans where it is only 43 feet in roadways, each 21 feet 6 inches wide. The roadway on the new bridge would be wide enough to take at least two lines of vehicular traffic and one line of trams in each direction and two roadways each 30 feet wide, giving a total width of 60 feet of road way which are quite sufficient for this purpose . . . . . The traffic across the existing floating bridge Calcutta & Howrah is very heavy and it is obvious if the new bridge is to be on the same site as the existing bridge, then unless a temporary bridge is provided, there will be serious interruptions to the traffic while existing bridge is being moved to one side to allow the new bridge to be erected on the same site as the present bridge.
The committee considered six options:
- Large ferry steamers capable of carrying vehicular load (set up cost ₹900,000, annual cost ₹437,000)
- A transporters bridge (set up cost ₹2 million)
- A tunnel (set up cost ₹338.2 million, annual maintenance cost ₹1779,000)
- A bridge on piers (set up cost ₹22.5 million)
- A floating bridge (set up cost ₹2140,000, annual maintenance cost ₹200,000)
- An arched bridge
The committee eventually decided on a floating bridge. It extended tenders to 23 firms for its design and construction. Prize money of £ 3,000 (₹45,000, at the then exchange rate) was declared for the firm whose design would be accepted.
PLANNING AND ESTIMATION
The initial construction process of the bridge was stalled due to the World War I, although the bridge was partially renewed in 1917 and 1927. In 1921 a committee of engineers named the 'Mukherjee Committee' was formed, headed by Sir R.N. Mukherjee, Sir Clement Hindley, Chairman of Calcutta Port Trust and J. McGlashan, Chief Engineer. They referred the matter to Sir Basil Mott, who proposed a single span arch bridge.
In 1922 the New Howrah Bridge Commission was set up, to which the Mukherjee Committee submitted its report. In 1926 the New Howrah Bridge Act passed. In 1930 the Goode Committee was formed, comprising S.W. Goode as President, S.N. Mallick, and W.H. Thompson, to investigate and report on the advisability of constructing a pier bridge between Calcutta and Howrah. Based on their recommendation, M/s. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton were asked to consider the construction of a suspension bridge of a particular design prepared by their chief draftsman Mr. Walton. On basis of the report, a global tender was floated. The lowest bid came from a German company, but due to increasing political tensions between Germany and Great Britain in 1935, it was not given the contract. The Braithwaite Burn and Jessop Construction Company Limited was awarded the construction contract that year. The New Howrah Bridge Act was amended in 1935 to reflect this, and construction of the bridge started the next year.
CONSTRUCTION
The bridge does not have nuts and bolts, but was formed by riveting the whole structure. It consumed 26,500 tons of steel, out of which 23,000 tons of high-tensile alloy steel, known as Tiscrom, were supplied by Tata Steel. The main tower was constructed with single monolith caissons of dimensions 55.31 x 24.8 m with 21 shafts, each 6.25 metre square. The Chief Engineer of the Port Trust, Mr. J. McGlashan, wanted to replace the pontoon bridge, with a permanent structure, as the present bridge interfered with North/South river traffic. Work could not be started as World War I (1914-1918) broke out. Then in 1926 a commission under the Chairmanship of Sir R. N. Mukherjee recommended a suspension bridge of a particular type to be built across the River Hoogly. The bridge was designed by one Mr. Walton of M/s Rendel, Palmer & Triton. The order for construction and erection was placed on M/s.Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company in 1939. Again World War II (1939-1945 ) intervened. All the steel that was to come from England were diverted for war effort in Europe. Out of 26,000 tons of steel, that was required for the bridge, only 3000 tons were supplied from England. In spite of the Japanese threat the then (British) Government of India pressed on with the construction. Tata Steel were asked to supply the remaining 23,000 tons of high tension steel. The Tatas developed the quality of steel required for the bridge and called it Tiscom. The entire 23,000 tons was supplied in time. The fabrication and erection work was awarded to a local engineering firm of Howrah - The Braithwaite Burn & Jessop Construction Company. The two anchorage caissons were each 16.4 m by 8.2 m, with two wells 4.9 m square. The caissons were so designed that the working chambers within the shafts could be temporarily enclosed by steel diaphragms to allow work under compressed air if required. The caisson at Kolkata side was set at 31.41 m and that at Howrah side at 26.53 m below ground level.
One night, during the process of grabbing out the muck to enable the caisson to move, the ground below it yielded, and the entire mass plunged two feet, shaking the ground. The impact of this was so intense that the seismograph at Kidderpore registered it as an earthquake and a Hindu temple on the shore was destroyed, although it was subsequently rebuilt. While muck was being cleared, numerous varieties of objects were brought up, including anchors, grappling irons, cannons, cannonballs, brass vessels, and coins dating back to the East India Company. The job of sinking the caissons was carried out round-the-clock at a rate of a foot or more per day. The caissons were sunk through soft river deposits to a stiff yellow clay 26.5 m below ground level. The accuracy of sinking the huge caissons was exceptionally precise, within 50–75 mm of the true position. After penetrating 2.1 m into clay, all shafts were plugged with concrete after individual dewatering, with some 5 m of backfilling in adjacent shafts. The main piers on the Howrah side were sunk by open wheel dredging, while those on the Kolkata side required compressed air to counter running sand. The air pressure maintained was about 40 lbs per square inch (2.8 bar), which required about 500 workers to be employed. Whenever excessively soft soil was encountered, the shafts symmetrical to the caisson axes were left unexcavated to allow strict control. In very stiff clays, a large number of the internal wells were completely undercut, allowing the whole weight of the caisson to be carried by the outside skin friction and the bearing under the external wall. Skin friction on the outside of the monolith walls was estimated at 29 kN/m2 while loads on the cutting edge in clay overlying the founding stratum reached 100 tonnes/m. The work on the foundation was completed on November 1938.
By the end of 1940, the erection of the cantilevered arms was commenced and was completed in mid-summer of 1941. The two halves of the suspended span, each 86 m long and weighing 2,000 tons, were built in December 1941. The bridge was erected by commencing at the two anchor spans and advancing towards the center, with the use of creeper cranes moving along the upper chord. 16 hydraulic jacks, each of which had an 800-ton capacity, were pressed into service to join the two halves of the suspended span.
The entire project cost ₹25 million (£2,463,887). The project was a pioneer in bridge construction, particularly in India, but the government did not have a formal opening of the bridge due to fears of attacks by Japanese planes fighting the Allied Powers. Japan had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The first vehicle to use the bridge was a solitary tram.
DESCRIPTION
SPECIFICATIONS
When commissioned in 1943, Howrah was the 3rd-longest cantilever bridge in the world, behind Pont de Québec (549 metres) in Canada and Forth Bridge (521 metres) in Scotland. It has since been surpassed by three bridges, making it the sixth-longest cantilever bridge in the world in 2013. It is a Suspension type Balanced Cantilever bridge, with a central span of 460 m between centers of main towers and a suspended span of 172 m. The main towers are 85 m high above the monoliths and 23 m apart at the top. The anchor arms are 99 m each, while the cantilever arms are 143 m each. The bridge deck hangs from panel points in the lower chord of the main trusses with 39 pairs of hangers. The roadways beyond the towers are supported from ground, leaving the anchor arms free from deck load. The deck system includes cross girders suspended between the pairs of hangers by a pinned connection. Six rows of longitudinal stringer girders are arranged between cross girders. Floor beams are supported transversally on top of the stringers, while themselves supporting a continuous pressed steel troughing system surfaced with concrete.
The longitudinal expansion and lateral sway movement of the deck are taken care of by expansion and articulation joints. There are two main expansion joints, one at each interface between the suspended span and the cantilever arms, and there are others at the towers and at the interface of the steel and concrete structures at both approach. There are total 8 articulation joints, 3 at each of the cantilever arms and 1 each in the suspended portion. These joints divide the bridge into segments with vertical pin connection between them to facilitate rotational movements of the deck. The bridge deck has longitudinal ruling gradient of 1 in 40 from either end, joined by a vertical curve of radius 1,200 m. The cross gradient of deck is 1 in 48 between kerbs.
TRAFFIC
The bridge serves as the gateway to Kolkata, connecting it to the Howrah Station, which is one of the four intercity train stations serving Howrah and Kolkata. As such, it carries the near entirety of the traffic to and from the station, taking its average daily traffic close to nearly 150,000 pedestrians and 100,000 vehicles. In 1946 a census was taken to take a count of the daily traffic, it amounted to 27,400 vehicles, 121,100 pedestrians and 2,997 cattle. The bulk of the vehicular traffic comes from buses and cars. Prior to 1993 the bridge used to carry trams also. Trams departed from the terminus at Howrah station towards Rajabazar, Sealdah, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus and Shyambazar. From 1993 the tram services on the bridge were discontinued due to increasing load on the bridge. However the bridge still continues to carry much more than the expected load. A 2007 report revealed that nearly 90,000 vehicles were plying on the bridge daily (15,000 of which were goods-carrying), though its load-bearing capacity is only 60,000. One of the main reasons of overloading was that although vehicles carrying up to 15 tonnes are allowed on the structure, vehicles with 12-18 wheels and carrying load up to 25 tonnes often plied on it. 31 May 2007 onwards, overloaded trucks were banned from plying on the bridge, and were redirected to the Vidyasagar Setu instead. The road is flanked by footpaths of width 15 feet, and they swarm with pedestrians.
MAINTENANCE
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is vested with the maintenance of the bridge. The bridge has been subject to damage from vehicles due to rash driving, and corrosion due to atmospheric conditions and biological wastes. On October 2008, 6 high-tech surveillance cameras were placed to monitor the entire 705 metres long and 30 metres wide structure from the control room. Two of the cameras were placed under the floor of the bridge to track the movement of barges, steamers and boats on the river, while the other four were fixed to the first layer of beams — one at each end and two in the middle — to monitor vehicle movements. This was in response to substantial damage caused to the bridge from collisions with vehicles, so that compensation could be claimed from the miscreants.
Corrosion has been caused by bird droppings and human spitting. An investigation in 2003 revealed that as a result of prolonged chemical reaction caused by continuous collection of bird excreta, several joints and parts of the bridge were damaged. As an immediate measure, the Kolkata Port Trust engaged contractors to regularly clean the bird droppings, at an annual expense of ₹500000 (US$7,900). In 2004, KoPT spent ₹6.5 million (US$100,000) to paint the entirety of 2.2 million square metres (24 million square feet) of the bridge. Two coats of aluminium paint, with a primer of zinc chromate before that, was applied on the bridge, requiring a total of 26,500 litres of paint.
The bridge is also considerably damaged by human spitting. A technical inspection by Port Trust officials in 2011 revealed that spitting had reduced the thickness of the steel hoods protecting the pillars from six to less than three millimeters since 2007. The hangers need those hoods at the base to prevent water seeping into the junction of the cross-girders and hangers, and damage to the hoods can jeopardize the safety of the bridge. KoPT announced that it will spend ₹2 million (US$32,000) on covering the base of the steel pillars with fibreglass casing to prevent spit from corroding them.
On 24 June 2005, a private cargo vessel M V Mani, belonging to the Ganges Water Transport Pvt. Ltd, while trying to pass under the bridge during high tide, had its funnel stuck underneath for three hours, causing substantial damage worth about ₹15 million to the stringer and longitudinal girder of the bridge. Some of the 40 cross-girders were also broken. Two of four trolley guides, bolted and welded with the girders, were extensively damaged. Nearly 350 metres of 700 metres of the track were twisted beyond repair. The damage was so severe that KoPT requested help from Rendall-Palmer & Tritton Limited, the original consultant on the bridge from UK. KoPT also contacted SAIL to provide 'matching steel' used during its construction in 1943, for the repairs. For the repair costing around ₹5 million (US$79,000), about 8 tonnes of steel was used. The repairs were completed in early 2006.
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The bridge has been shown in numerous films, such as Bimal Roy's 1953 film Do Bigha Zamin, Ritwik Ghatak's Bari Theke Paliye in 1958, Satyajit Ray's Parash Pathar in the same year, Mrinal Sen's Neel Akasher Neechey in 1959, Shakti Samanta's Howrah Bridge (1958), that featured the famous song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu and China Town (1962) and Amar Prem (1971), Amar Jeet's 1965 Teen Devian in 1965, Mrinal Sen's 1972 National Award winning Bengali film Calcutta 71 and Sen's Calcutta Trilogy its sequel in 1973, Padatik, Richard Attenborough's 1982 Academy Award winning film Gandhi, Goutam Ghose's 1984 Hindi film Paar, Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985, Nicolas Klotz's The Bengali Night in 1988, Roland Joffé's English language film City of Joy in 1992, Florian Gallenberger's Bengali film Shadows of Time in 2004, Mani Ratnam's Bollywood film Yuva in 2004, Pradeep Sarkar's 2005 Bollywood film Parineeta, Subhrajit Mitra's 2008 Bengali film Mon Amour: Shesher Kobita Revisited, Mira Nair's 2006 film The Namesake, Blessy's 2008 Malayalam Film Calcutta News, Surya Sivakumar's 2009 Tamil film Aadhavan, Imtiaz Ali's 2009 Hindi film Love Aaj Kal, Abhik Mukhopadhyay's 2010 Bengali film Ekti Tarar Khonje, Sujoy Ghosh's 2012 Bollywood film Kahaani, Anurag Basu's 2012 Hindi film Barfi!, Riingo Banerjee's 2012 Bengali film Na Hannyate, Rana Basu's 2013 Bengali film Namte Namte, and Ali Abbas Zafar's 2014 Hindi film Gunday and the 2015 YRF release from director Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!also features some scenes on this iconic bridge.
WIKIPEDIA
I hail from the two lovely states of India - my father from Kudachi (Karnataka) & and my mother from Madai (Kutch - Gujarat). Hence, Dakni from Father’s side and Cutchi Memon from Mother’s.
Born and brought up with utmost love and care from Parents and 5 adorable Khalas (Aunts).
Two schools - Diamond Jubilee (till 4th Standard) and St. Josephs High School (Umerkhadi) .. those days were fun .. got love from most of my teachers which was reciprocated with respect from my side. I am still in touch with most of them.
Wish my Teachers Maam Jhoola Fernandes and Maam Shyamala Ramani reads this.
While in school I met my first teacher .. my first Guru Shri Arif Kazi, showed confidence in me and pushed me into dramatics .. the seed was sown ... thnks so much Arif Bhai for being that Elder Brother and showing me the right path and always guiding me.
College life was more of freedom, romance and love.
Was not much of a good student but studied just before my exams and got satisfactory results most of the time.
Married the lady whom i loved when I was in the 3rd year of College, I took the responsibility of my married life and started looking for work.
The spate of jobs followed - Space seller with Free Press Newspaper, Sold Fax machines to corporate houses, took passports to consulates for Raj Travels, Front Office Receptionist at Balwas International Hotel, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank Ltd - Position: Token and Scroll.
When I was in Bank, I was forced to make a folio by my dear friend Rashid Khan as he thought I had a face and the smile to become a good model.
6 months from thn I shot my folio with photographer Zul Siwani and started seeking help as to how to go about getting work as a model from who so ever could offer me.
During this process, I met a school friend of mine who at that time was into modeling and was doing good.
The meeting was disastrous and the friend had developed major attitude and this is what he told me …
"Abey tu kya model banega .. teri shakal aur motapa to dekh .. kuch aur kar .. modeling tere bas ki baat nahi hai …”.
My journey started as model started with an AV for a group of budding film makers of XISC … two of them are established film makers in their own right now .. Mukul Abhyankar and Rahul Dholakia.
Still shoots, textile posters and being part of a crowd in an Ad Film too. I was happy doing whatever was being offered as I had no knowledge as to how the advertising industry functions. Just knew that pictures have to given to advertising agencies, model co-ordinators and production houses.
I did not know my worth, did not even know that my smile has some zing. It was later while working with the advertising geniuses and doing more folios that I came to know my plus and minus points.
On one such shoot, I met a model called Suhail Suleman and he showed me his folio and told me about Gautam Rajadhyaksha - The ACE photographer of India. I was zapped to see the quality of the folio which Suhail had and marveled at the lighting and the presentation of the model by Gautam ji. He gave me Gautamji's number and soon I met Gautam ji and got shocked by hearing his fee, which was Rs.4000/- for doing the folio, a very big amount that time (in 1998). I shared this with my dad, who was an employee of "Bombay Port Trust" and probably that must be his entire month's salary in those days. He declined saying you should garner work whatever you can with the Zul Siwani’s folio. But my wife offered her gold chain for the folio which fetched me around Rs.3500/-. But I was still short of Rs.500/- I met Gautamji and he was generous enough to do my folio for Rs.3500/-.
Gautam ji clicked my folio and I never looked back after that moment. The process of distributing those photographs to various advertising agencies, production houses and model co coordinators started once again.
The first phone call came from Z films, Mr Dilip Ghosh was the first ad film director who gave me my first chance in an ad film called Boney Mix.
I knew nothing about expression or posing .. but just followed by director and their commands ..
I just smiled through all the advertising films and still shoots and despite of the odds my friend saw in me I became one of the most popular advertising model and got listed in the Limca book of records (2004) as the only model to have done the maximum ads in India. I give my ‘smile’ the credit for whatever good times I saw in the world of Modeling.
While working in an ad film .. I got to meet Theater Guru Shri Giresh Desai, while waiting for our shots we had ample time and he told me all about Bhartiya Natya Sheekhsapeeth and the world of dramas and theatre.
I came under his guidance and started doing plays under his direction, an amazing human and a great Guru. Apart from acting what Sir taught me was what love, compassion and Humanity is all about. In these times we need many many more Bhau Saheb in this world who can teach us lessons on Humanity.
Started my own group and did many experimental plays at Geeta Mandir at Bhartiya Natya Shikhshapeeth and experienced the magic of stage and tried to make myself a better actor and a better human.
While modeling, I also simultaneously did some good serials with eminent Directors and Makers in between … O Maria (with Satish Kaushik ji and Ram Bundelaji), Gharounda (with Rajan Waghdhare ji and Chota mooh badi baat (with Parvati Balgopalan), Main (with Swapna Waghmare Joshiiji) to name a few … hosted two film based programme ‘Ujala Filmi baatein’ with Pravin Karale & Zee and Bollywood Reporter’ with Plus channel.
Did two films as a lead actor too but then it got caught in distribution hassles and could not get released …
Got to meet & work with some of the most amazing directors who brought out the best from me, wonderful cinematographers who made me look good, Makeup wizards who made me look presentable on screen nd lastly have greatest regards for those beautiful co models and super talented kid models.
The journey as model and actor ended around 2007 .. Modeling stopped … Serials were taken off Air and movies didn’t release .. a very bad phase .. everything was working against me .. had all the free time and nothing to do .. nothing to look forward to.. I was living the worst phase of life both personally and professionally. From Zenith straight to Nadar. But we the mortals don't realize that the almighty have bigger and better plans for us, instead of thanking him for making such a novice like me a popular model, loved by many, I always complained and complained as to why me?
But the Almighty had other plans for me which I could not understand at that point of time ..
In 2007 I didn't know anything about Camera or Aperture or Shutter or ISO and most importantly how to play with light. One fine afternoon, I took my Cosina camera in my hand, started to marvel it, looking at it I checked the lens as to how it moves in and out (was a novice not knowing that its called the zooming power of lens), thus my journey and my love for camera and photography started. But then when you start anything new, you arr confused and there are detractors all around.
I was told "ki yaar modeling nahi chal rahi to abhi photography karega magar photography modeling nahi .. bahut difficult hai ... battis daant dikhao aur product ko haath me lekar hasna easy hai … Photography light ka khel hai .. light ko samjhne mein hi teri zindagi nikal jayegi" …
What my detractors didn't knew then and even now is that what I have and what they lack is the indomitable spirit and love i have for whatever i want to attain and achieve. If there are Detractors then there is Inspiring force too around you.
Initially I started shooting folios of upcoming models with outdoor locations and earned whatever I could. Confidence was boosted when my friends Mohib Khan, Salim Baig, Khalid Siddique, Husain Khan and Aijaz Khan started referring me to their friends to click their folios by me.
Thats how i started earning again.
Late, Narayan bhai of IPA and Shabir Patel motivated me and coaxed me to start hiring studio and shoot indoor as well. I was now shooting both indoor and outdoors. I did everything to gain knowledge, explored not only the camera but also the art and the technicalities which go along with it. In the process, I came to know what aperture, shutter and ISO is all about. I came to know that apart from shooting head shots or folios there are many other genres like tabletop, architecture which one can delve into.
Slowly, I shifted from studio to outdoors and explored Mumbai through 18-105 kit lens. Shot almost all the towers which were sprouting up in and around south Mumbai. Then later I bought Tokina Fisheye lens and freaked over it. The curves it presented and the wideness it gave me just made me shoot more and more with it.
Later when I had almost shot anything and everything of Mumbai’s landmark I had the opportunity to meet Photographer Babul Bhatt .. an amazing photographer and a generous person as well.. I distinctly remember our meeting and shooting Mohd Ali Road in the month of Ramzan and therefore the first time I saw this little magic called 50mm on his camera .. as i said he was generous and he gave me his camera and I shot his portrait with it .
50mm ka nasha jo chadha to utra hi nahi … along with that at the same time I chanced upon a product shot which had bokeh and thus started the journey of 50mm, table top photography with natural available light and bokeh which later I also connected with Rumi’s sahabs sayings and created visuals which went with the quotes.
Coming back to Babul Bhatt's generosity .. later he also taught me the techniques of how to shoot Blue hour visuals and I am indebted to him for life.
Sticking to just one genre continuously for many years can bring monotony. Mine was a bigger challenge as I had a past of being a popular model. There was this talk “ki abhi saale ki modeling, acting nahi chal rahi to photography try kar raha hai .. iska kuch hone wala nahi”.
I had not only to prove myself but to prove my detractors wrong. For me Photography was a do or die situation flickr gave me a platform to showcase my clicks, where photographers from all over the world visited and gave positive comments on my visuals, which boosted my confidence immensely. When I started, I made a promise to myself that if I am entering this world, I will put in my best and would not stick to one genre and would explore every genre of it.
International photographers are very generous in sharing their knowledge through videos, so I learnt whatever I could.
A time came when I wanted to experiment and learn lighting with speed lights, so Hari Mahidhar Sir whom I knew from my modeling days came to my rescue, he was so generous that he invited me to his studio and taught me everything he could in speed lighting.
My story would be incomplete without the support of Shabir Patel, an amazing friend and a great photographer himself. I don't think without his able support I could ever think of becoming a photographer and also learn post processing with Photoshop.
So explored every nuance and genre of this amazing art and whatever I learnt I presented it into two seasons of 365. I shared all the makings of those visuals as well to all my friends on facebook as i felt sharing is actually gaining knowledge. So what I took I gave it all back.
While I was doing season 2 of 365 and in the middle of it, I lost my dad. He was everything for me, but I kept the season on. Uploaded a photo on the day of his demise.
Khair Zindagi abhi khatam nahi hui, bas fark ye hai ki ab meri diary mein, Allah se shikve kam ho gaye hai. Maine un chizon par raazi hona seekh liya hai jo wo mujhe deta hai aur un cheezon ki talaash chod di hai jo naa haasil hai.
2,935 Photographs clicked and on display at flickr, two seasons of 365 project, One hundred and sixteen 360 degree virtual panoramas of India, more then 135 stories in Humans of Mumbai, commercially associated with best of the architectural firms, amazing family, great wife, able support of my sisters, lovely daughters & friends who can die for me.
I am rich. Rich with the treasure of photographs I have, the passion I carry and the zeal with which I live my life to the fullest.
By grace and generosity of Allah I still have a long way to go ... lots to do and lots to achieve.
Lastly Zindagi vakay gulzar hai.
As i wrote earlier if there are Detractors then there are Inspiring forces too around you.
Thanks to Arif Kazi for introducing me to dramatics very early in my school life..
Late Shri Giresh Desai for being my Guru and for being 'The Human' amongst Humans. My love and respect for him has no boundaries.
Writer Sadik bhai for giving me 'Vaapsi'. I played Eunuch in the play for which i earned the best actor prize.
Thanks to all these Inspiring forces behind my learnings as a model: friend Rashid Khan (for modeling), Abu Siwani Sahab and Zul Siwani Photography (mentor nd great motivaters), friend Shruti Lavingya, Shirodkar ji of Saaheb Shirts), Photographer Guru Gautam Rajadhyaksh ji (for shooing my folio and always guiding and inspiring me as a model) Photographer Sanjiv Nadkarni (for giving me my first still break in modeling) Z Films and Shri DilipGhosh (for giving me my first ad film break is model), Kanika Bharat (for giving me Sunrise coffee and making me household face in Chennai), Anita Israni ji for all the modeling work she offerend me in Mumbai, (Biju Jayadevan, Rukmani Padmanabh , Thara Thaara Umesh and Lakshmi Sivakumar for making me a come again and again to beautiful Chennai to shoot as a model)
Thanks to all these Inspiring forces behind my learning as a Photographer: Friends Mohib Khan, Salim Baig Panda, Khalid Siddiqui, Husain Attar and Aijaz Khan (got me folios and from that my earnings), Narayan Bhai of IPA (for Indoor Photography - God bless him always), Diego de miranda and Trey Ratcliff for HDR, Dustin Diaz for speedlight & doing 365 Project, Hari Mahidhar Sir (for usage of Speedlights), Sir Haresh Daftary (for being a brother I always wished for and inspiring me always in photography), Babul Bhatt (for being an understanding friend and teaching me Long exposure and Blue hour), Photographer Rizwan Mithawala (for coaxing me to try out table tops at home), Gharawala Bharat (for sharing anything and everything which is connected to photography) and finally Shabirali Patel who was so very inspiring and motivating in sharing knowledge whenever I wanted.
Naresh Nagda, Imran Patel & Javed Mulla (for being very good humans and friends).
#humansofmumbai #mumbai #humans #human #story #stories
Pic courtesy: my bhanja Kabeer Kaushik
The Howrah Bridge is a balanced cantilever bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the cities of Howrah and Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965, it was renamed Rabindra Setu after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate. It is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.
The bridge is one of four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the relatively new Nivedita Setu. It carries a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. The third-longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, the Howrah Bridge is currently the sixth-longest bridge of its type in the world.
HISTORY
1862 PTOPOSAL BY TURNBULL
In 1862, the Government of Bengal asked George Turnbull, chief engineer of the East Indian Railway Company to study the feasibility of bridging the Hooghly River. He had recently established the company's rail terminus in Howrah. He reported on 19 March, with large-scale drawings and estimates, that:
The foundations for a bridge at Calcutta would be at a considerable depth and cost because of the depth of the mud there.
The impediment to shipping would be considerable.
A good place for the bridge was at Pulta Ghat "about a dozen miles north of Calcutta" where a "bed of stiff clay existed at no great depth under the river bed".
A suspended-girder bridge of five spans of 122 m and two spans 61 m would be ideal.
PONTOON BRIDGE
In view of the increasing traffic across the Hooghly river, a committee was appointed in 1855–56 to review alternatives for constructing a bridge across it. The plan was shelved in 1859–60, to be revived in 1868, when it was decided that a bridge should be constructed and a newly appointed trust vested to manage it. The Calcutta Port Trust was founded in 1870, and the Legislative department of the then Government of Bengal passed the Howrah Bridge Act in the year 1871 under the Bengal Act IX of 1871, empowering the lieutenant-governor to have the bridge constructed with Government capital under the aegis of the Port Commissioners.
Eventually a contract was signed with Sir Bradford Leslie to construct a pontoon bridge. Different parts of the bridge were constructed in England and shipped to Calcutta, where they were assembled. The assembling period was fraught with problems. The bridge was considerably damaged by the great cyclone on 20 March 1874. A steamer named Egeria broke from her moorings and collided head-on with the bridge, sinking three pontoons and damaging nearly 200 feet of the bridge. The bridge was complete in 1874, at a total cost of ₹2.2 million, and opened to traffic on 17 October of that year. The bridge was then 1528 ft long and 62 ft wide, with 7-foot wide pavements on either side. Initially the bridge was periodically unfastened to allow steamers and other marine vehicles to pass through. Before 1906, the bridge used to be undone for the passage of vessels during daytime only. Since June of that year it started opening at night for all vessels except ocean steamers, which were required to pass through during daytime. From 19 August 1879, the bridge was illuminated by electric lamp-posts, powered by the dynamo at the Mullick Ghat Pumping Station.[9] As the bridge could not handle the rapidly increasing load, the Port Commissioners started planning in 1905 for a new improved bridge.
PLANS FOR A NEW BRIDGE
In 1906[8] the Port Commission appointed a committee headed by R.S. Highet, chief engineer, East Indian Railway and W.B. MacCabe, chief engineer, Calcutta Corporation. They submitted a report stating that Bullock carts formed the eight - thirteenths of the vehicular traffic (as observed on 27 August 1906, the heaviest day's traffic observed in the port of Commissioners 16 days' Census of the vehicular traffic across the existing bridge). The roadway on the existing bridge is 48 feet wide except at the shore spans where it is only 43 feet in roadways, each 21 feet 6 inches wide. The roadway on the new bridge would be wide enough to take at least two lines of vehicular traffic and one line of trams in each direction and two roadways each 30 feet wide, giving a total width of 60 feet of road way which are quite sufficient for this purpose [...]
The traffic across the existing floating bridge Calcutta & Howrah is very heavy and it is obvious if the new bridge is to be on the same site as the existing bridge, then unless a temporary bridge is provided, there will be serious interruptions to the traffic while existing bridge is being moved to one side to allow the new bridge to be erected on the same site as the present bridge.The committee considered six options:
Large ferry steamers capable of carrying vehicular load (set up cost ₹900,000, annual cost ₹438,000)
A transporters bridge (set up cost ₹2 million)
A tunnel (set up cost ₹338.2 million, annual maintenance cost ₹1,779,000)
A bridge on piers (set up cost ₹22.5 million)
A floating bridge (set up cost ₹2,140,000, annual maintenance cost ₹200,000)
An arched bridge
The committee eventually decided on a floating bridge. It extended tenders to 23 firms for its design and construction. Prize money of £3,000 (₹45,000, at the then exchange rate) was declared for the firm whose design would be accepted.
PLANNING AND ESTIMATION
The initial construction process of the bridge was stalled due to World War I, although the bridge was partially renewed in 1917 and 1927. In 1921 a committee of engineers named the 'Mukherjee Committee' was formed, headed by R. N. Mukherji, Sir Clement Hindley, chairman of Calcutta Port Trust and J. McGlashan, Chief Engineer. They referred the matter to Sir Basil Mott, who proposed a single span arch bridge. Charles Alfred O'Grady one of the Engineers
In 1922, the New Howrah Bridge Commission was set up, to which the Mukherjee Committee submitted its report. In 1926 the New Howrah Bridge Act passed. In 1930 the Goode Committee was formed, comprising S.W. Goode as president, S.N. Mallick, and W.H. Thompson, to investigate and report on the advisability of constructing a pier bridge between Calcutta and Howrah. Based on their recommendation, M/s. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton were asked to consider the construction of a suspension bridge of a particular design prepared by their chief draftsman Mr. Walton. On basis of the report, a global tender was floated. The lowest bid came from a German company, but due to increasing political tensions between Germany and Great Britain in 1935, it was not given the contract. The Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Co. was awarded the construction contract that year. The New Howrah Bridge Act was amended in 1935 to reflect this, and construction of the bridge started the next year
CONSTRUCTION
The bridge does not have nuts and bolts, but was formed by riveting the whole structure. It consumed 26,500 tons of steel, out of which 23,000 tons of high-tensile alloy steel, known as Tiscrom, were supplied by Tata Steel. The main tower was constructed with single monolith caissons of dimensions 55.31 m × 24.8 m with 21 shafts, each 6.25 metre square. The Chief Engineer of the Port Trust, Mr. J. McGlashan, wanted to replace the pontoon bridge, with a permanent structure, as the present bridge interfered with north–south river traffic. Work could not be started as World War I (1914–1918) broke out. Then in 1926 a commission under the chairmanship of Sir R. N. Mukherjee recommended a suspension bridge of a particular type to be built across the River Hoogly. The bridge was designed by one Mr. Walton of M/s Rendel, Palmer & Triton. The order for construction and erection was placed on M/s.Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company in 1939. Again World War II (1939–1945) intervened. All the steel that was to come from England were diverted for war effort in Europe. Out of 26,000 tons of steel, that was required for the bridge, only 3000 tons were supplied from England. In spite of the Japanese threat, the then (British) government of India pressed on with the construction. Tata Steel were asked to supply the remaining 23,000 tons of high tension steel. The Tatas developed the quality of steel required for the bridge and called it Tiscom. The entire 23,000 tons was supplied in time. The fabrication and erection work was awarded to a local engineering firm of Howrah: the Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Co. The two anchorage caissons were each 16.4 m by 8.2 m, with two wells 4.9 m square. The caissons were so designed that the working chambers within the shafts could be temporarily enclosed by steel diaphragms to allow work under compressed air if required. The caisson at Kolkata side was set at 31.41 m and that at Howrah side at 26.53 m below ground level.
One night, during the process of grabbing out the muck to enable the caisson to move, the ground below it yielded, and the entire mass plunged two feet, shaking the ground. The impact of this was so intense that the seismograph at Kidderpore registered it as an earthquake and a Hindu temple on the shore was destroyed, although it was subsequently rebuilt. While muck was being cleared, numerous varieties of objects were brought up, including anchors, grappling irons, cannons, cannonballs, brass vessels, and coins dating back to the East India Company. The job of sinking the caissons was carried out round-the-clock at a rate of a foot or more per day. The caissons were sunk through soft river deposits to a stiff yellow clay 26.5 m below ground level. The accuracy of sinking the huge caissons was exceptionally precise, within 50–75 mm of the true position. After penetrating 2.1 m into clay, all shafts were plugged with concrete after individual dewatering, with some 5 m of backfilling in adjacent shafts. The main piers on the Howrah side were sunk by open wheel dredging, while those on the Kolkata side required compressed air to counter running sand. The air pressure maintained was about 40 lbs per square inch (2.8 bar), which required about 500 workers to be employed. Whenever excessively soft soil was encountered, the shafts symmetrical to the caisson axes were left unexcavated to allow strict control. In very stiff clays, a large number of the internal wells were completely undercut, allowing the whole weight of the caisson to be carried by the outside skin friction and the bearing under the external wall. Skin friction on the outside of the monolith walls was estimated at 29 kN/m2 while loads on the cutting edge in clay overlying the founding stratum reached 100 tonnes/m. The work on the foundation was completed in November 1938.
By the end of 1940, the erection of the cantilevered arms was commenced and was completed in mid-summer of 1941. The two halves of the suspended span, each 86 m long and weighing 2,000 tons, were built in December 1941. The bridge was erected by commencing at the two anchor spans and advancing towards the center, with the use of creeper cranes moving along the upper chord. 16 hydraulic jacks, each of which had an 800-ton capacity, were pressed into service to join the two halves of the suspended span.
The entire project cost ₹25 million (£2,463,887). The project was a pioneer in bridge construction, particularly in India, but the government did not have a formal opening of the bridge due to fears of attacks by Japanese planes fighting the Allied Powers. Japan had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The first vehicle to use the bridge was a solitary tram.
The bridge is regarded "The Gateway to Kolkata, as it connects the city to Howrah Station".
DESCRIPTION
SPECIFICATIONS
When commissioned in 1943, Howrah was the 3rd-longest cantilever bridge in the world, behind Pont de Québec (549 metres) in Canada and Forth Bridge 521 metres in Scotland. It has since been surpassed by three bridges, making it the sixth-longest cantilever bridge in the world in 2013. It is a suspension type balanced cantilever bridge, with a central span 460 m between centers of main towers and a suspended span of 172 m. The main towers are 85 m high above the monoliths and 23 m apart at the top. The anchor arms are 99 m each, while the cantilever arms are 143 m each. The bridge deck hangs from panel points in the lower chord of the main trusses with 39 pairs of hangers. The roadways beyond the towers are supported from ground, leaving the anchor arms free from deck load. The deck system includes cross girders suspended between the pairs of hangers by a pinned connection. Six rows of longitudinal stringer girders are arranged between cross girders. Floor beams are supported transversally on top of the stringers, while themselves supporting a continuous pressed steel troughing system surfaced with concrete.
The longitudinal expansion and lateral sway movement of the deck are taken care of by expansion and articulation joints. There are two main expansion joints, one at each interface between the suspended span and the cantilever arms and there are others at the towers and at the interface of the steel and concrete structures at both approach. There are total 8 articulation joints, 3 at each of the cantilever arms and 1 each in the suspended portion. These joints divide the bridge into segments with vertical pin connection between them to facilitate rotational movements of the deck. The bridge deck has longitudinal ruling gradient of 1 in 40 from either end, joined by a vertical curve of radius 1,200 m. The cross gradient of deck is 1 in 48 between kerbs.
TRAFFIC
The bridge serves as the gateway to Kolkata, connecting it to the Howrah Station, which is one of the five intercity train terminus stations serving Howrah and Kolkata. As such, it carries the near entirety of the traffic to and from the station, taking its average daily traffic close to nearly 150,000 pedestrians and 100,000 vehicles. In 1946, a census of the daily traffic was taken, which counted 27,400 vehicles, 121,100 pedestrians and 2,997 cattle. The bulk of the vehicular traffic comes from buses and cars. Prior to 1993, the bridge also carried trams. Trams departed from the terminus at Howrah station towards Sealdah, Rajabazar, Shyambazar, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus, Ballygunge, Tollygunge etc. In 1993, tram service on the bridge was discontinued due to the increasing load on the structure. However, the bridge still continues to carry much more than the expected load. A 2007 report revealed that nearly 90,000 vehicles were plying on the bridge daily (15,000 of which were goods-carrying), though its load-bearing capacity is only 60,000. One of the main reasons for the overloading was that, although vehicles carrying up to 15 tonnes are allowed on the structure, vehicles with 12-18 wheels and carrying loads up to 25 tonnes often plied on it. From 31 May 2007 onwards, overloaded trucks were banned from crossing the bridge and were redirected to the Vidyasagar Setu instead. The road is flanked by footpaths 4.6 m wide, which are thronged with pedestrians.[
MAINTENANCE
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is vested with the maintenance of the bridge. The bridge has been subject to damage from vehicles due to rash driving, and corrosion due to atmospheric conditions and biological wastes. In October 2008, 6 high-tech surveillance cameras were placed to monitor the entire 705 metres long and 30 metres wide structure from the control room. Two of the cameras were placed under the floor of the bridge to track the movement of barges, steamers and boats on the river, while the other four were fixed to the first layer of beams — one at each end and two in the middle — to monitor vehicle movements. This was in response to substantial damage caused to the bridge from collisions with vehicles, so that compensation could be claimed from the miscreants.
Corrosion has been caused by bird droppings and human spitting. An investigation in 2003 revealed that as a result of prolonged chemical reaction caused by continuous collection of bird excreta, several joints and parts of the bridge were damaged. As an immediate measure, the Kolkata Port Trust engaged contractors to regularly clean the bird droppings, at an annual expense of ₹500,000 (US$6,300). In 2004, KoPT spent ₹6.5 million (US$81,000) to paint the entirety of 2.2 million square metres (24 million square feet) of the bridge. Two coats of aluminium paint, with a primer of zinc chromate before that, was applied on the bridge, requiring a total of 26,500 litres of paint.
The bridge is also considerably damaged by pedestrians spitting out acidic, lime-mixed stimulants (gutka and paan). A technical inspection by Port Trust officials in 2011 revealed that spitting had reduced the thickness of the steel hoods protecting the pillars from six to less than three millimeters since 2007. The hangers need those hoods at the base to prevent water seeping into the junction of the cross-girders and hangers, and damage to the hoods can jeopardize the safety of the bridge. KoPT announced that it will spend ₹2 million (US$25,000) on covering the base of the steel pillars with fibreglass casing to prevent spit from corroding them.
On 24 June 2005, a private cargo vessel M V Mani, belonging to the Ganges Water Transport Pvt. Ltd, while trying to pass under the bridge during high tide, had its funnel stuck underneath for three hours, causing substantial damage worth about ₹15 million to the stringer and longitudinal girder of the bridge. Some of the 40 cross-girders were also broken. Two of four trolley guides, bolted and welded with the girders, were extensively damaged. Nearly 350 metres of 700 metres of the track were twisted beyond repair. The damage was so severe that KoPT requested help from Rendall-Palmer & Tritton Limited, the original consultant on the bridge from UK. KoPT also contacted SAIL for 'matching steel' used during its construction in 1943. For the repair, which cost around ₹5 million (US$63,000), about 8 tonnes of steel was used. The repairs were completed in early 2006.
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The bridge has been shown in numerous films, such as Bimal Roy's 1953 film Do Bigha Zamin, Ritwik Ghatak's Bari Theke Paliye in 1958, Satyajit Ray's Parash Pathar in the same year, Mrinal Sen's Neel Akasher Neechey in 1959, Shakti Samanta's Howrah Bridge (1958), that featured the famous song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu and China Town (1962) and Amar Prem (1971), Amar Jeet's 1965 Teen Devian in 1965, Mrinal Sen's 1972 National Award winning Bengali film Calcutta 71 and Sen's Calcutta Trilogy its sequel in 1973, Padatik, Richard Attenborough's 1982 Academy Award winning film Gandhi, Goutam Ghose's 1984 Hindi film Paar, Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985, Nicolas Klotz's The Bengali Night in 1988, Roland Joffé's English language film City of Joy in 1992, Florian Gallenberger's Bengali film Shadows of Time in 2004, Mani Ratnam's Bollywood film Yuva in 2004, Pradeep Sarkar's 2005 Bollywood film Parineeta, Subhrajit Mitra's 2008 Bengali film Mon Amour: Shesher Kobita Revisited, Mira Nair's 2006 film The Namesake, Blessy's 2008 Malayalam Film Calcutta News, Surya Sivakumar's 2009 Tamil film Aadhavan, Imtiaz Ali's 2009 Hindi film Love Aaj Kal, Abhik Mukhopadhyay's 2010 Bengali film Ekti Tarar Khonje, Sujoy Ghosh's 2012 Bollywood film Kahaani, Anurag Basu's 2012 Hindi film Barfi!, Riingo Banerjee's 2012 Bengali film Na Hannyate, Rana Basu's 2013 Bengali film Namte Namte, and Ali Abbas Zafar's 2014 Hindi film Gunday and the 2015 YRF release from director Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!. Shoojit sircar's "Piku" also features some scenes on this iconic bridge. The bridge was also featured in Garth Davis' Academy Award-nominated 2016 film Lion.
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