The centenary celebrations for The Milanee will end with a cultural competition and a dance performance next month. The oldest club of steel city based at Bistupur which will complete its centenary year on February 4 has lined up series of cultural events. A musical competition among children, a fair and an evening with Baul music will mark the concluding celebrations of The Milanee in Bistupur.
Earlier known as the Sakchi Dramatic Club, Milanee was renamed after it merged the Oriya Dramatic Club and Saraswat Sammilani in 1920.
Krishnendu Chatterjee, secretary, The Milanee as part of the concluding ceremonies to mark the completion of 100 years a series of events has been lined up. The club will organise competition in Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, bhajan, Bengali modern song and Tabla. There is also a sit and draw competition on Jan 18 for kids.
These days Milanee is a catalyst that makes things happen in Jamshedpur on the cultural front rather than staging its own productions. Dr Shantiram Chakraborty established the Milanee Hall in 1914. The Milanee is an ample truth in this regard what was a receding dream and a modest endeavor to begin with, stands today. Half a century later as the pioneering institution of its kind in this Steel City, providing the forum for cultural and recreation amenities for one and all. What it is today is the result of years of concerted and untiring efforts of many with determination and broad imagination behind them. In its pursuit of a great cultural heritage it was conceived that performing arts could survive only by devotion and dedication of true artists. Many great artists like Pandit Ravishankar Sitar All Rakha others have performed their mastery and music on the stage of the Milanee.
Mahatma Gandhi spun the charkha on its stage. The legendary Prithviraj Kapoor performed with a teenaged Shashi Kapoor here and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose addressed a large gathering here during his tenure as the president of Tata Workers’ Union. Formed by a handful of like-minded citizens in Sakchi, today Milanee is not only the oldest but also one of the most well managed socio-cultural organisation in the city.
“Milanee first started at a small quarter in Bistupur and later shifted to a place where today stands the Yashkamal complex in Bistupur. It was in 1960 that the present structure came up. Before that there was a three-storeyed opera house on the spot,” said an official.