PG-13|118 min|Biography, Drama
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
Director:Garth Davis| Stars:Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Sunny Pawar
Votes:181,072|Gross:$51.74M
140 min|Romance
A pair of college classmates try to out-rank each other in school. A remake of the 2011 Telugu film '100% Love'.
Director:Sudipto Sarkar| Stars:Tina Chandorkar, Nader Chowdhury, Supriyo Dutta, Subhasree Ganguly
Votes:104
Not Rated|110 min|Drama, Thriller
Life for a shy young Indian student slowly falls to pieces during a family road trip.
Director:Konkona Sen Sharma| Stars:Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massey, Gulshan Devaiah, Ranvir Shorey
Votes:2,931
147 min|Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Ayna is an actor and the prison is his stage. He slips into the characters of the powerful convicted in exchange of money and take their place in prison. This strange profession is borne .. See full summary »
Director:Amitabh Reza Chowdhury| Stars:Chanchal Chowdhury, Masuma Rahman Nabila, Bijori Barkatullah, Partho Barua
Votes:18,458
142 min|Comedy, Drama
A married woman (Rituparna Sengupta) who is on journey from Mumbai to Howrah by train, meets her ex-husband (Prasenjit Chatterjee).
Directors:Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Nandita Roy| Stars:Prasenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Aparajita Adhya, Biswanath Basu
Votes:1,291
165 min|Action, Comedy, Thriller
This is a story of a strong man who was looking forward to earn a decent living in a crazy city. But unfortunately some events forces him to turn into a powerful don of the very city.
Director:Shamim Ahmed Roni| Stars:Shakib Khan, Shabnam Bubly, Chikon Ali, Jadu Azad
Votes:171
92 min|Crime, Thriller
The film is based on the real life murder mystery of Sheena Bora. Bollywood actress Mahima Chaudhry makes her debut in Bengali film as Ishani Banerjee, a character based on Sheena's mother .. See full summary »
Director:Agnidev Chatterjee| Stars:Mahima Chaudhry, Sudip Chatterjee, Riya Sen, Mumtaz Sorcar
Votes:154
Not Rated|139 min|Crime, Drama, Thriller
A modern day adaptation of two of William Shakespeare's tragedies - Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
Director:Srijit Mukherji| Stars:Prasenjit Chatterjee, Koushik Sen, Jishu Sengupta, Dev
Votes:853
240 min|Comedy, Romance
The story line traces the trail of events happening in the lives of three main characters in the movie. Haripada is an artist who performs at weddings. His soaring aspirations keep him .. See full summary »
Director:Pathikrit Basu| Stars:Biswanath Basu, Pradip Dhar, Rajatabha Dutta, Supriyo Dutta
Votes:93
145 min|Action, Crime, Drama
A disguised professional assassin with mysterious past, tasked with assassinating a top government official.
Directors:Joydip Mukherjee, Zakir Hossain| Stars:Shakib Khan, Srabanti Chatterjee, Rahul Dev, Subrata Barua
Votes:913
Not Rated|140 min|Thriller
A young couple meet a mysterious man who, in the course of conversation, covers Japanese cuisine, Bengali literature, and his own checkered past.
Director:Kamaleswar Mukherjee| Stars:Rahul Banerjee, Ranodeep Bose, Usashi Chakraborty, Prasenjit Chatterjee
Votes:354
Drama, Romance
A tragic story of two hearts those apart due to an accident.
Director:Jakir Hossain Raju| Stars:Arifin Shuvo, Falguni Rahman Jolly, Supriyo Dutta, Nader Chowdhury
Votes:94
116 min|Crime, Drama, Mystery
The iconic Bengali detective launches two separate investigations.
Director:Sandip Ray| Stars:Bhaskar Banerjee, Paran Banerjee, Bratya Basu, Saheb Bhattacharjee
Votes:122
Action, Drama, Romance
Directors:Nehal Dutta, Wajed Ali Sumon| Stars:Falguni Rahman Jolly, Om, Subrata Barua, Rajatabha Dutta
Votes:33
157 min|Action, Romance
A man always dreamed of becoming a don.
Director:Baba Yadav| Stars:Jeet, Nusraat Faria Mazhar, Biswanath Basu, Shradha Das
Votes:308
117 min|Thriller
A detective seeks the truth about the murder of a young woman.
Director:Arindam Sil| Stars:Jaya Ahsan, Riya Banik, Anirban Bhattacharya, Gaurav Chakrabarty
Votes:637
100 min|Drama
The coffin of an expatriate worker with manipulated identity intense the identity crisis when another person's corpse is found inside.
Director:Tauquir Ahmed| Stars:Shahiduzzaman Selim, Mosharraf Karim, Nipun, Fazlur Rahman Babu
Votes:2,966
123 min|Comedy
The story revolves around a wealthy but lonely woman Nandini (Sabitri Chatterjee) who decides to tie the knot again and found a young and handsome bridegroom Partho (Abir Chatterjee).
Stars:Abir Chatterjee, Sabitri Chatterjee, Arunima Ghosh
Votes:71
Not Rated|156 min|Mystery
Byomkesh Bakshi travails the dark jungles of Dooars solving an enigma of a ghostrider amidst a series of murders in north Bengal.
Director:Arindam Sil| Stars:Abir Chatterjee, Ritwick Chakraborty, Sohini Sarkar, Rajatabha Dutta
Votes:532
121 min|Action, Crime, Drama
Three very different people from three very different worlds collide one winter afternoon in an anarchic Kolkata.
Director:Pratim D. Gupta| Stars:Damini Basu, Ritwick Chakraborty, Vikram Chatterjee, Avishek De Biswas
Votes:502
125 min|Drama
A novelist, Rahul, meets Jui and is allured by the way her life shapes up. Played by Rituparna Sengupta, Jui takes a huge step by moving to Kolkata following the demise of her parents. .. See full summary »
Director:Anup Sengupta| Stars:Kamalika Banerjee, Sumit Ganguly, Badshah Maitra, Kharaj Mukherjee
Votes:32
122 min|Drama, Romance
Title Animation : Tanvir Hossain
Director:Redoan Rony| Stars:Nazifa Tushi, Kumar Uday, Sariful Razz, Diti
Votes:113
112 min|Action, Thriller
The film narrates the fall of two notorious underworld mafia leaders.
Director:Muhammad Mostafa Kamal Raz| Stars:Shakib Khan, Indraneil Sengupta, Apu Biswas, Misa Sawdagar
Votes:148
135 min|Action
It is loosely based on The Long Kiss Goodnight starring Geena Davis.
Director:Sumon| Stars:Pori Moni, Ziaul Roshan, Amit Hasan, Ashish Vidyarthi
Votes:35
Not Rated|154 min|Action
The doppleganger of a well known policeman (coppleganger?) is whirled into an exciting chase, much to his delight.
Stars:Sayantika Banerjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Rajatabha Dutta, Nusrat Jahan
Votes:59
129 min|Drama Velaikaran 2017 full movie download.
It is a love story which is based on the concept of Feng Shui and Vastu and revolves around five people who live in the same house. Kushal (Parambrata) and Timir (kaushik) are Vaastu .. See full summary »
Director:Kaushik Ganguly| Stars:Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Churni Ganguly, Kaushik Ganguly
Votes:322
107 min|Thriller
The story revolves around a retired judge, Mr. Sen, living in a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. The people who stay in the colony are a handful of social outcasts. One day, the .. See full summary »
Director:Anjan Dutt| Stars:Jishu Sengupta, Saswata Chatterjee, Usashi Chakraborty, Santilal Mukherjee
Votes:413
Action
' Ami Tomar Hota Chai ' Is a Action, Thriller, Romantic Film.
Director:Ananya Mamun| Stars:Sanj John, Bappy Saha, Bidya Sinha Saha, Rakhi Sawant
Votes:10
91 min|Drama
In a series of vignettes, a partially handicapped man lives his days in anguish as he tries to find a way to leave Dhaka.
Director:Abdullah Mohammad Saad| Stars:Mostafa Monwar, Tasnova Tamanna, Tanvir Ahmed Chowdhury, Mir Mosharrof Hossen
Votes:75
Not Rated|144 min|Comedy
A woman wants to divorce her husband, but is forced to live with him for six months first. Will she long to be with the one she loves, or will she learn to love the one she's with?
Director:Rabi Kinagi| Stars:Mimi Chakraborty, Ankush Hazra, Kaushik Mitra, Kharaj Mukherjee
Votes:129
Action, Drama, Romance
An underworld mafia steals valuable mineral resources and sell them over to international crime organization. A news reporter finds out and exposes the whole criminal chain to the media and her lover come up to help her.
Director:Shamim Ahmed Roni| Stars:Shakib Khan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Achol, Sabrina Porshi
Votes:114
108 min|Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A whodunit thriller set in the backdrop of North Kolkata with its British Raj charm, based on Agatha Christie's Cards on the Table.
Director:Subhrajit Mitra| Stars:Barun Chanda, Tanushree Chakraborty, George Baker, Locket Chatterjee
Votes:103
Not Rated|105 min|Drama, Family
Digital cinema threatens the survival of a small town movie theatre in West Bengal, leading to a tussle between the owner and his son.
Director:Kaushik Ganguly| Stars:Paran Banerjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Arun Guhatharkurta, Sohini Sarkar
Votes:460
126 min|Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
'Colkatay Columbus' is a satirical film which is set in present day, modern Kolkata. Where people are busy with their own lives and struggles, which leaves them in constant need of a .. See full summary »
Director:Saurav Palodhi| Stars:Mir Afsar Ali, Anirban Bhattacharya, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Ritabhari Chakraborty
Votes:86
148 min|Romance
Rayan Khan loses his captaincy of National Cricket Team and his affair with TV commercial model Mitu for his anger. Asad Ahmed is replaced as new captain of National Cricket Team and also .. See full summary »
Director:Shafi Uddin Shafi| Stars:Shakib Khan, Jaya Ahsan, Mamnun Hasan Emon, Mousumi Hamid
Votes:46
88 min|Drama, Family
10-year-old Jamal loves his carefree life with his mum in rural Bangladesh, until the day his childhood friend and playmate is forced to become a child bride. Isolated and lost, Jamal finds the world a harsh reality when his hopes of getting new friends and attending school collide with his mother's past.
Director:Bijon| Stars:Mahmudur Anindo, Sheuly Akther Jarin, Chinmoyee Gupta, Monir Ahmed
Votes:116
135 min|Drama, History
This consequences of partition is felt when the daughter of schoolteacher is seriously ill at a border side village in modern Bangladesh.
Director:Goutam Ghose| Stars:Shajbati, Prasenjit Chatterjee, Kusum Sikder, Shahed Ali
Votes:274
81 min|Drama
10-year-old Gopal's carefree childhood is disrupted when his father meets with an accident. It becomes difficult for his mother to feed him and his little brother Chottu. Gopal starts .. See full summary »
Director:Manas Mukul Pal| Stars:Samiul Alam, Shakuntala Barua, Sanjay Biswas, Senha Biswas
Votes:188
Comedy, Romance
'Hera Pheri' is the story of a con man Ronnie and a con woman Bonny who cheat people for money. But it's gradually revealed that Bonny wants money to build a mental asylum where mentally .. See full summary »
Director:Sujit Guha| Stars:Diganta Bagchi, Paran Banerjee, Biswanath Basu, Lily Chakraborty
Not Rated|141 min|Romance
Gangster is an Indian (Bengali) film of romance thriller genre directed by Birsa Dasgupta with Yash Dasgupta and Mimi Chakraborty in the lead. A tale of love, passion, heartbreaks and .. See full summary »
Director:Birsa Dasgupta| Stars:Bratya Basu, Mimi Chakraborty, Saurav Das, Yash Dasgupta
Votes:172
Drama
Megh is a married person, who works as manager of a tea estate in North Sikkim. In a certain crisis he became jobless and struggles to make ends problems of his life because there are not .. See full summary »
Director:Kaushik Ganguly| Stars:Dev, Subhasree Ganguly, Rudranil Ghosh
Votes:83
74 min|Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Peace Haven is the story of three friends in their 70's who journey to build a mortuary for themselves and in the process discover the meaning of life ironically through death.
Director:Suman Ghosh| Stars:Paran Banerjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Arun Mukherjee, Sujan Mukherjee
Votes:23
Not Rated|135 min|Drama, Romance
It's a romantic drama with colourful characters and hint of mystery typical of Saradindu Bandyopadhyay. The film revolves around the story of a thief played by Abir Chatterjee.
Director:Sandip Ray| Stars:Paran Banerjee, Abir Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Saswata Chatterjee
Votes:249
148 min|Action, Crime, Thriller
A race between secret service agency and underworld mafia to have classified information of the agency.
Director:Ashiqur Rahman| Stars:Arifin Shuvo, Marjaan Jenifa, Misa Sawdagar, Tiger Robi
Votes:767
Drama |Completed
Director:Agnidev Chatterjee| Stars:Rituparna Sengupta, Debshankar Haldar, Koushik Sen, Shankar Chakraborty
137 min|Comedy
The film follows Bancharam, an old man who is at risk of losing his land to developers who want to build a national highway. His grandson, Guneswar, is all for selling the land, despite his.. See full summary »
Director:Amitabha Pathak| Stars:Madhabi Mukherjee, June Malia, Rajatabha Dutta, Pallavi Chatterjee
Votes:11
132 min|Family
Director:Raj Chakraborty| Stars:Subhasree Ganguly, Sayantika
Votes:14
106 min|Crime, Thriller
Detective Chandrakanta is called on to solve the mystery behind five high-profile murders committed in the city on the same evening. He deduces them to be crimes of passion, revolving around the six human vices or The Shororipu.
Director:Ayan Chakraborty| Stars:Chiranjit, Indraneil Sengupta, Rajatabha Dutta, Rudranil Ghosh
Votes:24
125 min|Drama
A professor (Debshankar) gets embroiled in a fire accident case, when he decides to take a burnt victim to the hospital where she dies. A TV journalist (Rituparna) reports the entire incident.
Director:Arup Kumar De| Stars:Biswarup Biswas, Debshankar Haldar, Kharaj Mukherjee, Rituparna Sengupta
Votes:13
147 min|Drama
Hemanta, a student of filmmaking in New York, returns to Kolkata before his mother is going to marry his uncle after his father's suicide. He receives a series of untraceable texts in .. See full summary »
Director:Anjan Dutt| Stars:Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Gargi Roy Chowdhury, Payel Sarkar
Votes:51
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This is a following list of Indian Bengali films released by West Bengal film Industry.[1]
Opening | Films | Studio | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 January | The Bongs Again | Ramu Movies | Anjan Dutt | Jisshu Sengupta | Drama | |
Kichhukshan | Kalyan Sinha Roy of Events Worldwide & Communication | Anag Ranjan Pashi | Sanjib Sarkar, Piyali | Drama | ||
20 January | Bibaho Diaries | Camellia Productions Pvt. Ltd. | Mainik Bhowmik | Ritwick Chakraborty, Sohini Sarkar, Biswanath Bas | Comedy, Drama | |
1 February | Tomake Chai | Shree Venkatesh Films | Rajiv Kumar Biswas | Bonny Sengupta, Koushani Mukherjee | Comedy, Romance, Drama | |
10 February[2] | Devi | Macneill Engineering Ltd. | Rick Basu | Paoli Dam, Shataf Figar | Drama | |
24 March | Mandobashar Galpo | Tathagata Banerjee | Parambrata Chatterjee, Paoli Dam | Drama | ||
31 March | Meher Aali | Anuska Art & Niyasha Filmz | Arindam Dey | Hiran, Satarupa Pyne, | Drama |
Opening | Films | Studio | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 14 | One | Shree Venkatesh Films | Birsa Dasgupta | Prosenjit Chatterjee, Yash Dasgupta, Nusrat Jahan | Romance, Thriller | |
April 28 | Durga Sohay | AVMA MEDIA LLP | Arindam Sil | Sohini Sarkar | Drama | |
May 5 | Porobashinee | Shawpan Ahmed | Enom | Science Fiction | ||
May 12 | Posto | Windows Production House | Shiboprasad Mukherjee | Jisshu Sengupta, Mimi Chakraborty | Drama | |
May 19 | Ami Je Ke Tomar | Shree Venkatesh Films | Ravi Kinagi | Ankush Hazra, Sayantika Banerjee, Nusrat Jahan | Romance, Drama | |
May 26 | Khoj (2017 film) | Magic Moments Motion Pictures | Arka Ganguly | Vikram Chatterjee, Shataf Figar, Lalit Malla | Mystery, Thriller | |
Messi | Macneill Engineering | Riingo Banerjee | Aryann Bhowmik, Ronodeep Bose, Chaiti Ghosal, Rana Mitra, Aishika | Sport, Drama | ||
Amar Aponjon | Ajorso Entertainment, Sunday Films | Raja Chanda | Soham Chakraborty, Subhashree Ganguly | Romance, Drama | ||
Jun 16 | Secret Love Story | Sri Sri Om Narasingha Jue Production & N M Production | Nadu Gopal Mandal | Soumitra Chatterjee,Goutam Guru,Santana Bose,Nadu Gopal Mandal,Tribeni Adhikari & Others.Script,Dialogue & Lyrics:Nadu Gopal Mandal. | Drama | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7787762/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_7 |
June 23 | Chaamp | Dev Entertainment Ventures | Raj Chakraborty | Dev, Rukmini Maitra | Romance, Action, Sport | First movie from DEV Production house |
June 30 | Boss 2: Back to Rule | Jeetz Filmworks, Walzen Media Works | Baba Yadav | Jeet, Subhashree Ganguly, Nusrat Faria Mazhar | Crime, Thriller | Sequel to Boss: Born To Rule and Indo Bangladesh joint production with Jaaz Multimedia |
Opening | Films | Studio | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 21 | Dekh Kemon Lage | Greentouch Entertainment | Abhijit Guha, Sudeshna Roy | Soham Chakraborty, Subhashree Ganguly | Romantic Comedy | |
Meghnad Badh Rahasya | Friend's Communication | Anik Datta | Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Abir Chatterjee, Barun Chanda, Saayoni Ghosh | Thriller | ||
July 28 | Nabab | Eskay Movies | Joydeep Mukherjee | Shakib Khan, Subhashree Ganguly | Action | Indo Bangladesh joint production with Jaaz Multimedia |
August 4 | Jawker Dhan | Champion Movies | Sayantan Ghosal | Rahul Banerjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Parambrata Chatterjee, Priyanka Sarkar, Koushik Sen | Action, Adventure, Mystery | |
August 11 | Dhananjay | SVF Entertainment | Arindam Sil | Anirban Bhattacharya, Mimi Chakraborty | Thriller, Drama, Crime, Biopic | |
August 18 | Haripada Haribol | Prague Entertainment pvt. Ltd. | Subir Saha | Rajatava Dutta, Dolon Roy, Sampurna Lahiri, Dipankar Dey | Comedy, Drama | |
Maacher Jhol | Sony Pictures Networks | Pratim D. Gupta | Ritwick Chakraborty, Paoli Dam | Drama | ||
August 25 | Chaya O Chobi | Surinder Films | Kaushik Ganguly | Abir Chatterjee, Koel Mullick, Priyanka Sarkar, Churni Ganguly | Drama | |
September 8 | Shob Bhooturey | SVF Entertainment | Birsa Dasgupta | Abir Chatterjee, Sohini Sarkar | Horror, Drama | |
September 22 | Cockpit | Dev Entertainment Ventures | Kamaleshwar Mukherjee | Dev, Koel Mallick, Rukmini Maitra | Adventure, Drama | Second movie from DEV Production house |
Yeti Obhijaan | Shree Venkatesh Films | Srijit Mukherjee | Aryann Bhowmik, Prasenjit Chatterjee | Adventure, Thriller | Second of 'Kakababu' series from 'Pahar Churay Atonko' | |
Bolo Dugga Maiki | SVF Entertainment | Raj Chakraborty | Ankush Hazra, Nusrat Jahan | Comedy, Romance | ||
Byomkesh O Agnibaan | RP Production | Anjan Dutta | Jisshu Sengupta | Mystery, Suspense, Thriller | ||
Projapoti Biskut | Anindya Chatterjee | Aditya Sengupta, Ishaa Saha, Aparajita Adhya | Comedy, Romance | |||
Shrestha Bangali | Swapan Saha | Rajpal Yadav, Ulka Gupta, Riju, Shakti Kapoor | Action, Drama, Thriller | |||
December | Amazon Obhijaan | Shree Venkatesh Films | Kamaleshwar Mukherjee | Dev, Laboni Sarkar | Adventure, Mystery, Drama | Sequel of 2013 film Chander Pahar |
Opening | Films | Studio | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 20 | Jio Pagla | Surinder Films | Ravi Kinagi | Jisshu Sengupta, Soham Chakraborty, Hiran, Bonny Sengupta, Srabanti Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar, Koushani Mukherjee, Rittika Sen | Romance, Comedy | |
October 27 | Doob: No Bed Of Roses | Eskay Movies, Irrfan Khan Films | Mostofa Sarwar Farooki | Irrfan Khan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Parno Mitra | Drama | Indo-Bangladesh joint venture film and co-produced by Jaaz Multimedia |
December 1 | Biler Diary | Biswarup Biswas | Biswanath Basu and Samadarshi Dutta | Drama, Family |
Mayurakshye 29 Dec 18
Calcutta | |
---|---|
Clockwise from top: Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, Central Business District, Howrah Bridge, City Tram Line, Vidyasagar Bridge | |
Nickname(s): City of Joy Cultural Capital of India[1][2][3] | |
Location of Kolkata in West Bengal Location of Kolkata in India Location of Kolkata in Asia Location of Kolkata in Earth | |
Coordinates: 22°34′21″N88°21′50″E / 22.5726°N 88.3639°ECoordinates: 22°34′21″N88°21′50″E / 22.5726°N 88.3639°E | |
Country | India |
State | West Bengal |
Division | Presidency |
District | Kolkata[A] |
Government | |
• Type | Municipal Corporation |
• Body | Kolkata Municipal Corporation |
• Mayor | Firhad Hakim |
• Sheriff | Dr.Swapan Kumar Ghosh |
• Police commissioner | Anuj Sharma |
Area [4][5] | |
• Megacity | 205.00 km2 (79.150 sq mi) |
• Metro | 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi) |
Elevation | 9 m (30 ft) |
Population | |
• Megacity | 4,496,694 |
• Rank | 7th |
• Density | 22,000/km2 (57,000/sq mi) |
• Metro [7][8] | 14,112,536 14,617,882 (Extended UA) |
• Metro rank | 3rd |
Demonyms | Kolkatan Calcuttan |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
ZIP code(s) | 700 001 to 700 162 |
Area code(s) | +91-33 |
Vehicle registration | WB-01 to WB-10, WB-19 to WB-22 |
UN/LOCODE | IN CCU |
Metro GDP/PPP | $60–150 billion[9][10][11] |
Official languages | Bengali[12] |
Website | kmcgov.in |
|
Kolkata/kɒlˈkʌtə/kol-KUT-ə[13] ([kolkata](listen), also known as Calcutta/kælˈkʌtə/kal-KUT-ə,[13]the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indianstate of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the 'cultural capital' of India, and is also nicknamed the 'City of Joy'.[1][2][3] According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city; the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the suburb population brought the total to 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[9][10][11]
In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughalsuzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[14] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.
As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by focusing on association football and other sports.
The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[15]
There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[19]'Calcutt' is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.
The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[20][21] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[22] In response to a public petition,[23] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[24] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[25]:1
In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[26] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[27] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[27] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[28] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[29] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[30] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[31]
By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[32] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[33] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[34]
The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[35][36] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[37] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[38][39] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[40]Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[41][42][43] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[44]
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[45] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[46] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a 'dying city' in light of its socio-political woes.[47] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[48][49][50] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[51]
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[52] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[53] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a 'wetland of international importance' by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[54] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the 'Bengal basin', a pericratonic tertiary basin.[55] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[55] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-CarboniferousGondwana rocks.[55] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[56] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[57]
The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[58]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[58]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[59] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[60]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[59] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[61] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.
North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan.[62]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Dum Dum, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Hridaypur, Barasat, Birati, Khardah, Titagarh, Barrackpore, Shyamnagar, Bhatpara, Naihati, Kanchrapara and Kalyani are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).
Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[63] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[64] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the 'lungs of Kolkata'[65] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[66] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.
South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Ajoy Nagar, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Charu Market, Tollygunge, Chetla, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Regent Park, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Chak Garia, New Garia, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni, Kudghat, Dhalai Bridge, Model Town, Netaji Nagar, Panchpota, Techno City, Tentulberia and Baishnabghata Patuli.[15] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Ekbalpur, Haridevpur, Hastings, Rajabagan, Watgunge, Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Bartala, BNR Colony, Majerhat, Behala, Sarsuna, Joka, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala, Batanagar, Nungi, Budge Budge and Pujali. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Rajpur Sonarpur, Harinavi, Subhashgram, Mallikpur and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[67] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.
East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc.Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[15][68] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[69][70] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[68]
Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is 'very high damage risk'.[57]
The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[71] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[71] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season.Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or 'Nor'westers' in English.[72]
Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[73] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings life to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,107 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in April.[74] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[75][76]
Climate data for Kolkata (Alipore) 1971–1990 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 32.8 (91.0) | 38.4 (101.1) | 41.1 (106.0) | 43.3 (109.9) | 43.7 (110.7) | 43.9 (111.0) | 39.9 (103.8) | 38.4 (101.1) | 38.9 (102.0) | 39.0 (102.2) | 34.9 (94.8) | 32.5 (90.5) | 43.9 (111.0) |
Average high °C (°F) | 26.4 (79.5) | 29.1 (84.4) | 33.5 (92.3) | 35.3 (95.5) | 35.4 (95.7) | 34.0 (93.2) | 32.3 (90.1) | 32.1 (89.8) | 32.4 (90.3) | 32.3 (90.1) | 30.3 (86.5) | 27.0 (80.6) | 31.7 (89.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.1 (68.2) | 23.0 (73.4) | 27.6 (81.7) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.3 (86.5) | 29.2 (84.6) | 29.1 (84.4) | 29.1 (84.4) | 28.2 (82.8) | 24.9 (76.8) | 20.8 (69.4) | 26.9 (80.4) |
Average low °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) | 16.9 (62.4) | 21.7 (71.1) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.1 (79.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 25.8 (78.4) | 23.9 (75.0) | 19.6 (67.3) | 14.5 (58.1) | 22.2 (72.0) |
Record low °C (°F) | 6.7 (44.1) | 7.2 (45.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 17.9 (64.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.6 (69.1) | 22.6 (72.7) | 20.6 (69.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 10.6 (51.1) | 7.2 (45.0) | 6.7 (44.1) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 11 (0.4) | 30 (1.2) | 35 (1.4) | 60 (2.4) | 142 (5.6) | 288 (11.3) | 411 (16.2) | 349 (13.7) | 288 (11.3) | 143 (5.6) | 26 (1.0) | 17 (0.7) | 1,800 (70.9) |
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 8.7 | 14.7 | 20.5 | 20.2 | 15.7 | 8.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 101.5 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 66 | 58 | 58 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 73 | 67 | 68 | 71 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 203.9 | 201.2 | 225.8 | 235.4 | 227.1 | 123.1 | 93.1 | 104.9 | 116.2 | 182.6 | 190.8 | 203.4 | 2,107.5 |
Source #1: NOAA[77] | |||||||||||||
Source #2: India Meteorological Department (record high and low up to 2010)[78] |
Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[79][80] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[81]
Kolkata is the commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[60] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[82][83] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[51] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[51] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the 'dying city'.[84] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[51]
Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[15] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 87.72 billion (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[85] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[60]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[86]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[86]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[87] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[88] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[89] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[51] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[90][91][92][93][94] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata.Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.Some of the oldest public sector companies are headquartered in the city such as the Coal India Limited, National Insurance Company, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Tea Board of India, Geological Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, Jute Corporation of India, National Test House, Hindustan Copper and the Ordnance Factories Board of the Indian Ministry of Defence.
The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan.[95][96] According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi), had a population of4,486,679;[97] its population density was 24,252/km2 (62,810/sq mi).[97] This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average.[98] The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.[99] Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%[98] exceeds the national average of 74%.[100] The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.[6] The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.[7]
Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims compose large minorities.[101] Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Odias, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis, and Parsis.[25]:3 The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.[102] The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel;[103] by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.[104] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata;[102] once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 as of 2009[102] as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.[105] The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.[102][106]
|
Religion in Kolkata[107] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Religion | Percent | |||
Hinduism | 76.51% | |||
Islam | 20.60% | |||
Christianity | 0.88% | |||
Jainism | 0.47% | |||
Others | 1.54% |
Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.[108] English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority.[109][110] According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu, 20.60% Muslim, 0.88% Christian, and 0.47% Jain.[111] The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.[111] Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004.[112] The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.[113] In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.[114]
As of 2003, about one-third of the population, or 1.5 million people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums.[86]:4[115]:92 The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups--bustees, in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies, settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the Government.[115][86]:5 The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.[115]:92[86]:5 According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.[116]:23Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation 'whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after'.[117]
Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 15 boroughs, which together encompass 141 wards.[108] Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.[118] As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.[119] The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.[118]
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.[120]
The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2012, the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim, while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.[121] The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.[122]
Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or 'Kolkata city';[123] and the Kolkata metropolitan area, which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata.[124]
As the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases.[125][126][127] The Kolkata Police, headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs.[128][129] The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly.[130]
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River;[131] most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North 24 Parganas district.[132] Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa, which is east of the town.[133][134] To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.[135] Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.[74]
Calcutta drainage and sewerage 1856
In 1856 the Bengal Government appointed George Turnbull to be the Commissioner of Drainage and Sewerage to improve the city's sewerage. Turnbull's main job was to be the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company responsible for buiding the first railway 541 miles from Howrah to Varanasi (then Benares).
Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs.[136][137] Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service, a state agency.[138] As of 2012, the city had 16 fire stations.[139]
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Teleservices, Virgin Mobile, and MTS India, are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.[140]:25–26:179 with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage is extensive.[141][142] As of 2010, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.[143][144]
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Srilanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The U.S Consulate in Kolkata is the US Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.[145]
Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport, in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.[146][147] The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.[148] It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of 25.1 km (16 mi).[149] As of 2009, five Metro rail lines were under construction.[150] Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest railway complex in India), Sealdah, Chitpur and Shalimar, which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.[151] The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the Indian Railways regional divisions—the Kolkata Metro Railways, Eastern Railway and the South-Eastern Railway.[152] Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[153][154][155]
Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.[156] Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[157] The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, can interrupt transportation networks.[158][159] Hired public conveyances include auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated Hindustan Ambassadors by make; newer air-conditioned radio taxis are in service as well.[160][161] In parts of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are patronised by the public for short trips.[162]
Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.[163] The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.[164] As of 2004, after adjusting for population density, the city's 'road space' was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.[165] The Kolkata Metro has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and flyovers. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Babughat.[166] The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral, and National Highway 34 start from the city.[167]
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, located in Dum Dum some 16 km (9.9 mi) north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.[168][169]
The Port of Kolkata, established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.[170] The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and Haldia.[171] The port hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.[170][172] Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah, located across the Hooghly River.[173][174]
The route from North Bengal to Kolkata is set to become cheaper and more efficient for people travelling by bus. Through April 2017 to March 2018, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) will be introducing a fleet of rocket buses equipped with bio-toilets for the bus route.[175]
As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[176] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[176] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[177] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[178] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[179][180] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[181] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[182][183][184] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[116]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[116]:61
According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[116]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[116]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[116]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[116]:48
Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[116]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[116]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[116]:54–55
About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[116]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[116]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[116]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[185][186] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[187][188]
As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[189]
Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[190][191] Schools in Kolkata follow the '10+2+3' plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[190] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[190] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, South Point School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[192]
As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[193] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[194] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[195]Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[196] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[197] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[198] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[199][200] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).
Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[201] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[202] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[201] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[201] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[201] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[203] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[204]C. V. Raman,[202] and Amartya Sen.[205]
Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.
Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[206] Kolkata has been called the 'City of Furious, Creative Energy'[207] as well as the 'cultural [or literary] capital of India'.[208][209] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[210] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[210] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[211][212] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[213][214]
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared 'heritage structures';[215] others are in various stages of decay.[216][217] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[218]Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[219]
The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[220]:99[221]Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[222] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[220]:99[223]Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[224][225] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed 'Tollywood' for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[226]Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[227]During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[228] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[229] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[230] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, '.. a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement', selling new and used books.[231]
Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[232] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[233] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[234][235] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[236][237] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[236] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ('songs about life'), is based on realism.[220]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[238] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[239][240][241][242]
Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[243] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[244][245] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.
Dance accompanied by Rabindra Sangeet, a music genre started by Rabindranath Tagore
Sandesh, a typical Bengali sweet made from chhena
A murti, or representation, of the goddess Durga shown during the Durga Puja festival
Dakshineswar Kali Temple, a Hindu temple
The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[246] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Ei Samay Sangbadpatra, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[247]The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[247] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[247][248] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[247][102] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[247] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[249][250]
All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[251] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[252] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[253] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[254][255][256]Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[257]
The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[258] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[259][260]Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[261] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a 'National Club of India'.[262][263] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[264]
As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[265][266] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[210] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[267]
Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[268] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[269] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[270][271]
Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[272][273] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[274] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[275][276][277] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[278][279] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[280][281] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[282][283]
The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[284][285][286] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[287][288] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[289][290] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[291][292] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medalist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.
With the Camac Street-Park Street-Shakespeare Sarani commercial hub located smack in the middle of the affected zone ..
To Kolkata, it is the 'lungs of the city,' a recharge zone for the soul.
Ferry services between Howrah and Kolkata were also disrupted due to poor visibility.
.. most people say that Bengali commercial theatre died in the 1980s ..
The jatra industry based out of Kolkata's Chitpur Road has gone through a severe blow with the growth of video parlours.
Dev, Bengali spelling দেব, is an Indian Bangla Kolkata movie actor. His birth name is Deepak Adhikari. Dev was born on 25 December 1982. His another name is Raju. Place of birth- Mahisha, West Bengal, India and he currently resides in Kolkata, India. He is a politician too, member of parliament, All India Trinamool Congress party. He started his carrier in cinema world with “Agnishapath” film. He is paid highest and one of the one of the biggest superstars in Tollywood film industry. Besides these he is the co-founder and co-chairman of Jalsha Movies Production.
Dev is also the current leading person Bengal Dance Bangla Dance, one of biggest dance reality show in India. His father’s name is Guru and mother’s name is Mousumi Adhikari. His childhood was passed with his matternal uncle and later on he was grew up in Mumbai, India. He was a student in Purushottam High School and Bharatiya Vidyapeeth University, in Pune (Diploma in Computer engineering).
Finally he came back to Mumbai and started his career in film. He learned acting courses at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Academy. His first movie “Agnishapath” was not success, the second one ” I Love You” too. Than he stopped for 14 months and got back to Mumbai for practicing acting again.
First success movie of Dev is “Challenge”, opposite with Subhashree Ganguly, which one gained very much popularity in West Bengal. It was a hit movie of Dev.
Some other movies acted by Dev are:
Dev has won numerous awards. Some of them are: Tollywood National Award 2014, Most Desirable Tollywood Actor 2014, BFJA Award For Best Actor 2014, Zee Bangla Gourab Somman Awards 2014 etc. You may check out this Dev photo album.