DhakaLive gets sneak peek of ‘Ityadi’s most coveted segment

FOREIGN GUESTS PARTICIPATION

One of the main attractions of the popular magazine show ‘Ityadi’ is the innovative skit played by expats. Language distortion and weird amalgamation of Bengali and English—mockingly called Banglish—have invaded our culture these days. But Hanif Sanket, a renowned television personality, has turned the table on Anglophiles through his pioneering idea of Eid Ityadi’s foreign guest segment, where expats showcase our rich cultural and rural heritage through hilarious episodes.
These English-speaking guests play the role of simple rural folks and showcase many village sports now forgotten by the urban milieu. They take part in rural indigenous sports, such as lathi khela (fighting with sticks), danguli (tip cat), hadudu (similar to kabaddi), quick tree climbing and swimming, and act in bits and pieces of the famous folklore and films of the land.
The main idea behind this is to familiarise these guests with rural people who are curious about them.
When these foreign guests participate in events set in rural settings and send out strong social messages stemming from pure desi ideas, many people can relate and respond to them. When uttered by foreigners, such messages, including how one should stick to his/her own culture and never give in to the lure and aggression of a foreign culture, assume a new dimension for locals.
Members of various foreign embassies and foreign companies mostly participate in this segment. Most of them usually stay in Bangladesh for a short period, but they do not forget to brief their successors about this segment before leaving the country.
The tremendous curiosity and passion with which they perform in this segment is quite unbelievable.
“They are not professional actors. But professionals can learn a lot from them. The kind of dedication, punctuality and perseverance they put in for this segment is amazing. All the actors in this segment usually got a dialogue or two. But to make the dialogue more authentic, they worked really hard. They rehearsed rigorously to get the pronunciation right. Sometimes they even had to work under a glaring sun, but they never complained about it,” said Hanif Sanket.
A total of 60 foreign guests have participated in this segment this year. Among them, 25 have performed in group dance and the rest have been engaged in acting. The theme of this year’s foreign guests segment is ‘dowry’. The current slogan of this segment is: “Joutuk neya mohapap, joutuk somajer ovisap” (To take dowry is a great sin; dowry is a social curse).
Within a few days of rehearsal, these foreign guests could speak their dialogues in Bangla!
DhakaLive talked with some of the performers of this segment. Here’s what they have to say:
Jennifer (Netherlands): “I feel like I’m in the middle of a picnic! I really appreciate Hanif Sanket’s works because they carry strong social messages.”
Nails (Netherlands): “I worked in last year’s segment as well. I look forward for this year’s segment.”
Craig (United Kingdom): “I love the fact that the Ityadi team is very well organised.”
Russel (USA): “I feel like I am part of the Ityadi family. The whole day of shooting was good fun”.
The Eid special Ityadi will go on air on the second day of Eid, after the 10pm English news on BTV and BTV World. l
Photo l courtesy

DhakaLive gets sneak peek of Ityadis most coveted segment

FOREIGN GUESTS PARTICIPATION

One of the main attractions of the popular magazine show Ityadi is the innovative skit played by expats. Language distortion and weird amalgamation of Bengali and Englishmockingly called Banglishhave invaded our culture these days. But Hanif Sanket, a renowned television personality, has turned the table on Anglophiles through his pioneering idea of Eid Ityadis foreign guest segment, where expats showcase our rich cultural and rural heritage through hilarious episodes. These English-speaking guests play the role of simple rural folks and showcase many village sports now forgotten by the urban milieu. They take part in rural indigenous sports, such as lathi khela (fighting with sticks), danguli (tip cat), hadudu (similar to kabaddi), quick tree climbing and swimming, and act in bits and pieces of the famous folklore and films of the land. The main idea behind this is to familiarise these guests with rural people who are curious about them. When these foreign guests participate in events set in rural settings and send out strong social messages stemming from pure desi ideas, many people can relate and respond to them. When uttered by foreigners, such messages, including how one should stick to his/her own culture and never give in to the lure and aggression of a foreign culture, assume a new dimension for locals. Members of various foreign embassies and foreign companies mostly participate in this segment. Most of them usually stay in Bangladesh for a short period, but they do not forget to brief their successors about this segment before leaving the country. The tremendous curiosity and passion with which they perform in this segment is quite unbelievable. They are not professional actors. But professionals can learn a lot from them. The kind of dedication, punctuality and perseverance they put in for this segment is amazing. All the actors in this segment usually got a dialogue or two. But to make the dialogue more authentic, they worked really hard. They rehearsed rigorously to get the pronunciation right. Sometimes they even had to work under a glaring sun, but they never complained about it, said Hanif Sanket. A total of 60 foreign guests have participated in this segment this year. Among them, 25 have performed in group dance and the rest have been engaged in acting. The theme of this years foreign guests segment is dowry. The current slogan of this segment is: Joutuk neya mohapap, joutuk somajer ovisap (To take dowry is a great sin; dowry is a social curse). Within a few days of rehearsal, these foreign guests could speak their dialogues in Bangla! DhakaLive talked with some of the performers of this segment. Heres what they have to say: Jennifer (Netherlands): I feel like Im in the middle of a picnic! I really appreciate Hanif Sankets works because they carry strong social messages. Nails (Netherlands): I worked in last years segment as well. I look forward for this years segment. Craig (United Kingdom): I love the fact that the Ityadi team is very well organised. Russel (USA): I feel like I am part of the Ityadi family. The whole day of shooting was good fun. The Eid special Ityadi will go on air on the second day of Eid, after the 10pm English news on BTV and BTV World. l Photo l courtesy