Piu Sarkar and Cyrus Sahukar (extreme left and right) ‘dare’ participants at Tantra and (inset) party animals at the same doJessica and Tina show off designer creations at EspeePizza Hut employees with their new range of pizzas

If you are single and missed the Flingles Nite at Tantra, you lost out on the opportunity to have a fling and more — all in the name of a game. Those who did troop into the discotheque had a rollicking good time with Seagram India hosting a fun-filled gala to promote its recently launched brand, Fling, in flavours of peach and black currant, called Hot Fling and Wild Fling respectively.

The night got off to a late start but things started picking up as Piu Sarkar, the compere for the evening, made a ravishing entry in a slinky black number. You were supposed to SMS ‘Fling’, space, one’s name and sex to 3636 and chat with strangers via a giant screen on which the messages were displayed. Calcutta’s singles, however, didn’t prove too adventurous and repeated requests by Piu yielded poor results.

It was only after VJ Cyrus Sahukar joined her to dare partygoers that things got going. While one girl got up on the bartop wearing a cap and a guy was asked to remove it without using his hands, three guys were given one minute each to explain why they were the most eligible bachelors present. Thereafter, girls voted for them via SMS. Next, a striptease of sorts only saw a ‘daring’ guy take off his shirt. Spirits soared higher as five people came forward to ‘dare’ to down 30 ml Fling shots without using their hands. Seen enjoying the party were designer Abhishek Dutta, choreographer Ashish Banerjee, and models Joy and Pinky.

Piu Sarkar and Cyrus Sahukar (extreme left and right) ‘dare’ participants at Tantra and (inset) party animals at the same doJessica and Tina show off designer creations at EspeePizza Hut employees with their new range of pizzas

The magic of spring

Espee is awash with the colours of spring. With Holi, the festival of colours ushering in the new season, Sangita Kejriwal and Purnima Chawla have brought the latest trends in Indianwear to Calcutta. Known for catering to the tastes of up-market Calcuttans, Espee is the one-stop shop for ethnic designerwear. The Espee in-house label has also caught on well with fashion-conscious women. Saris, lehengas, kurtis, Indo-Westerns and salwar suits — all find their way into Espee’s treasuretrove of designerwear. To celebrate this, Espee held a fashion show featuring top models of the city including Pinky, Sudipta, Amrita, Ria, Jessica, Priyanka Jha and Tina.

Sabyasachi’s spring-summer collection steered clear of an overdose of embroidery and instead focused on new textures and fabrics. Puja Nayyar’s kurtas and parallel pants are ideal for mixing and matching. Her dupattas in various contrasting shades are sure to add to any outfit. Mayura Kumar’s kurtas are extraordinarily Indian in character and feel. Replete with hand-painted mythological characters and kalamkari-work, her kurtas were seen flying off the shelves. Kimono by Kiran Uttam Ghosh, and Madhu Jain’s outfits were also drowned in the colours of spring. Tex Indus brought a fabulous collection of saris studded with mukaish-work and sequins in earth colours. From Rina Dhaka, there were graceful whites and beiges. Her chic, flowing Pakistani salwars and kurtas were the draw of the lot. Muzaffar Ali’s chikan outfits in pale greens and yellows and Ranna Gill’s embroidered kurtis will help beat the heat in style. The Geisha label from Delhi deserves special mention for its sleek Indo-Western line.

The Espee new in-house collection has everything from crinkled skirts and saris with an appliqué-like weave. Fashionistas will have a hard time choosing between Espee’s outfits, bags, jewellery and scarves this spring.

Piu Sarkar and Cyrus Sahukar (extreme left and right) ‘dare’ participants at Tantra and (inset) party animals at the same doJessica and Tina show off designer creations at EspeePizza Hut employees with their new range of pizzas

Southern spice

It was lying low for quite some time after the launch of its lip-smacking tandoori range but now Pizza Hut is back with a brand-new line-up, more delectable than ever before. Going native seems to be the new mantra of these pizza giants and the new Pan Hindusthani range that draws upon the fiery flavours of Chettinad cuisine looks all set to spice up things.

Speaking about Pizza Hut’s initiatives, Pankaj Batra, director, marketing, (Indian subcontinent) said, “The latest addition to the Pizza Hut menu, the Chettinad Pan Pizza range is an endeavour on our part to customise international food to Indian tastes. Bridging gaps across generations, our Pan Hindusthani range brings in the right blend of the international style of the pizza with the traditional flavours of India.”

And true to promise, the new range manages to hit all the right buttons as the signature pan pizzas mingle with the rich flavours of fresh pepper and spicy chillies that are a hallmark of traditional Chettinad fare. Gorge here on the Veg Nilgiri, a delicious combo of onions, tomatoes and melted cheese with crunchy capsicum or dive into the Dakshin Paneer, with its tantalising blend of paneer, cheese, onions and capsicum, topped with a dash of red paprika. The good times continue in the non-vegetarian section as well where the simply mind-blowing Deccan Chicken and the Southern Supreme, loaded with plain and hot and spicy chicken, melted cheese, red capsicum and onions, more than lives up to its claim of being ‘the hottest thing on your lips since Thiruda Thiruda’.

The Chettinad range of Pan pizzas is available in three sizes — personal pan, medium and family and while the minimum price in the first category for a Veg Nilgiri is Rs 65, a family-size Southern Supreme could set you back by as much as Rs 415.

Pix by Rashbehari Das