lThe lane beside the Birla Temple resembled a two-wheeler showroom on Tuesday with 700-odd youngsters turning up for the Calcutta auditions of the MTV Hero Honda Roadies II, held at the GD Birla Sabhagar.

Though biking was not one of the key criteria for qualifying, most decided to flaunt their hot wheels.

VJ Sophia (of MTV Loveline fame) along with MTV Hero Honda Roadie 2003 Rannvijay Singh screened the applicants in their search for the super seven who will ride the Hero Honda Karizma crest from Calcutta to the Wagah border for 35 days at a stretch.

The shortlisting for the second round was based on group discussions and personal interviews. The group discussions threw up interesting topics that ranged from ‘whether there should be AIDS awareness campaigns in colleges’ to ‘whether films with bold themes like Murder or Hawas should be banned’.

With the auditions in Pune and Chennai already over, the search will scan Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai next, scouting for four boys and three girls. The lucky few will take the high road to some rugged fun for 35 days starting mid-August. The auditions will be aired on MTV as the MTV Hero Honda Roadies II — Audition Specials.

“The turnout in Calcutta was good and we spotted quite a few interesting people who can make it to the second round. But I must say girls turned up in rather low numbers. And those who did make an appearance didn’t fare very well either,” felt Sophia.

A popular face on MTV, Sophia has been actively involved in the first phase of the adventure-reality show. “I met the Roadies in various stages of their journey, sometimes to cheer them up and at other times to set tough tasks for them. I noticed a great change in their personalities thereafter. They seemed to have grown up during the process,” she recalled.

But Sophia was candid enough to confess that though she is “loving the excitement of it all”, she would never have made it as a Roadie herself. “I would have loved to go bungee jumping and river rafting, but I don’t see myself sleeping in tents and taking all the rough and tumble involved,” she chickened off.

lCalcutta Punjab Club was the venue for a rather long fashion show, some energetic dancing and some great DJ music this weekend.

The show, innovatively titled Pfashion Play (Bollywood Ishtyle), meaning to include both fashion and the passion thereof, had more happening on the stands than on the ramp. With Punjabi kudis flaunting their best selves for the evening, the men indeed found more to look out for off the ramp than on it.

The gala showcased collections of designers Abhishek Dutta, Paras, Pritam Panda and Soumojit. Abhishek, dubbed the “principal designer of the evening”, presented a noteworthy collection of bright colours in chiffons and georgettes along with his trademark use of leather.

It was the six-member dance troupe Challengers, though, that kicked in the mood with some spirited moves. With everything from the once popular Ek pal ka jeena to the now chart topper Aisa jadu dala re…playing as background score, they blended a fair mix of contemporary dance steps and aerobics in their high-octane performance.

The ramp rage was eventually taken over by members and their guests grooving to DJ Akash’s brand of music that spanned the usual club hits as well as one of his own remixes, Sadher Lau.

The crowd rocked well beyond the 1 pm mark even as a total tally of 700 people rolled in and out of the packed dance floor.