Koena Mitra at the Musafir Item Bomb talent hunt in Tantra. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Whoever thinks Calcutta is conservative should have been at Tantra on Friday. With a spot beside Sunjay Dutt up for grabs, girls from the city (and even the districts) showed that they could match the Yana Guptas and the Ishaa Koppikars in oomph, legwork and — oh, yeah — undress code. Here’s a ringside view of what happened at the city leg of Musafir Item Bomb talent hunt, organised by Zee Music.

Funda of the contest: Eight girls are chosen from each of the six cities. The winner in the grand finale shakes a leg with Sanju in Musafir.

Early starter: Antara Biswas who has acted in two films and three videos. Her well-choreographed moves to Laila Laila wowed the crowd.

Busybody: Director Tarun Shahani who barked out commands to keep crew and crowd on their toes. (The contest will be telecast later on Zee).

Bare devil: Anamika Majumdar of Golf Green who came on stage in a bustier and skimpy pants. “Who designed your outfit?” asked one of the judges. “My mother,” came the answer from the 18-year-old.

Off-stage shaker: VJ Manish, who was having the time of his life cosying up to the girls on camera and gyrating to the beat off it.

Distressed souls: The camera crew, back from shooting in Bangalore the day before and headed for Delhi the next morning. “Haven’t slept for 120 hours, man” and “My back is gone” were some of the soundbytes that could be heard after the “cut” call.

Honest trier: Sayantani Ghosh, who was on her third attempt at stardom after reaching the finals of Pantene Zee Teen Queen and India’s Best Cinestars ki Khoj Mein.

Lady Locks: Pratima Pradhan from Metiabruz whose hair licked the toes of her 5 ft 5 inch frame. “Our choreographer judge (Pappu) likes your hair more than your dance,” came the verdict.

Protester: Shreya Dutta, who shed her coat and danced in a tube top and got involved in a war of words with the judges over where to draw the line. “One should not be vulgar,” she protested.

Crowning compliments: “We knew Calcutta had beauty but didn’t know it had such dancing talent,” gasped Niyati Shah of Zee Music. “I knew they were in for a pleasant surprise,” smiled city girl Koena Mitra, who is part of the Musafir cast and the judging trio.