(From top) Mamata Shankar, Aparna Sen, Sreelekha Mitra and Konkona; Debasree Roy and Rupa Ganguly on the floor; Sanjay Budhia at the film festival party. Pictures by Aranya Sen

The wrap-up party for the 10th Kolkata Film Festival, hosted by Patton chief Sanjay Budhia and wife Minu, was an event destined to be talked about for some time to come. ?It was like a party at the White House,? gushed an excited guest on Wednesday evening. The elaborate arrangements at the Sunderbans, the sprawling dew-kissed greens at the ITC Sonar Bangla, may not have been presidential, but certainly were a class apart.

From a city nightclub, where Budhia has in the past hosted festival parties, this was a huge leap. For those on the regular guest list, the ITC affair was a pleasant surprise.

With two well-stocked bars, cushioned sofas positioned at comfortable intervals across the greens, white table-clothed round tables for dinner, a dance floor and a large patch of grass left uninterrupted for those in the mood for an evening stroll ? the shimmering backdrop was set for a touch of magic.

So, while Sunil Gangopadhyay chatted with Jogen Chowdhury on a sofa at one end, at the other side of the venue, actresses Rupa Ganguly and Debashree Roy hotted up the dance floor with their moves. US consul general George Sibley and wife Lee Alison preferred a quiet dinner with Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Even Governor Viren J. Shah spent a fair amount of time at the event. ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar zoomed straight in from the airport to attend the bash.

The guest list included, among many others, Soumitra Chatterjee, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen and daughter Konkona, Goutam Ghose, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Arindam Sil, Anamika Khanna, the consul generals of Italy, Myanmar, Germany, Japan and Bangladesh, top cops and senior bureaucrats.

The food was strictly vegetarian, with options aplenty from two Indian restaurants at the hotel ? Dum Pukht and Peshawri. From spicy idlis to Sarson Ka Saag and Subz Gehloti Kebab ? the spread of 100-odd specialities kept the guests busy for a large part of the evening.

The entertainment of the night came from an impromptu performance by Usha Uthup and a visit by Bappi Lahiri. As the clock ticked past midnight, the spirits rose higher and the sounds of laughter grew ? Calcutta?s way of rubbishing the 24-hour bandh and turning out to socialise in style.

Lee Alison Sibley gives Usha Uthup company on stage at the Oberoi Grand Connoisseurs’ Evening. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Fine wining

True to its name, the Connoisseurs? Evening at the Oberoi Grand on Thursday was an event for lovers of the good life. Free flowing wine of various kinds, an elaborate spread of Awadhi cuisine, music by Usha Uthup and a crowd comprising the city?s cr?me de la cr?me ? the classy do was truly an epicure?s delight.

Organised by Grover Vineyards of Bangalore, the occasion was the wine maker?s sit-down dinner for 70 select members of the city?s glitterati. The guest list included Russi Modi, George Sibley and wife Lee Alison, Augustino Pinna, Konkona Sen Sharma, Bikram Ghosh and wife Jaya Seal Ghosh, Bani Laxman Singh and Rupen Roy.

The highlight of the evening was the menu. The guests were greeted with Deluxe Canap?s with Shiraz Rose prior to the dinner. Authentic Awadhi food was lined up for dinner, served with three kinds of wine, which got stronger with each course. So, one got a taste of Viognier Clairette, a white wine, with starters like Gosht Gilawat Kebab, Kesariya Jhinga, Nawabi Tangdi, Tandoori Phoolgobi, Paneer Multani Tikka and Rajmah Gilawat.

Next on the chart was a serving of Barf Ke Goley, a watermelon and black pepper sorbet, as a palate cleanser. Dum Ki Macchi (baked bekti fillet with almond and yoghurt) for non-vegetarians and Dum Ka Khumb (baked mushroom with almond and yoghurt), served with Sauvignon Blanc, another white wine. The next wine was red, served with Tar Khorma (lamb braised in brown onion gravy with Kashmiri chillis) or Shahi Paneer. The dinner was wrapped up with a serving of Aam Ki Kulfi.

Abhay Kewadkar, vice president, Grover Vineyards, livened up proceedings with interesting nuggets about wine. ?A wine maker?s dinner is an event where a wine maker speaks about his wines. A particular variety of wine, unlike most beverages, does not taste the same when created by two different makers. The terroire ? the identity of the wine owing to climate, soil, grape variety and method of making ? differs with each maker,? he said.

The menu for the evening was set to break the myth that wine goes with Western foods only. ?Wine goes well with any kind of fine cuisine,? he added. While in international cuisine, white wine is served with white meat and red wines with red, in Indian cuisine, the pairing depends on the level of spice in the food. For instance, a lightly-fried Calcutta bekti should ideally be had with white wine, while a medium-spicy bekti tandoor goes best with a rose and a spicy bekti curry is to be had with red wine.