From discotheque to lounge, cocktail bar to resto bar, the dance floor in Calcutta is constantly crammed. If there is a mad scramble among party people to hit the dance floor before the rest, every night nest in town is rushing to roll out a new theme.

Femme fatale or band of boys, corporate celebrations or Bollywood bashes, family bonding or sin ’’ sleaze, there is an evening dedicated to this, that and the other.

Goodlife hits the night clubs on a theme hunt?

Two weeks ago, Fusion at Golden Park hosted a party called Chakki da Dhaba. Staff members were dressed in traditional attire and the couch gave way to the charpoy. The house was full by 11 pm and the place at midnight could easily have passed off as a mini Punjab, in mood and masti.

If that was a one-off theme night at Fusion, B.E.D (bars, entertainment and dining) on Ballygunge Circular Road goes for a theme every other night.

“Theme parties are targeted at a particular section. As a result, one has to do without the general crowd. The mood, music and make of the nightclub on that particular night have to be in sync with the theme of the night,” explains a spokesperson for B.E.D.

Theme parties, they say, has phased out the item-girl craze. “There was a time when every club worth its weight was getting item girls from Mumbai. Theme parties have replaced that phenomenon. It’s a cyclical process,” says Kanishka Mazumdar, CEO, Sourav’s.

Tantra, the den at The Park, initially made a name by making Calcuttans dance to the tunes of item babes from Mumbai. But now, the most popular Park Street address successfully hosts theme parties.

Take the Ali Baba and Forty Thieves theme a couple of weeks back. “It was so easy for us to organise and for people to follow,” says a spokesperson for Tantra, which has often gone dare-bare in its night themes.

Theme bashes could be here to stay for some time. “They are low on cost and high on returns,” says Mazumdar. “Even if you get a middle-rung celebrity flown down from Mumbai, the cost would run into a few lakhs. Recovering that amount through F&B sales is a tough ask. For a theme night, you only have to spend Rs 10 to Rs 20,000 which can be recovered easily.”

Prince of Cal at Sourav’s hosted fashion shows every weekend for a couple of months. It is now hosting a corporate night every Wednesday evening where a company official is invited to be a bartender for the night.

A theme night adds a big dose of novelty. “The place remains the same, but the themes help in changing the look and feel. The curiosity to find out about the theme also lures many party people,” says R.K. Palta, general manager, The Astor.

oud 9, the resto bar at Astor, has hosted parties on varied themes ? from ‘backless’ to ‘short skirt’ nights.

If nothing else, themes ensure a full house. “The footfall in a nightclub is becoming quite event-oriented. You have a good event and the house would be full. You have a regular night and your competitors will have a field day. With so many places around you have to have that extra something to call in the crowd,” feels Palta.

The one party address in town that has studiously avoided the theme theme is Shisha. “We do not want to alienate our regulars. By doing theme nights you attract many unwanted elements which do not fit into our milieu,” says Sovan Mukherjee, manager, Shisha.