Glimpses of the Sunfeast Players Party at ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers on Wednesday night. Pictures by Rashbehari Das and Pabitra Das

What: Sunfeast Players Party.

Where: Pala, at ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers.

When: Wednesday, 8 pm onwards.

Take a look: A potter displaying his skills at the wheel, a fortune-teller handing out futures on slips of paper, a pretty painted palki and a dheki thrown around for effect, a couple of Bauls singing folk music and a pair of dhakis filling the monsoon air with their resounding beats — a slice of rural Bengal came alive in the plush interiors of the star hotel on Wednesday evening.

Inside Pala, a churiwala set up a colourful corner of glass bangles while a mehndi man drew pretty patterns on palms of the willing in another. The aim was to treat the international players and coaches to glimpses of Indian — particularly Bengali — culture.

Fashion and Fuzon: The party hosted by Ravi Naware, divisional chief executive of ITC Foods Ltd, offered an eclectic mix of folk elements, music and fashion.

The high point of the evening was a fashion show that saw the tennis players parading designs by Kiran Uttam Ghosh. A performance by Pakistani band Fuzon was the other feature on the entertainment menu.

Ten tennis queens, including Galina Voskoboeva, Melinda Czink, Arantxa Parra Santonja and Sunitha Rao sashayed outfits from Kiran’s autumn-winter line unveiled at the Rome Fashion Week in July.

With a makeshift stage serving as the ramp and a somewhat awkward catwalk by the player-models — many of them struggling to keep their poise in a sari — the show was full of sporting spirit.

Three saris — in pink, white and black with liberal doses of shine and shimmer — shared stage with jackets, churi pants, angarakha-style tunics, kalidaar kameezes and Jodhpuris.

The palette of blacks, whites, browns and greys was touched with bright splashes of red in the form of floral embroidery. Appliques, mirrorwork, sequins, zardosi and threadwork embellished the clothes, with bright red flowers being the main motif of the line.

With their hair tied neatly back, the ladies walked in black wedges. “This is not the first time I walked the ramp, I did the show at last year’s Sunfeast party as well. But it’s quite a difficult job; playing tennis is much easier! To walk in front of so many people in such a long outfit, something that I don’t usually wear, is not easy, but thankfully it was a short walk,” smiled the sultry Sunitha Rao.

A captivating performance by Fuzon had the band belting out semi-classical compositions including its hit track Aankhon ke sagar.

Show over, the players queued up at the churi stall and tried out bangles by the dozens. “This is so beautiful, I just love them and want to take them back to my country,” admired one of the girls, slipping on a rainbow of glass bangles. The mehndi corner also found many lining up to get their palms painted. The fortune-teller also found takers.

Voiceover: “It was a fun and pretty bizarre experience to dress the girls for a show without a trial... Sunitha Rao walked in five minutes before the show and I had never met her before that. Some trials were done at midnight. But the girls’ excitement once they saw the clothes was a great feeling,” smiled Kiran.

“In fact, there isn’t much difference between dressing models and players. In terms of body shape, both are proportional, they’re fit, worked-out, slim and sexy,” added the designer.