(From left) Alamgir, Chiranjeet, Sandip Ray, Goutam Ghose and Parambrata on the way to San Francisco. Picture by the author

My second trip to America was for an awards function, which our Tollygunge filmi fraternity attended in full force. The awards feted actors from both Bengal and Bangladesh.

There was Mithun Chakraborty, Sandip Ray, Goutam Ghose, Chiranjeet, Mamata Shankar, Roopa Ganguly, Koel Mullick, Usha Uthup, Indrani Sen, Arati Mukherjee and a whole lot of other people.

On the awards night, I rode a stretch limousine — for the first time in my life! — to the venue. The car was longer than a truck and it was equipped with a sofa, TV set and a bar. I felt like a king!

I was an anchor for the show. Mithunda (Chakraborty) was one of those who had come down. He had planned to wear dhuti-panjabi to the do, but forgot to bring his Kolhapuri chappals. I had a fresh pair, since even I had plans to don the dhuti, which I let Mithunda wear. I slipped into a shirt and trousers.

But my brand-new Kolhapuri chappals had trouble in store for the wearer. To my horror, Mithunda slipped on the floor. But sporting as he is, Mithunda kept aside the chappals and roamed on the stage barefoot. Later in the night, we had a bash.

One of the highlights of this trip was a five-hour bus journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I hadn’t taken any warm clothes on this trip as it was April and I had assumed it would be very hot. But it was very cold. We got off to have tea and snacks, and needless to say I was freezing.

The bus was crammed. There was a microphone installed inside the bus and Ushadi (Uthup) sang non-stop! Indrani Sen took turns too.

The Bangladeshi team comprised film-maker Alamgir and his wife singer Runa Laila. A Bangladesh heroine was on board. She was a very good mimic and she copied the way Runa Laila speaks and sings right in front of her! It was hilarious and Runadi was very sporting.