Sabyasachi Mukherjee and his sister Payel take the final bow. The designer was visibly calmer after 9.30pm! “What a relief it’s over. Considering this was Calcutta, I wanted to do a show that made everyone proud. After all, this is my city. I was truly humbled by the turnout,” said Sabya.

There are fashion shows and then there are fashion shows. The ‘and then’ ones are spectacular. They are special. And they are more often than not by Sabyasachi Mukherjee. An Ode to Tradition hosted by Taj Bengal and t2 on Saturday night was such a show. Magnificent yet muted. Magical.

An Ode to Tradition came alive with live music by Shubha Mudgal. The singer rendered songs written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Gulzar, composed by her especially for the show. Shubha had told t2 that singing for her first fashion show was “quite a challenge” but with a voice like that...

The house was packed, but with hardly any slinky dresses and Swarovski. There was something in the air. The catwalk and the front row seaters were bagru covered. The stage too. The props were signature Sabya. The old trunks and urns, the old wall clocks, all stopped at random times — exactly what the collection on the catwalk mirrored.

Vidya Balan smiled, Rani Mukerji swayed, Shubha Mudgal sang and Sabya showed. We were mesmerised.

The evening ended with a final goosebump moment as the Governor M.K. Narayanan, general manager of Taj Bengal K. Mohanchandran, man of the moment Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Bolly beauties Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan took the ramp for the national anthem. “Taj Bengal was privileged to host, with t2, a meeting of someone so fluent in the language of fashion as Sabyasachi and someone so fluent in the language of music as Shubha Mudgal. We are delighted to partner in this initiative at the home of hospitality in Calcutta, Taj Bengal,” said K. Mohanchandran.

The period influences were ad hoc. Victorian trails, nawabi ada, global silhouettes and ethnic embroideries, all woven together as simply as khadi, the inherent hero of the show.

A movie medley — with scenes from Kamasutra, 1947 Earth, Malena, Firaaq… — served as an eclectic backdrop.

When Shubha sang Jana Gana Mana and Sabya fought back tears, time stood still.

Before the show, Modhurima Sinha, director of PR at Taj Bengal, who also helped conceptualise the show, said the response was “overwhelming”. Post-show, she replaced it with “spellbound”.

We agree.

The backstage buzz at any show is something. But when the showman is a certain sabyasachi Mukherjee the buzz is something else. The t2 camera hovered in the hall all day, capturing the preparations for THE night ahead.

The city showed up at taj bengal for sabya’s first solo showing

Sabyasachi with Debasree Roy	Preeti Goenka, Sumedha Saraogi, Sanjiv Goenka and Madhu Neotia
Sabyasachi’s Proud parents	Nilaanjana Chakraborty
Tanusree Shankar and Shamlu Dudeja	Goutam Ghose

Lovely ladies flaunted their desi-ness like seldom before. some of them said it as they felt it