Best of bengal

Dibakar Banerjee

The director who gave us Love Sex Aur Dhokha was crowned a Shera Bangali by a former Shera Bangali, Sabyasachi ‘Feluda’ Chakraborty. When STAR Ananda’s Suman De asked why he was making a political thriller, Dibakar winked: “I believe our life is incomplete without politics. I don’t think love, sex and dhokha would be possible without politics!”

P.K. Mukherjee

The managing director and CEO of Sesa Goa received the award from industrialist Harsh Neotia. Given a choice between East Bengal and the Sesa Football Academy, Mukherjee said he would go for the latter. The reason? “My commitment to football grew stronger after I started living in Goa, though as a young boy I always supported East Bengal.”

Ruma Pal

The gentle but straight-talking Calcutta High Court (retired) judge shared her tough journey to the top with the audience. “No one wanted to appoint me because I was a woman. They felt I would get married and never be serious about my work,” said Pal, receiving her award from Manoj Mukherjee, the man who initiated the probe into the controversy surrounding Netaji’s death.

Sankar chatterjee

The Dinosaur Man looked a true-blue Bong in a light brown dhoti-kurta as he walked across the stage to pick up two trophies — the Shera Bangali from Jadavpur University vice-chancellor P.N. Ghosh and the Sherar Shera from Aveek Sarkar, chief editor of the ABP Group. The Texas-based palaeontologist was honoured for his contribution in geoscience. “Dinosaurs weren’t foolish. They ruled the earth for 160 million years. Had there not been a natural calamity, dinosaurs would have been still around and I wouldn’t have been on this stage today!” smiled Chatterjee.

Sharmila Tagore

Amidst loud cheers, Sharmila Tagore walked on to the stage with her ‘Apu’, Soumitra Chatterjee, who handed her the Lifetime Achievement award. “I started my career here in Calcutta when Manikda (Satyajit Ray) chose me for Apur Sansar. I’ve done several Hindi, Bengali, Malayali and Marathi films that have fetched me a few awards but being recognised for my work in Bengal is very special. And receiving it from Soumitra, my friend, is a bonus!” said the actress, still stunning at 64.

Shreya Ghoshal

Bollywood’s reigning queen in playback singing touched Rabindrasangeet veteran Dwijen Mukhopadhyay’s feet before accepting the trophy from him, as Suman De looked on. Shreya looked fetching in a satiny blue number.

Dev

Challenge hero Dev was the Fresh Face of the year. Dressed in a black embroidered kurta, Dev — named Dipak Adhikary by his parents — got an affectionate pat and the glistening trophy from Aparna Sen. “We’ve heard that you demand double the amount that heroes before you used to get,” said Suman De. “I am just given enough to pay my telephone bills and buy petrol for my car!” retorted Tollywood’s newest golden boy.

 

Surya Sekhar Ganguly

The first chess grandmaster from Calcutta, Dibyendu Barua, handed over the Shera Bangali trophy to his successor Surya Sekhar Ganguly. Dressed in a blue shirt, the chess whiz from Salt Lake drew loud applause for his ready wit. “Politicians might be able to play good chess but I don’t think a chess player can become a politician” was Surya Sekhar’s answer to the question: “Politics is often compared to a game of chess. Will you ever turn to politics?”

Shakila Sheikh

Collage artist Shakila Sheikh was given her trophy by Dipali Bhattacharya, the principal of Government College of Art and Craft. The soft-spoken artist from Baruipur attributed her success to her mentor, B.R. Panesar. “Baba (Panesar) is my inspiration. I never learnt to read or write. It was Baba who picked me up from the street and gave me a canvas to work on.”

 

After the awards, the acts. Orissa-based dance troupe Prince — winner of India’s Got Talent — staged a half-hour-long choreographed piece to a Sanskrit shloka recital. The band of boys painted in silver enthralled all with their swift, synchronised moves. (Pictures by amit datta and Aranya Sen)

 

 

Mir and Rimjhim Mitra took the stage to anchor the second half of the awards ceremony, with jabs and jibes directed at the idiosyncratic Bangali. Mir played the part in dhoti, kurta, jacket, muffler and a Chaplin-esque moustache, drawing laughs from across the auditorium.

 

 

Shreya waltzed in, post-Prince, to belt out some of her chartbusting numbers. Switching to a black-and-silver body-hugging top and trousers, she picked hit tracks from Ghajini to Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Cheeni Kum. But what won her the crowd for the evening were slow, melodious numbers like O mor moina go and Ferari mon from Antaheen. “Though I wasn’t born and brought up in Calcutta, it feels like home every time I come here,” Shreya chirped between songs.

 

The post-event party at itc sonar Calcutta’s pala drew a strong star crowd

Fresh face, now and then: Fresh Face 2010 Dev switched from dhoti-churidar to party mode with a blue shirt and blue denims, while Fresh Face 2009 Paoli turned heads in a black silk sari teamed with a silver necklace. Though in a hurry to attend a “work meeting” after the party, Dev dug into the yummy seekh kebabs.

“I loved Shreya’s performance and the party’s great too!” said Shaheb ‘Topshe’ Bhattacharya.

 

 

 

Churni and Kaushik Ganguly caught up with the Sorcar sisters, Mumtaz and Maneka, over cocktails and dinner. “I tried all the food on display, so my diet has gone for a toss,” revealed Mumtaz. Churni, looking slim and trim, skipped the main course for desserts. “The Mishti Doi is very good!” she smiled.

Shaheb Chatterjee (right) had colleague Badshah Moitra for company.