 |
Tapas Pal
on being a Holi host
This is a very special occasion for me. I wouldn’t call the Holi get-together a party because it’s not a formal do. I really enjoy hosting the Holi bash. Every year, people from the film industry come to my house on Golf Club Road. Last year we had Indrani Dutta, Ritu (Rituparna Sengupta) and Satabdi Roy. This time, I think Debasree (Roy) will join us. Ritu may drop in too. We start playing from 11 in the morning and go on till about 4.30pm. We play in my compound. We play mainly with abir but
some of them get colours as well. We have a lot of fun. But not just people from Tollywood, others join us too. Lunch is always rice and mutton curry. Another high point is of course the fact that my daughter Sohini always comes down from Bangalore to join us for Holi. This year too, she is flying down especially for Holi. The only bother is the next day, when the colours are embedded in the skin and refuse to be washed off!
I also feel very nostalgic on this day. Earlier, my wife Nandini and I would leave home early and drive down to (late) Samit Bhanja’s house. We would play Holi with him...
 |
Swastika
on being a Holi guest
One of the first Holi parties I attended was one thrown by Jisshu’s (Sengupta) sister Rai. She had organised it on the terrace of their Lake Terrace home. It was on the eve of Holi and we had loads of fun through the night. Debleena (Dutt), Monami (Ghosh), Benukaku (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) and several others had dropped in. There was music with khol-kartal and I enjoyed it to the hilt.
The party I attended last year was in a farmhouse off the EM Bypass. We had a blast! There was Parambrata, Apuda (Saswata Chatterjee), Subrat Dutta and many others. I had gone there with my sister Bubu. The staple food everywhere is, of course, rice or fried rice with mutton curry, and unlimited booze. At these parties, people just love to get drunk. But my Baba (Santu Mukherjee) makes sure that I return home safe!
Most of these parties are thrown at the last moment. Perhaps that’s the fun of Holi parties — we just decide to have one on Holi eve or on the day!
 |
Koel Mullick
on Holi memories
Holi is a very special occasion at the Bhowanipore Mullickbari. Every year, all my cousins come together and we have loads of fun.
The morning begins with pujo in the thakurdalan and then we touch the feet of family elders with colours. After that we do the dirty for the whole day!
I am particularly close to a cousin of mine, my Chhordi. She won’t be with us this year as she is in America but nevertheless we will have fun.
One scene that I will never forget is the time when I was young and really very scared of playing Holi. Because my cousins would play not just with abir, but all sorts of colours. So to avoid that, I would ask Baba (Ranjit Mullick) to hide me. At Mullickbari, we have many rooms and small chambers which most of my cousins don’t know of. Baba would hide me in one of those and I used to be safe for some time. But then my cousins would eventually find me, drag me out and smear me with all the colours. Later, I found out that it was Baba who was the culprit — he would tell them where I would be hiding!
 |
Koneenica
on a memorable Holi party
It was the one thrown by SPS’s Bipin Vohra at his residence five years ago. Back then, I hadn’t attended too many Holi parties. I didn’t have any clue what a Holi party was all about. I thought it would be a regular party and I decided to drop by.
I was dressed for the occasion — I wore a white salwar kameez! The moment I stepped in, they splashed black colour on me. Even my teeth went black!
When I returned home and went in for a shower, I realised my hair had turned magenta! I was shocked and very sad because I had really long hair and I was to start shooting for Abaar Ashbo Phire. So, I went ahead and coloured my hair. Today I laugh about the incident but then I was in tears.
That hasn’t dampened my spirit to play Holi. Today, I will play at home with my family and cousins.