Felu Modak

Mishti’s best friend Mimi Chakraborty and Shaheb Bhattacherjee visited Rishra’s popular sweet destination on Saturday afternoon to announce the launch of the Best Dressed Couple contest. While Mimi wore a blue jacket with denims, Mishti’s Bhai Shaheb sported a Bengali biyebari look. “If it’s a Bengali wedding it’s dhuti-panjabi for me. I get my clothes designed by Rajarshi Mukherjee and I love the kantha stitch he does,” said Shaheb, flaunting his favourite shawl. “Whenever I have a wedding to attend I prepare for months. I choose three different looks (for morning, afternoon and evening). In the evening a sari is a must,” smiled Mimi. In the history of the 160-odd years of the sweetshop it’s their first attempt at creating Cadbury mishtis.

TALK SHOP: “This is the first time we are participating in Cadbury Mishti Shera Shrishti contest. We had no idea that besides traditional sweets there is such a big demand for Cadbury Mishti. What we observed is that customers are opting for Cadbury Mishti as offering during pujas! This is good news and perhaps someday our mishtis will make it to popular places abroad, thanks to Cadbury. We have made 27 varieties of sweets this year. Though our signature sweet is Choco Nutty Ball, we are also making Chocolate Sohanpapdi,” said Amitava Dey of Felu Modak.

Gupta Brothers

Mishti’s Dada Ritwick Bhattacharya and Boudi Soumili Biswas were so sincere with their appayan that they reached the New Alipore outlet half-an-hour early on Sunday evening. The duo greeted each other and guests at the outlet with a platter of assorted Cadbury Mishtis. “I had managed to escape the bigger responsibilities but now I am playing the perfect host. In a wedding it’s best to go with traditional attire which we hardly get to wear. If one is confident, go for a dhuti, I’m confident of carrying a dhuti well,” laughed the elder brother. For Soumili, the traditional Bengali bou look is a must at a wedding. “Since it’s Mishti’s biye I have to be the perfect boudi. I am going for an absolute Bengali bonedi shaaj with a nice Benarasi sari and traditional gold jewellery. I can’t afford to get it wrong on my sister-in-law’s big day,” smiled she.

TALK SHOP: “There is this added excitement at our outlets, for this year it’s Mishti’s wedding. This unique wedding has encouraged us to come up with new creations. This year our signature sweet is Cadbury Chhupa-Rustam. Almost every day at least 500 Cadbury mishtis are sold from this outlet,” said Parikshit Gupta, one of the directors of the New Alipore shop.

Bhikharam Chandmal

Mishti’s Mashi Manasi Sinha and Kakima Locket Chatterjee were way too excited about what to wear at the wedding reception. With last-minute checks on — earrings, sari, make-up, hairdo and accessories — they just couldn’t stop planning for the celebrations. To ensure that their guests turned up in their festive best as well, the duo dropped in at the Bhikharam Chandmal outlet in City Centre (Salt Lake) on Sunday to kick off the contest. “Our Mishti is the sweetest bride and Cadbury, the most adorable groom. We want everybody to look their best at this wedding,” said Locket. “The Cadbury mishtis are gorgeous to look at. So, we should also deck up in style,” said Manasi.

TALK SHOP: “We love to serve Calcuttans the best sweets. So, we came up with delicious Cadbury mishtis,” said Rampratap Agarwal, director, Bhikharam Chandmal Sweet and Snacks Pvt Ltd. The Choco Malai won hands down as the signature sweet at Bhikharam. “This is yummy and irresistible,” chorused Locket and Manasi.

Text: Sneha Dutta, Sibendu Das

Pictures: Pabitra Das, Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya, Bhubaneswarananda Halder