Shaheb, Abir, Arunima, Paayel and Parambrata at the Coke adda with Team t2 in The Telegraph office. Pictures: Rashbehari Das

Pandal hopping, hanging out with friends, Maddox Square and marathon adda over sip and bite. That’s what keeps these five Tolly stars busy during Durga Puja. Three days before Sashthi, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Shaheb Bhattacherjee, Paayel Sarkar and Arunima Ghosh chatted with t2 on all things Puja...

How do you spend Durga Puja?

Paayel: I stay at home, wake up late, meet friends and on Ashtami anjali is a must.

Arunima: I wake up early on Sashthi and Saptami because of puja inaugurations. Ashtami is family time, after offering anjali I spend the rest of the time with family and friends. I also feast on Bengali food at home and I never miss the bhog.

Abir: I am not religious, so I don’t really offer anjali. Puja to me means adda and going out with friends, basically eating out.

Shaheb: I am the only saheb who is completely Bengali when it comes to Durga Puja! (Laughs) I do everything that the rest of the Bengalis do during Durga Puja and I completely enjoy it. I try and work very less. At night we go to Maddox Square and Deshapriya Park. On Ashtami I take my parents out for dinner.

Parambrata: With my childhood friends, and friends from the industry. It’s a mega gathering! During Puja, I make it a point to be in Calcutta. The only time I missed it was when I was in England. I left Calcutta on Saptami. It was a sad

moment. I was embarking on a great journey but then it was Saptami... dhaak bajchhilo choturdike.

Your best Puja so far…

Paayel: This Puja is going to be my best. I have two Puja releases — Chotushkone and Bachchan. The reports for both the films are good.

Abir: I really enjoyed Puja when I was in college. There was too much excitement. Looking forward to getting more pocket money, pandal hopping, waiting for friends… those were the days.

Paayel: Yes, till college Puja meant only having fun with friends. Now we have so many commitments, from inaugurations to judging, that fun isn’t there anymore.

Parambrata: When I was in Class III, for the first time I stayed awake through the night, from 6pm to 6am, and pandal-hopped. It was fantabulous fun. My father, who was a journalist, was writing a piece on the old pujas of Calcutta, and automatically I tagged along.

Shaheb: My most memorable Puja would be the one when I was in Class XI, that’s when I became a free bird. For the first time I had a night out with friends. And we were a group of boys and girls, so that was really special.

Arunima: We used to live in north Calcutta and we would have great fun. Now I live in Gariahat. For me Puja means having good food, especially snacks from the roadside stalls, and pandal hopping with friends, but there was a flip side too. Because not just girls, I had to also drop the boys home!

Shaheb: (Naughtily) Sheki, nobody took your responsibility?!

Arunima: No!

Abir: In Salt Lake (Abir’s ancestral home) the para bhog was something that we really looked forward to. I used to serve the food. And I too love street food during Puja.

Shaheb: Yes, during Puja cold drink means Coke and I love the very oily chowmein from the roadside stalls!

Abir: I remember when I was in school, cold drink was a strict no, because parents thought we would catch a cold and get fever. But during Puja we could down as much Coke as possible. I also love egg roll a lot. I am a fan of egg roll.

Have you ever fallen in love during Puja?

Abir: Not me!

Paayel: No!

Arunima: I really liked a guy in Maddox Square two years back but I never saw him again....

Paayel: Ahare!

Arunima: Shaheb, you started falling in love since you were in school, right!

Shaheb: No, not that young! I would inevitably fall for girls at the post-Puja para functions and I never missed an opportunity to dance with them! I think falling in love during Puja is very common.

Parambrata: I don’t know if you’ll believe this, but till Class XII, I was really shy. So no one would look at me. Since I started acting at a young age, I couldn’t go to crowded places.

Paayel: But he was really famous in college.

Parambrata: I didn’t realise that.

Paayel: How would you? You were always surrounded by girls.

Parambrata: If I had realised it then, things would have been easier for me. When I was in Class VII, we had gone to Orissa on a vacation. We had stayed at a homestay, and there I met a girl who was two years older than me. Shei shomoy theke boyeshe boro meyeder proti durbalata (I have had a weakness for older women since)!

One special dish that’s cooked at home during Puja?

Abir: Ma tells us straight that she is not going to cook for the five Puja days.

Paayel: Actually through the year I am only eating out…

Abir: Paayel, what rubbish? Don’t lie! She lives on powder (protein supplements)! (Laughs)

Paayel: Nooooo, how can I have powder every day! What I meant is that I don’t spend too much time at home, so during these five days, I relish maachher jhol bhaat at home.

Abir: One special dish made at home is naaru and nimki on Dashami.

Shaheb: My mother also makes it a point to make naaru at home.

Arunima: Tiler naaru is my favourite! During Lakshmi Puja, I wait for the rituals to get over so that I can eat naaru. I remember I had once eaten so much that I had to cancel my shoot next day! During Puja, we always eat out or order food. Last year, after judging Puja pandals, I would come home in the evening and sit with biryani, firni or Chinese. (Smiles)

Do you meet friends from the industry during Puja?

Abir: No, not that much!

Shaheb: We only meet each other while we are out to judge Puja pandals.

Parambrata: Yes, I do… we have a group comprising Kaushikda (Ganguly), Srijit (Mukherji), Birsa (Dasgupta), Indradeepda (Dasgupta) and we hang out. And we are predominantly bitching! (Laughs) Men can bitch like nobody’s business. Everytime we feel that we would engage in healthy discussions, but after two drinks everybody starts bitching! Of course it’s all healthy and harmless.

Paayel: Yes, that we do throughout the year.

Shaheb: What is inevitable in every adda session is nostalgia!

Abir: I have noticed it over the years that whenever we meet our old friends, we still talk about the days when we were 18-24 years old. Those lovely memories are still fresh in our minds.

Arunima: Something or the other always happens in my life on Navami. Once a man on a bike grazed my car. At another time a man threw something at me. Once my friend fell on the road and another year, my car had a tyre puncture.

Do you work during Puja?

Param: Kahaani was shot through the Pujas, and this time I’ll be shooting in Bombay on Sashthi and Saptami.

Which are your fave adda places in Calcutta?

Shaheb: Maddox Square tops the list. Deshapriya Park’s phuchka is a must-have and I try out bursting-the-balloon games!

Parambrata: My school friend Abhijit’s place in Beltala, opposite Beltala Girls School, is the best adda place for me. Abir has been there. We have a WhatsApp forum called Beltala Boys. The door is always open, and two dogs are parked there. And the dogs start barking when they see me! I don’t know why!

(Abir coaxes Paayel to take a bite of the cutlets and samosas)

Abir: Just give it a try, nah!

Paayel: I don’t want to prove anything! (She munches a tiny bit and everybody breaks into laughter)