As celebrity judge for The Telegraph Festival of Joy, presented by Euroclean with Deep Cleaning, actor Jisshu Sengupta visited three apartment complexes — Genexx Valley, Ekta Heights and Neelachal Abasan — on Saptami. Tollywood’s new Byomkesh Bakshi turned heads in his traditional gear and charmed the residents with his winning smile. “I really enjoyed myself. And thanks to The Telegraph, I got to do Puja judging after almost 11 years,” said Jisshu, who tried his hand at the dhaak and clicked selfies with the crowd. 

First stop, Genexx Valley in Joka. Jisshu was greeted by his female fans, aged seven to 70, and was swamped with compliments and requests for selfies. The ladies who love Jisshu’s “man-next-door” image in the television show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa told him what they liked about his Byomkesh Bakshi act. 

“This is a consortium of 1,875 flats with people from different parts of the country and this diversity has inspired the theme ‘unity in diversity’ this year. We have focused on aspects like peace, honesty and friendship to remind us of our values during festivities. We have a blood donation register and special programmes for the senior citizens of our complex, like tree planting and drama, apart from cultural events like Mata Ki Chowki and dandiya planned till the end of the season,” said Avishek Sarkar, general secretary, Genexx Valley Welfare Society.

MODEL APARTMENT PUJA: GENEXX VALLEY

His heart-warming smile floored the ladies at Genexx Valley, who thronged around him the moment the actor walked into the pandal. “I loved the attention.... This is a great way to connect with my audience and get feedback about my films. They told me that they loved me in Byomkesh Bakshi, and in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,” said Jisshu. “I’m having a great time here. My Puja greetings to you all!” he said into the microphone. 

The Genexx Valley complex puja was equipped with “a makeshift hospital model”. An installation recreated the Maha Shakti Pith. “I loved the environment here. The puja is very clean too,” said Jisshu, after checking out the amenities. 

FIVE STAR APARTMENT PUJA: EKTA HEIGHTS

The pandal at Ekta Heights (in Baghajatin) was modelled on a Japanese pagoda. The idol was painted with natural, herbal colours, which impressed Jisshu. “The decorations are all handmade. We gave priority to fire safety norms. There were cultural programmes including a play by senior citizens,” said Anirudhho Palit, the secretary of Ekta Heights Utsab Committee. Some young fans huddled around for selfies and Jisshu posed happily. “Jisshu is the perfect combination of talent and charisma. I liked him in Jaatishwar, Piku and Mardaani,” said Sreeja Das. It was during Durga Puja many autumns ago that Jisshu had made his acting debut. “It was in a parar natok. I must have been around 12-13 years old,” 
he laughed.

Archita Saha, a Class V student of GD Birla Centre for Education, greeted Jisshu by singing a Vedic chant. “I loved the way she performed the Vedic chant,” said Jisshu. 

FIVE STAR APARTMENT PUJA: NEELACHAL ABASAN

Neelachal Abasan’s (in Kasba) theme was the joint family — the very essence of a community puja. Jisshu took a walk around the pandal that had a designated smoking zone. “We pay attention to fire safety norms and take a lot of care in planning the cultural shows. We are an extended family and that is how we celebrate,” said Timir Baran Dutta Gupta, the president of Neelachal Recreation Club.

Jisshu met little Jishu (in white tee) and both broke into broad smiles. Arvan Dutta Gupta, a Class I student of La Martiniere for Boys, was nicknamed after his parents — Jija (in picture) and Suman. “It was great to meet Jishu! His father is a member of Dakshin Kalikata Sansad, and so am I. So we might meet up there,” said the actor. 

Jisshu clicks the idol on his phone. “I like it here... it’s such a homely, intimate environment,” he said.

Teaming an embroidered tussore kurta with a brick-red silk dhoti, Jisshu worked the traditional Bangali look.

 

“Festival of Joy is a wonderful initiative by The Telegraph and Euroclean to create awareness about health and hygiene,which is mandatory at any festival. It is impossible to enjoy if you are not in good health. Jisshu is a wonderful person and he tried to correlate Festival of Joy with the Euroclean initiative by spreading awareness about the essence of clean and green homes,” said Arijit Nandi (seen in picture above with Jisshu), national head, HR service and CRM, Eureka Forbes.

Text: Sunandita Ghosh
Pictures: Rashbehari Das