Sabya & She

RANI MUKERJI,VIDYA BALAN

Sabyasachi Mukherjee is coming home. Finally.

After wowing audiences the world over, the ace designer returns to the Calcutta catwalk with An Ode to Tradition, on Saturday evening.

Sabya’s “first ever solo show in India”, hosted by Taj Bengal in association with t2, promises to be a star-studded affair with Bollywood beauties — and muse — Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan sitting pretty in the front row.

“I have been meaning to show in Calcutta for a long time but couldn’t manage because of prior movie commitments. The last two years were dedicated to organising retail and, finally, here I am,” says Sabya, between choosing lampshades for the show sets on the floor of his Topsia workshop.

Given that the designer was working on Bollywood blockbusters like Raavan, Paa, Guzarish and No One killed Jessica, his lack of dates can be easily explained.

The designer has also been on a store-opening spree. After Delhi last November and Mumbai last month, it is now Calcutta’s turn because he wanted to “save the best for the last” — at Lake Road on August 19.

The August 14 show preceding the store launch will be set against a backdrop of live music rendered by classical-cum-occasional-Bolly singer Shubha Mudgal.

The hero of the evening will be the Indian weave. “An Ode to Tradition celebrates our khadi, handloom and cotton. It is also the eve of Independence Day — the timing couldn’t have been better,” smiles Sabya.

On the catwalk, Calcutta will have a first look of Aparajito (The Unvanquished) that was unveiled at couture week in the capital on July 20. The collection is signature Sabyasachi. The look is luxurious, somewhat sepia-tinted, and boasts of an impressive line-up of ethnic silhouettes that are very intense on embroideries, both for him and her.

The garments will be showcased on the ramp by leading models — 20 female and eight male. The female list includes Tupur and Tapur Chatterjee, Sonal Rawat, Deepti Gujral, Tinu Verghese, Nethra Raghuraman and Nayanika Chatterjee.

“The show is about tradition and the undefeated,” stresses Modhurima Sinha of Taj Bengal.