The preview show, a relatively new initiative in Durga Puja tourism, is facing fragmentation this year, with some Puja organisers breaking away from the fold.

The preview show is a five-day guided tour offered before Mahalaya since 2022 by MassArt, a non-profit, of what they promote as the world’s largest public art festival.

The show offers exclusive access to select pandals to tourists who purchase online passes. MassArt enters into a revenue-sharing agreement with 24 community Puja organisers across the city to ensure that their pandals are complete before the preview and access to ticketless visitors is barred at night for the period.

While entry in the first year was on invitation, the second year onwards the passes have become accessible to all against a substantial fee. The preview show is becoming increasingly popular among foreign nationals, including diplomats who fly in from Delhi, as also among photographers who need space and time to compose their shots.

Theme release for the centenary puja of Tala Prattoy Sudeshna Banerjee

Affluent local people, too, take this opportunity to start Puja-hopping, avoiding the crowd.

Each Puja has to give a presentation before an international jury to qualify. The prestige of participation is such that the MassArt tag is perceived to be a marketing edge.

This year, three Pujas have stepped away from the selection process and initiated their own “preview show”. Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra has chosen the same dates as the MassArt show —September 18 to 22 — when important visitors will be in town on the MassArt tour. Ballygunge Cultural Association (BCA)’s show is from September 19 to 21, while Kendua Shanti Sangha will extend its preview by a day.

All three breakaway Pujas are creations of Sushanta Paul, who, since the start of the preview show, was the artiste at Tala Prattoy, whose mentor Dhrubajyoti Bose Suvo is the brain behind the MassArt initiative.

“I created the logo of MassArt and support the concept of preview. But I feel a Puja is the creative property of the organising club. That identity and control are getting diluted by their participation in the MassArt show. Each Puja would profit more by going solo. It will also be economical for visitors to pick and pay for only the Pujas they wish to see as most do not visit all 24 listed Pujas,” Paul told Metro.

BCA and Bharat Chakra were picked all three times for the MassArt preview, though the former had declined last year because the pandal being too open to control access.

Announcing their own preview, BCA general secretary Anjan Ukil said: “Our rates are ₹100 for an individual, ₹150 for a couple and ₹300 for a family of four. Passes are on sale online (on the app where the other preview passes will also be sold). We are known to be true to tradition and in our platinum jubilee year, we have handed our creative reins to Paul, who is known for being modern. So ours will be a Puja to look forward to.”

The proceeds would be handed over to Nabaneer, an old-age home, he added.

Bharat Chakra joint secretary Pratik Chowdhury said: “Sushantada gave us the idea of going solo. This is our silver jubilee year, so the hype will pull the crowd.”

Bharat Chakra’s immediate neighbour Tarun Sangha is on the MassArt list, as is another Dum Dum Park Puja, Tarun Dal.

Asked if there was a risk of visitors with the MassArt pass bypassing his Puja, Pratik said: “We believe we can pull this off. Close to 100 families have already registered for passes. Those who come without a pass can buy one instantly with QR code-based payment.”

MassArt secretary Bose is not perturbed by the development. This is the centenary year of his own Puja Tala Prattoy, which is being helmed by Sanatan Dinda, another star theme-maker.

“MassArt’s preview show is not a money-making venture but a bid to steer Puja onto the world stage, and more so, to propel our creative economy by using Durga Puja art as a showcase. We are just an aggregator. While we vet Pujas for the preview, we also curate trips for visitors, putting them in touch with hotels, tourism agencies and car operators so they can visit a bonedi bari by the day, cruise along the Hooghly to soak in our colonial history and drive to the Sundarbans after Puja. Above all, I want our craftspeople to get invited to national and international platforms to produce the magic they show in the Puja pandals,” said Bose, who recently participated in
Art Dubai and Art Basel in Switzerland.