On the dance floor at a dandiya. A Telegraph picture

The dandiya craze in Calcutta is on the decline. From more than 27 in 2004, the count will drop to below 10 this year. Playing party pooper are factors aplenty — late-night restrictions on revelry to mushrooming of nightclubs, sponsors few and far between to film stars reluctant to come down for a dandiya in town.

“Navratri is the festival of nights. People do not want to get on to the dance floor before midnight. But the authorities have become very strict about late-night curbs and it just does not make business sense to wrap up a dandiya before midnight. So, we have dropped the dandiya this year,” says Anil Bhutoria of The Stadel in Salt Lake.

Lack of star draw is another negative for the Navratri revelry roster. Last year, Katrina Kaif was mobbed and harassed at the Helipad ground dandiya, in the Salt Lake stadium. She wriggled out and rushed out, never to return. And chances of another big Bollywood star following in her footsteps this festive season are remote.

If the high-priced ticket is an entry barrier at some places, the lack of entry barrier at others acts as a deterrent. “For many, dandiya is a family affair, to be enjoyed in very large groups, and so the high-priced ticket is often a problem. And at places where entry is not restricted, rowdies keep family revellers at bay,” says DJ Akash.

Then there’s the problem of plenty when it comes to party places in town. With a host of nightclubs keeping the action going till close to dawn, there’s every reason for the party people to choose the disc or the lounge over a dandiya. “There is no way you can sustain too many dandiyas in Calcutta with the desired crowd,” says DJ Akash, who will be playing the Dandiathon at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

For the dandiya, it’s clearly the survival of the biggest. “To be successful, your dandiya has to be on a big scale. We could not do that in our set-up,” admits Sanjay Maheshwari of Clown Town, not doing the dandiya this year. “Last year, barring three or four in town, all others incurred heavy losses. Even sponsors prefer to pump more money into Pujas than into dandiyas,” says another organiser, twice bitten.