Scenes from the ramp at the Satya Paul show. Pictures by Pabitra Das

A little after the guests had settled comfortably into their seats (or managed to find a place to stand in the crowd) and started feasting their eyes on the drama on the ramp, the much-awaited Satya Paul show came to an end!

The fashion extravaganza on the Taj Bengal lawns late on Wednesday lasted all of 30 minutes, packed with four collections of apparels and drapes paraded by some of the hottest pirouetting beauties in the land.

?We deliberately made the show as short as possible so that the guests leave with the feeling that they wanted to see some more,? said Anu Ahuja, choreographer of the show.

Organised by Marwar magazine in association with Emami and Jamin Jewellery Exports, To Kolkata With Love was the second Satya Paul showcase in the city in three months. After its hugely-applauded Think Pink show in October, the design house unveiled four of its latest lines on Wednesday night.

The classy do started off with celebrity hosts Shobhaa and Dilip De talking about their association with Calcutta. While Shobhaa spoke mostly in English with some Bengali words thrown in (like ?amaar swami Dilip)?, her husband recalled his experiences in the city in chaste Bengali. The duo even paid a tribute to Tagore by reciting poem no. 44 from Gitanjali.

The show, which according to designer Puneet Nanda paid a ?tribute to the incomparable Indian woman?, started with a line of very ornate lehngas and soon moved on to saris inspired by the paintings of European masters Pollock, Rothko, Gustav and Klimt.

A range of saris influenced by animal prints, also in lighter fabrics like georgettes and crepes, and the next collection with a dream-like effect in combinations of spartan whites with silver and black with golden, were the show stealers.

Short cocktail dresses, churidar with strapless kameez and saris in flowing fabrics followed the same theme. ?It?s couture, but very simple and elegant. The saris, dresses and salwars are ideal occasion wear for Indian women,? said Nanda.

Ornate heavily-embroidered lehngas in colours of gems were thrown in between the other collections throughout the show. Here the hues were vibrant ? ruby red, turquoise, emerald, topaz and much more.

The catwalkers who sashayed down the ramp included Noyonika Chatterjee Singh, Tapur Chatterjee, Jesse Randhawa, Shonal Rawat, Dippanita Sharma, Fleur Xavier, Gauhar Khan, Sayali Bhagat, Jyoti Brahmin, Sanjukta Das and Jessica Gomes.