They had squared off on screen in 1989 for Ray’s Ganashatru. They squared off on stage on Monday for ABP Ananda’s Neta Bonam Abhineta. Dhritiman Chaterji and Soumitra Chattopadhyay led their teams on the Calcutta Club lawns to argue the motion: Politics is best left to politicians, let artistes remain on screen. Soumitra won this face-off of the two veteran actors with the opinion of the house being easily upheld by a show of hands. Batting for Team Soumitra were theatre director-actor Kaushik Sen, politicians Manab Mukhopadhyay and Arunava Ghosh, and actor Rahul Banerjee. Countering them was Team Dhritiman, with director-actor Anjan Dutt, singer Anindya Chattopadhyay, poet Srijato and actress Ritabhori Chakraborty. The live debate was moderated by Suman De of ABP Ananda.

Pictures by B. Halder