The bandobast was elaborate at Salt Lake Maitri Sangha on August 27. Organisers of the puja in the swimming pool area were giving instructions to the bouncers to form a barricade from the Ganesh puja pandal to the stage. This puzzled many in the audience who had come to hear the billed artistes, Jeet Gaanguli and Akriti Kakkar, perform. Questions like “Who’s coming?” and “Why are they asking us to move?” did the rounds till RJ Praveen, the master of ceremonies for the evening, ended the suspense by announcing that any minute Govinda would be in their midst.
The twinkle-toed Hero no. 1 did the star turn at the Ganesh puja patronised by mayor Sabyasachi Dutta this year. “Amar ekhane eshe bhalo lagchhe, ami tomader bhalobashi,” greeted the dancing star as he took the stage around 9pm, after seeking blessings from the idol of Lord Ganesh.
Without much ado he broke into his popular number Lal dupattewali while showing his signature moves from the film Aankhen, to the delight of the audience gathered for the musical soiree. Mobile phones switched to camera mode. Many, like Nishit Roy, were seen going live on social media sites. “I was visiting a friend in this block, so I dropped by to see what was going on, but it was a dream come true for me to see Govinda on stage. I am a big fan of his, and so is my father but he missed the chance,” said the AB Block resident. So the 28-year-old did the next best thing — host a Facebook live session so his friends and family could watch Govinda’s performance from home.
Dilip Agarwal, who was standing right in front of the stage, shouted out a request for a dialogue and was overjoyed when the actor acceded. As Govinda delivered his line as a village bumpkin in Aankhen: “Humko hamare Chandramukhi se milna hai. Chandramukhi, Chandramukhi…” addressed to his love interest Shilpa Shirodkar in the film, Agarwal beamed: “We love Govinda’s dialogues. Hearing him live is a different experience.”
Composer Jeet Gaanguli, was back in town for Ganesh Chaturthi from Mumbai. “It is always special to perform in this city. The energy and excitement here are unmatchable,” said the composer of many a Tollywood hit.
He started with Ki kore toke bolbo from the Dev-starrer Rangbaaz, switching midway to the Hindi version Suno na sang marmar from Youngistaan. He followed it up with a series of his hits Dhaker taley, Muskuraney ki wajah, 100% love and Mon maney na, ending with Paglu.
Jeet Das, 26, knew all the lyrics by heart and sang along. “His Bengali songs are my favourites. I hear them all day, and when I heard he was coming I had to come,” said the Kestopur resident, who was overjoyed when Jeet Gaanguli, hearing him sing along, said: “We have so many amazing singers here. I should ask the mayor to send me their CDs.”
Age didn’t stop the grey-haired, white cotton sari-clad Rakhi Mistry from raising her hands and rhythmically swaying them to songs like Sundori Kamola and Bhojo Gouranga. “I finished off my chores at home early so I could be here to see him. We always listen to songs composed by him on TV and radio but today on listening to him I realised that he is also a good singer,” said the 68-year-old, who lives in a garage nearby.
Though many didn’t know the songs Akriti Kakkar sang, they identified her as the judge of Zee Bangla’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs. “I had heard her name but didn’t know about her songs. When my mother said that she was a judge in the musical show, I Googled to check her hits,” said BE Block resident Kakoli Raha. But the lack of familiarity ceased to matter as soon as Akriti started performing.
“Yesterday we had Ganesh visarjan in Mumbai and today I am here performing on the same occasion. I love the city and enjoy coming back here,” said the singer of hits like Saturday Saturday (Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya) and Iski uski (Two States).
The ground in front of the stage turned into a dance floor as women, responding to Akriti’s call, came forward to shake a leg to songs like Mast kalander, Sajna ve sajna and Mera piya ghar aaya. “I too wanted to join in but my friends refused to go forward,” said Priyanka Joshi as she danced on her own.
“This is our fourth year. Every time we try to do something different. This year our pandal is modelled on the ship from the movie Baahubali - the Conclusion, in which Amarendra Baahubali was shown to have travelled to Mahismati with Devsena in a song sequence,” said an organiser Manish Shaw.
SHATADIPA BHATTACHARYA
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