Deepal Shaw in performance at Space Circle

She may have set television screens on fire with her dare-bare act in the guise of a schoolgirl last year, but in this academic session, she?s clearly not reason enough for Calcuttans to return to class.

The one-off performance of Deepal Shaw ? better known as Baby Doll ? at Space Circle on Friday night was as damp as the day. The Kabhie aar kabhie paar girl was in town to promote her second album, Baby Doll Chapter 2, that hardly promises to be the final word in erudition.

Before graduating to the Calcutta stage, Baby Doll passed with flying colours ? and skirts ? through the smaller towns of Lucknow, Jaipur, Pune, Indore and Bhubaneswar. ?But Calcutta is different. You really have to give a cracker of a performance to woo the people here,? admitted Baby Doll, recounting her performance in Tantra a few months ago.

She was hot property at the Park Street night address, but at the new-age club on the way to the airport this Friday, the response was less than lukewarm. She first took the stage around 9 pm, with the auditorium still anything but full, and then kept making bump-and-grind appearances to Rangeela re, Leke pehla pehla pyar and Kabhie aar kabhie paar. But the dance floor remained roomy.

More excitement was generated off-stage with news that her debut Hindi movie was well on track. ?My character is the anchor of the movie. Ashmit Patel stars opposite me and the movie is 60 per cent complete,? said Deepal.

And then, of course, there?s the international album titled Living In Sin where Beyonce Knowles ? no less ? does a cameo. ?Two songs for the album have already been recorded,? smiled Baby Doll.

Models at a fashion show accompanying the launch of a new Davidoff perfume at Hyatt Regency. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

Pink passion

Pretty in pink was the flavour of the party at the Hyatt Regency ballroom on Saturday afternoon, with the focus firmly on femininity. The occasion was the launch of Echo Woman, a brand new aroma from the house of Davidoff.

In keeping with the raspberry pink packaging of the perfume, the interior of the ballroom was embellished with flowers, laces and ribbons of the same colour. Think pink was also the motto followed by designer Anamika Khanna, who draped the models for a fashion show accompanying the launch.

?Sexy, sensuous outfits in pink, pink and more pink is what my line is all about,? said Anamika, while describing the clothes. Skirts in various shapes and sizes paired with stylish tops with lots of heavy surface ornamentation in antique gold defined the look. And the palette comprised various hues of pink ? pale, dirty and rose ? combined with white and ivory. The clothes were paraded on the ramp in two sequences by models Fleur Xavier, Shrestha, Ishika and Priyanka, who catwalked to the directions of choreographer Nicola Gomes.

Echo Woman, a fruity floral fragrance for ?the urban woman between 25 and 35 years?, was unveiled through the show. Rajiv Bahety, director of Beauty Concepts Pvt Ltd, the firm that distributes Davidoff in India, said: ?Echo Woman is being launched following the success of Echo Man last year. It?s meant for the woman who listens to the echo of her heart. The fragrance is all about feminine sensuality.?

The perfume comes in a smooth pebble-like bottle styled by designer Karim Rashid, with a gorgeous raspberry pink packaging. While it was launched in Europe a couple of weeks ago, the Hyatt launch on Saturday was the first one in India.

?We decided to launch it in Calcutta before moving to Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Though we are soft-launching it now, it will actually be available in stores from Valentine?s Day,? added Bahety.