The HB Block puja got off to a glamourous start with film star Vidya Balan coming for its inauguration on Mahalaya. The Parineeta star reached at 9.10pm but the crowd had been swelling since the afternoon. “I’m waiting since 5.30,” grimaced Krishna Ghosh, who looked wilted from the long wait. “I’m hungry and thirsty but can’t even step out for tea, lest I lose my front-row seat!”
Ghosh’s most memorable Vidya Balan film was Bhalo Theko, directed by Goutam Halder, a resident of HB Block who had arranged the star’s visit to the puja. “I would love to click a selfie with Vidya but judging from the security cordon, I doubt it,” said Kalpana Nandi. “I’ll be happy to simply see her from close quarters.”
When the actress finally arrived, after inaugurating the Sreebhumi puja, all was forgiven. Spectators rose from their seat and broke into smiles, passersby flocked to the barricade and even the security guards hired to control the crowd reached for their cellphone cameras.
Singer Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta sang on stage as Vidya headed to cut the ribbon with her “dada” (Goutam Halder) by her side.
Inside the pandal, the big chhou mask at the entrance caught her attention. She posed for pictures and commented on theme makers Amit-Arindam’s dokra and terracotta dolls on the way to the idol. Those who managed access into the pandal hankered for selfies and one chap with a camera even tripped and fell before her.
Admiring wooden dolls in the pandal
The actress held her composure. At the feet of the goddess was another scramble. Vidya waited for Halder to accompany her in lighting the ceremonial lamp while the crowd almost toppled a terracotta horse outside the sanctum sanctorum and nearly stepped on the floral alpona for a closer look.
Vidya was on her way to the stage when out of nowhere a woman started speaking to her in Tamil, Vidya’s mother tongue. Before anyone could realise it, the lady — Sunita Das — had taken Vidya by her hand and escorted her to a stall behind the pandal. She and her friends had been making pithe pulis there and she showed an amused Vidya how to use the dheki.
“I’m from the south but I have married into Bengal,” said Das, who offered a pithe to Vidya. The Bhool Bhulaiyaa star politely declined, as she was on a diet, but fed it to Das instead!
On stage, Halder showered praises on Vidya. “It was in 2003 that I discovered her and cast her for my film. I always knew she was a talented actress,” he said. His daughter Raipurna Halder is a member of the block association and was personally looking into Vidya’s visit that day.
Finally the actress addressed the crowd that had been waiting to hear from her. “Whenever I come to Calcutta I feel like I’m coming home. Much of Kahaani’s shooting was done here during the Pujas and I love the vibe. Pujor subhechchha! Bhalo thakben,” she smiled to applause.
“My film career began with Goutamda 20 years ago. That’s when I last visited his house. Today I shall be going there again,” she said, before being whisked away in a white Audi with tinted glasses.
The block committee members seemed to be delighted. “Our puja is usually a modest one but this year we are trying to attract the youth by presenting a theme,” said block and puja secretary Ram Sekhar Saha. “The chief minister inaugurated our puja virtually and thanks to resident Goutam Halder, Vidya Balan visited us today on Mahalaya. This should get pandal-hoppers talking and boost our footfall.”
