The Jagaddhatri puja at BB-BC Park this year was themed around Soumitra Chatterjee. Not only did the decor use pictures of the late actor but they also screened three of his best-known movies outside the pandal.

“Initially we were mulling whether to hold the puja at all this year, given the pandemic. Once we decided to go ahead, we searched for a theme as we use one every year. With the demise of the great actor, we thought this would be the right theme,” said Sushanta Saha, treasurer of Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Kishore Sangha, that holds the puja in an empty plot next to BB-BC Park.

There was another reason for the organisers to choose the theme they did. “Soumitra had come to this very park for the shooting of Sanjhbati last year. The house the film was shot at is right behind the puja pandal. There was a huge crowd to see Dev, Paoli Dam, Lily Chakravarty and, of course, Soumitra. However, we were never allowed to go up close and interact with them. But we are happy to have built the pandal on the ground that Soumitra must have walked on,” said secretary Surajit Pal.

The big screen outside the Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Kishore Sangha’s pandal played Soumitra films Sourced by the correspondent

Outside the pandal, the organisers installed a giant screen with pictures of the actor as border. “On Sunday evening, we played his songs, dialogues and recitation and on Monday, we screened Sonar Kella,” says Saha. On Tuesday, they screened Jhinder Bondi and Basanta Bilap and visitors were free to occupy the chairs placed at safe distances and enjoy the shows.

Sonar Kella drew the highest crowd, of about 40 people. “Many kids had come and even the elderly who wanted to revisit their childhood,” Saha said.