A delegate dinner with a difference

The 14th Kolkata Film Festival is on its last day today. As usual it has seen a couple of delegate dinners thrown in by distinguished businessmen of the city to acquire the prestige of the distinction of making it to the host list cleared by the festival authority.

The dinner hosted by Arijit Dutta of Priya Entertainments (best known as the owner of Priya Cinema, the iconic film theatre of South Kolkata) on 12 November was with some difference. For one, it was hosted not in a five star hotel, but in Priya Cinema itself, in its specious lobbies. He is too proud of Priya to host it anywhere else it seems. And then, the menu did make a noteworthy difference.

Everybody was welcomed at the gate by a warm 'Namaskar' by the Priya Entertainments team, sometimes joined by the Chairperson Purnima Dutta. The second floor, where the balcony is located, was converted to a bar-cum-dance floor with a DJ in action. A lavish Bengali spread was laid on the first floor (where the stalls are located). The menu, served by Ayojon Caterers of Bhowanipore, goes like this- Luchi (from a live counter), begun bhaja, chholar dal, alur dum, dhokar dalna, chhanar kalia, plain rice, bhetki paturi, baked chicken, kasha mangsho, chhanar payesh and hot pantua. Everybody was spoilt for choice, including the pleasantly surprised foreign delegates. The presence of media and trade was thick besides celebrities like Nandita Das (flanked by painter father Jatin Das), Jeet and directors Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Subrata Sen.