Starry night tops Shera Pujo glory

KOLKATA: It was back to the festive days once more on Friday evening. The beat of dhak, Raghab Chatterjee's melody, Chandrabindoo's popular numbers and a bevy of beauties resplendent in crisp red and white cotton sarees walking away with awards. The occasion was the prize distribution ceremony of The Times of India Pujo Barir Shera Pujo 2009 presented by UCO Bank at the Science City auditorium.
The star attraction of the presentation ceremony was the chief guest, Tollywood actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, who gave away the top two awards to Lake District (first prize in category I) and Gita Bhavan (first prize in category II).Other celebrities who shared the dais with him were actors Arindam Sil, Saheb Chatterjee, Bhaswar Chatterjee and fashion designer Sharbari Dutta.
Coming straight from a shoot in Behala, Prosenjit said, "Durga Puja is a festival which is close to the heart of every Bengali. It's great to relive the puja spirit."
The other apartments that picked up awards were Ekta Heights, Club Town, South City, Megha Mallar, Hiland Park, Udita, Nilachal Complex Phase II, Hastings Tower, Gariahat Government Housing Estate, Eastern Park Society and Oriole's Nest.
The guest of honour, S K Dey Purkayastha, general manager, UCO Bank, said, "We are proud to be associated with an endeavour that helps us bond better with Kolkatans. We treat this award as part of our corporate social responsibility and we hope our partnership will continue."
This year, 230 housing complexes participated in the contest which was judged in two categories: category I, which focused on complexes with more than 100 flats, and category II, which focused on complexes with less than 100 flats. In category I, the first two prizes were worth Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, while the special judge's awards were worth Rs 10,000 each. In the second category, the first two prizes were worth Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000. The judge's awards were for Rs 5,000 each. In addition to these, there were 50 special appreciation awards for Rs 4,000 each. In total, 64 prizes were given away worth Rs 5 lakh. The pujas were judged on the basis of idols, decoration, cultural programmes and the presence of The Times
of India.
The spotlight was turned on Raghab Chatterjee after the awards were given away. The singer lent his powerful voice to a number of classical, Hindi and Bengali songs. His songs like Ekdin Keu Chole Jae Dure, Tomar Chokhe Ami Amar Maron Dekhechhi, Chand Keno and the popular Allah Ke Bande had the audience erupting in a loud applause.
When Bangla band Chandrabindoo hit the stage with Juju and Howrah Bridge, it was time for the winners to join in the celebration with claps, dances and shouts of "Shamner bachhor abar hobe!"