A stylish way to ring in 2012

The Calcutta Club New Year’s Eve presented by Black Dog with media associate The Times of India and co-sponsored by the UB Group was a roaring success among the members and guests who rocked the night of December 31 with fun, food, laughter and music.

With the dawn of the New Year few hours away, the club was all decked up and bustling with people making merry at every corner. Hirak K Mitra, president of the club, explained, “Though the age profile of the club is quite high, they have not lost the capacity to rejoice.” To celebrate this special night with friends and family, members had started pouring in from 9 pm. According to Dr Indrajit Roy, sheriff of Kolkata and chairman of the Wine and Cigar committee, Calcutta Club, said, “There are members who don’t visit the club regularly but this time of the year everybody took time out to come together and usher in the New Year. Around 1,500 people joined us on NYE. This club represents Kolkata people who know how to make merry and get into a joyous mood given half an excuse.” With Hip Pocket belting out hit English numbers, people swayed to the tunes on the dance floor. Initiated by a ball dance by an elderly couple, the rest of the night saw people of all age groups dancing away. The electrifying ambience was created by Sumith Ramchandran’s guitar, Mainak Nag Chowdhury on bass and Dominic Saldanha on the keyboard.

As the spirits soared higher, the hugs and embraces got warmer with DJ Sameer from Mumbai giving people a reason to let their hair down with a foot-tapping mix of current Bollywood hits while the countdown to the New Year began with “Kolaveri Di” and ended in balloons bursting, loud cheers and warm wishes. As Sambhu Mukherjee, one of the past presidents, added, “Though I am a member of some other clubs I feel at home here. This is the best celebration for me.”

Ustad Rashid Khan’s son’s birthday bash in Kolkata

Pranam, Ghajini” – That’s how Bickram Ghoshgreeted Ustad Rashid Khan at the birthday bash of the vocalist’s son on January 1.

Khan, of course, was a little surprised with the new moniker and it took him close to 10 minutes to fathom the connection between him and “Ghajini”. Patting his back, Bickram said, “I read in the papers that you would be performing for Aamir Khan and that’s how I thought of the “Ghajini” connect.”

The night wore on and celebrations of Armaan (Khan’s son) continued in full swing. With musical renditions by Dipan and Kalyanjit, more wisecracks followed. Pt Debojyoti Bose called Khan aside and said, “If Bickram calls you Ghajini, you give it back to him and say, “Pranam, Iron Man”. These days, Bickram has graduated from endorsing milk to steel. So, if you are Ghajini, we should all call Bickram, the Iron Man of Bengal!”

Soon PT Tanmoy Bose joined in the fun and, then, there was no stopping the Bickram-Tanmoy duo from playing pranks. Naughty jokes were exchanged freely that had both Gargi and Swastika go red in the face. Swastika, Bickram and Khan shared their stories of having judged a show together and how Khan had shown a placard which had the ‘mindblowing’ tag written on it to one of the most lousy participants on the show. “The contestant literally blew my mind away and the only way I could voice my opinion was to say that sarcastically!” Khan said.

Meanwhile, Swastika brought up the topic of how unconvincing Bickram was in the lovemaking scenes of “Hothat Neerar Jonnye”. A mock-fight ensued between the two only to be punctuated by a call to Bickram to hit the dance floor on the lawns that rocked to the DJ mix of “Chammak challo” to ” Kolaveri Di”.

New Year parties in Kolkata

There were the ‘Desi boyz’. There were the ‘Chammak challos’. And together they partied as if there was no tomorrow. Their mantra – “Subah hone na de, saath khone na de, ek doosre ko hum sone na de.”

With barely a few seconds for the clock to strike midnight, DJ ANSHUL at UNDERGROUND, THE HHI, started the countdown. Every single person joined in. And then, it was time for New Year hugs and kisses for each other. Those wanting to connect with their near and dear ones before the lines got jammed, rushed outside, phone in hand, to make that New Year wish. What better way to welcome the event than by playing “Kolaveri Di”!

Soon after, the DJ went dhinchak with “Dekha jo tujhe yaar, dil mein baji guitar”! “I had to play “Chammak Challo”, “Subah hone na de”, “Kolaveri Di” and “Ooh la la”, at least thrice as the party people wanted to dance to these songs in particular. It’s good to see the Kolkata people rocking,” said Anshul. Everyone wanted to have a good time and despite the club being choc-a-bloc with hardly any space to shimmy and shake a leg, people never complained. The reason? Party abhi baki hain!

CHAMMAK CHALLO VS KOLAVERI DI
A loud cheer rang out when the familiar beats of “Chammak challo” blared through the speakers at Venom. The jampacked dancefloor exploded in a collective coordinated hand movement a la SRK and Kareena as DJ Kunal spun the remixed version of the track. But there was more to come! Enter “Kolaveri Di”, hip hop ishtyle! The soup song was reborn in an international avatar on the turntable and made revellers groove like never before.

FROM WALES WITH LOVE
“In the UK, people prefer partying at their homes on New Year’s Eve,” said the beautiful DJ Misy from Wales, who played at Venom as part of her Ministry of Sound world tour. “The people of Kolkata seriously know how to party! I love the fact that they have a dance move ready for every beat. Tonight, I’ll mostly play commercial and progressive house,” she said as she took over the console a little after midnight.

ZERO HOUR
Close to midnight, there was a flurry of activity at the club as people got busy with their phones sending last moment texts and BBMs to their loved ones. As DJ Kunal started the countdown, a hush fell over the floor. At exactly midnight, the party people were seen wishing each other. Hugs and kisses galore, it was one happening night of ushering in 2012.

While most of the world decided to dance their way into the new year, there were a few who settled down for a cozy dinner at POOLSIDE, FORTUNE SELECT LOUDON. We spotted a gang of guys from IIM, Joka, having a good time. “We decided to spend New year’s Eve away from our academic routines. So we decided to chill out by the pool side,” said one. At ZODIAC, we spotted cozy couples, happy families and bunch of friends enjoying the lavish buffet spread and the select wine on offer.