‘Saraswati ma ke alawa sab mask me rahenge’
Pushpanjali, aarti, bhog and star presence — Anurag Basu’s annual Saraswati Puja is one such occasion that sees the who’s who of Bollywood. Attended in the past by actors such as Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan and the likes, this puja has been a do that most celebs in Bollywood have visited at some point. But this year, Basu shares that it “will be an intimate affair” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Saraswati ma ke alawa sab mask me rahenge,” says the filmmaker, who has been organising the event in Mumbai since 1997. He hosted the puja, on a small scale, last year, too, and says that this year, it’ll be “private”. “It’s the biggest puja in my family, and in most Bengali families. In school, we used to have a holiday on Saraswati Puja. It’s imbibed in our system since childhood. I’m just continuing the tradition.”
“Close friends, assistants, and relatives will come and attend [this time]. It’ll not be a sarvajanik puja. Fewer people will attend the puja. And I’m getting messages from people saying ‘Facebook (pe live stream) kijiye, hum dekhenge’. So a lot of people will attend the puja virtually on February 16,” adds Basu.
Talk of the annual tradition, at his home, in the pre pandemic times and “fond memories” come rushing back to Basu. “My friends and musicians would come and perform. Pritam (musician) would sing two-three songs of my forthcoming movies. This year also, we look forward to the night before the puja when we do the preparations, decor and cut vegetables. Kareeb 100 se 150 kilo bhog banta hai! Raat ko friends, assistants come and cut vegetables and I, then, start cooking the morning after, at 4.30 or 5am!”