SWARUP DUTTA, 40 Scenographer

Having grown up in the

hills, surrounded by ample references to western pop culture, Swarup Dutta never thought he would develop an aesthetic sense that was distinctly Indian. But the fashion design student from National Institute of Fashion Design Kolkata and Nottingham Trent University internalised an important lesson taught in college. “If you do not stand for anything, you fall for everything. For me that ‘something’ was our roots,” says Dutta.

Interior Wise

A turning point in his design career came when he consulted with artist Narayan Sinha and Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswate during the development of Sonar Tori, a concept restaurant in Ganga Kutir resort in Raichak. This lead to the interiors for restored bungalow and restaurant Jhaal Farezi. Dutta had found his signature look that was rooted in Indian crafts but “with as little intervention as possible”.

His latest project presented the opportunity to restore an old building in North Kolkata and do it up as a bed and breakfast. Calcutta Bungalow was a crumbling old building when Iftekar Ahsan of Calcutta Walks bought it. “Old buildings such as these are built in a different way. The concept of an en-suite did not exist then. To make a bed-and-breakfast out of it with an attached bath in each room was a mammoth task,” he says. Every room in Calcutta Bungalow tells a story and has a theme. While Darzipara, which has a charkha as a headboard and old sewing table as writing desk, pays homage to Dutta's fashion roots, Mochipara features an installation of old wooden shoe moulds.

Sign Off

“I have seen heritage buildings being pulled down all across the city but in this case it turned out to be such a positive story,” he says.