Barun Sobti was in Kolkata on the auspicious days of Ashtami and Navami during Durga Puja to shoot for his next Bolly flick, Mitali Ghoshal's 22 Yards.
In a particular shot in Barisha Players' Corner pandal, a puja presided over by cricketer Sourav Ganguly in his para, Barun's character of cricket agent Ron Sen was upposed to shoot for a Puja sequence. "It's like a homecoming of Ron, who is generally engrossed in work. It's a moment of soul searching for him as he comes back to his roots. He was reminiscing about his childhood," said Barun, dressed in a yellow kurta with baggy blue pants and red chappals, complimented by a full blown beard.
Dada, as Sourav is fondly called in Kolkata, met Barun for the first time during Sandhi Puja and made sure he was comfortable. "This is the first time I am seeing Durga Puja for real. It is overwhelming," he said. In a break between the shoot, he also donned a dhoti kurta and posed as the ideal Bangali Babu for The Times of India.
The crew later shifted to Mamata Banerjee's para Puja — Kalighat Milan Samiti — where they shot a montage sequence, with Barun donning a black kurta for the role. "It was a very good experience shooting in the two pandals. A lot of fans of Barun were waiting to catch a glimpse of him, but they were very well-behaved. We were welcomed warm heartedly. Though we shot between spells of rain, the organizers were very cooperative," said director Mitali Ghoshal, who is in Mumbai at present to record a song with Salim-Sulaiman. She added that they went pandal hopping to Ballygunge Cultural and nearby places, before heading for a long drive and coffee, so Barun could soak in the flavour of Puja in Kolkata.
The next schedule of the film will be shot in the last week of October and early November in Kolkata. "It will be a long schedule. Hopefully some of the songs will be shot in that schedule," said producer Partho Rudra.
Well, Barun will also be seen playing an instrument traditionally played during Durga Puja. To know what's that, keep following this space.
