Saraswati ma ke alawa sab mask me rahenge: Anurag Basu

Pushpanjali, aarti, bhog and star presence — the annual Saraswati Puja at filmmaker Anurag Basu’s place is one 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 tradition has been one that most celebs have visited at some point

Pushpanjali, aarti, bhog and star presence — the annual Saraswati Puja at filmmaker Anurag Basu’s place is one 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 tradition has been one that most celebs have visited at some point. But this year, Basu shares that it “will be an intimate affair” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Filmmaker Anurag Basu plans to invite only close friends to Saraswati Puja at his place this year, due to Covid-19. (File Photo: Waseem Gashroo/HT)

“Saraswati ma ke alawa sab mask me rahenge,” says the Ludo director, who has been organising the puja in Mumbai since 1997. He hosted the event, at a small scale, last year too, and says that this year it’ll be a “private puja”. “Log judte gaye aur karwaan badta gaya... 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 just imbibed in our system since childhood. So, I’m just continuing the tradition.”

Anurag Basu with Katrina Kaif during the 2019 puja in Mumbai. Basu has been organising this puja in Mumbai since 1997. (HT PHOTO/ Prodip Guha)

“Close friends, assistants, and relatives will come and attend [this time]. It’ll not be a sarvajanik puja. Fewer people will be attending the puja. And I’m getting messages from people saying ‘Facebook (pe live stream) kijiye, hum dekhenge aur puja karenge’. So a lot of people will attend the puja virtually this time 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. “When I see old pictures of Saraswati Puja, the album, I see a thin Pritam (music composer) and thin Anurag Basu (laughs),” he says, adding, “My friends and musicians come and perform; it’s a big adda when they come. Some great performances and jamming sessions have happened [in the past]. Pritam would sing two-three songs of my forthcoming movies, so people would hear them for the first time. 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. Then, we all jam at the music station. This is what happens traditionally every year. I, then, start cooking the morning after, at 4.30 or 5am.”

Author tweets @NainaArora8

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