Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata erects life-sized statue of Sonu Sood, actor reacts

“Actor Sonu Sood played a big role during the lockdown phase, we have erected a big statue of him to motivate others to help those near them,” Srinjay Dutt, a member of the puja committee, told ANI.

Amid a dampened festive mood owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Durga Puja committees in Kolkata are coming up with various unique ideas and themes for the pandals.

The image shows the life-sized idol of actor Sonu Sood.(Twitter/@ANI)

A Durga puja committee in Kolkata, Prafulla Kanak Welfare Association, has chosen the hardships faced by migrant labourers during COVID-induced lockdown as the theme for its puja pandal in Kolkata. The committee has also installed a statue of actor Sonu Sood to honour his services to the labourers during the lockdown.

ANI also took to Twitter to share some images from the pandal:

The images were widely shared by several others too. Sonu Sood reposted one such tweet and wrote, “My biggest award ever.”

Srinjay Dutt, a member of the puja committee, said that they had tried to capture the struggle of the labourers to the best of their ability.

“Our theme is the struggle of migrant workers who were attempting to return to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Actor Sonu Sood played a big role during the lockdown phase, we have erected a big statue of him to motivate others to help those near them,” Dutt told ANI here.

He also welcomed the Calcutta High Court decision on Wednesday in which it partially eased its order which had declared Durga Puja pandals in the state as “no entry zones” in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench of the High Court allowed ‘dhakis’ to be present outside the no-entry zone in each pandal and said that 15 persons will be allowed in smaller pandals while 60 people will be allowed for larger pandals.

The court was hearing a petition over setting up of pandals during the Durga Puja.

The High Court had earlier this week directed that the Durga Puja pandals would be no-entry zones for the visitors and also ordered that people would not be allowed within a five-metre distance for small pandals and 10 metre for big pandals.

The bench had also asked each puja committee to submit a blueprint on crowd management.

This year, Durga Puja be celebrated from October 23 to October 26. As the festive week of Navratri kicks off, devotees are looking forward to celebrating Durga Puja across India.