India’s chatterati throng Pune

It is as if the very stars are descending from the heavens. For the Pune Festival, which opens this evening, celebrities are pouring in from every field, every part of the land. Honoured guests all, being especially flown in for the event, they promise a star parade.

In the Festival tradition of rolling out the red carpet, cars are being made to wait at the airport to escort their eminences, hotel suites booked en bloc being given last-minute looks and chefs told to bring out from the larders all that topline culinary skills can cook.

In its tenth year, the Pune Festival is being touted as an extravaganza which will have people screaming for more.

Never mind what the critics, cynics have to say. So what if Pawar has fought with Kalmadi and is no longer the festival chairman. So what if the event list does not sound as exciting as it did when Pawar and Kalmadi were the best of chums who chaired the festival together. After all, Pawar still has a festival on at Pimpri-Chinchwad and Kalmadi in Pune.

Festival watchers say the big names are missing from Pune this year. But even then the fare sounds exciting what with performances by Mallika Sarabhai, Pratibha Prahlad, Shovana Narayan, Kishori Amonkar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Kumar Sanu, Rajendra and Neena Mehta, Altaf Raja and Usha Uthup sure to pull the crowds.

By Friday afternoon, the crowds in Pune were already fighting to have a dekko at the guests from filmdom — Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Om Puri, Aruna Irani and Pooja Batra. Turbaned Ramakrishna Hegde, Manohar Joshi and Raj Thackeray too were inviting looks.

Hotel Blue Diamond and Holiday Inn — the two best addresses in town if you are visiting Pune — were awaiting the arrival of a certain Mrs Michael Bates and her husband who is Britain’s High Commissioner to India; Argentina’s Ambassador Biritus; and, you said it, R.K.Laxman; Shobha De; Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and sons; Pratibha Prahlad; Yashodara Raje; Mrs and Mr Ajatshatru Singh; Uma Gajapati Raju; Ramesh Sharma; Ritu Beri; and, Divya Singh.

At the Totem Pole in Holiday Inn, a surprise bash was being organised for one of the honoured guests. The Kalmadi camp is ecstatic though they deny they are trying to settle scores with the rival camp. “Why is it that the media treats a festival as an extension of political rivalry? True, Pawar and Kalmadi are no longer together. But isn’t it nice Pawar is participating in one festival while Kalmadi is working hard to ensure that the Pune festival is a resounding success?” retorts a Kalmadi supporter.

In neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pawar had more or less the same lines to sing when he attended the inaugural function of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Festival on Thursday.

Maintaining that the festival was not organised because of “any political fallout”, Pawar said “at least some events should be kept away from controversies.” Yet in the same breath he justified the holding of the Pimpri-Chinchwad festival “since every village has its own Ganesh festival, it is also proper for elected corporators to think of holding an independent festival for the industrial township.”

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), which until last year shared the entire expense for a two-day village fair organised as part of the Pune Festival, pulled out this year. The village fair will now be held as part of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Festival. Not to be caught napping by the star parade in Pune, the festival organisers have invited the likes of Sonu Nigam and Jaspal Bhatti to entertain the crowds.

With Shaan Chavan & Sunanda Mehta