Durga Puja rights sold to a US company

Taking corporatisation of Durga Puja festival to a new height, a prominent puja committee in Kolkata has sold the rights of the celebrations to a US company and roped in a Bollywood superstar as its brand ambassador.

The entire expenses of the Badamtala Ashar Sangha Puja in south Kolkata will be borne by the US company 'Media Morphosis' which will promote it in the media and the web.

This marked a departure from the practice in vogue in which a puja committee would get different sponsors, but itself manage the resources.

In another trend-setting move, the organisers have got superstar Mithun Chakraborty to endorse the puja which has been creating waves over the years for its aesthetic novelty fetching it several prizes.

"We had thought about Mithunda since he is one figure closely linked with Kolkata and the popular tinsel celebrity is liked by people from all over the country for his friendly image."

"We all know how much he is involved with the city. And once we approached him and explained our idea, his response was positive," said Subhajit Sarkar, an executive committee member of the club.

Chakraborty, who had left the city when the community Durga pujas were celebrated in a more conventional format with little thought spared on themes, had been keenly following the changeover to more corporate-oriented theme-based celebrations for the past one decade.