Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival : Zeenat to lead hill glitterati line-up

Zeenat Aman, Mahima Chaud Darjeeling, Dec. 16: Zeenat Aman, the actress who dazzled movie buffs all through the 70s, is set to lead a host of Bollywood and football celebrities at the Darjeeling festival, a line-up never seen in the hills before. The Hara Rama Hare Krishna star will be accompanied by another actress Mahima Chaudhary on the inaugural day of the Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival on December 20. The star-studded launch of the festival will be complete with the presence of some of the football icons in the country — Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Shyam Thapa. “On the inaugural day, Zeenat Aman, Mahima Chaudhary, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Shyam Thapa will be present,” said Saumitra Mohan, the Darjeeling district magistrate and the president of the festival committee. The glitterati list is not limited to the first day of the festival alone. “We will have Mahesh Bhatt, Moon Moon Sen, Aparna Sen, Sabyasachi Chakraborty (actor) and (writer) Sunil Gangopadhyay on the final day (January 5),” said Uday Mani Pradhan, general secretary of the festival committee. Bollywood faces like actor Meiyang Chang, cinematographer Binod Pradhan and Ramesh Sharma, a director of repute, will also be in the hills during the 15 days of extravaganza. While the committee is trying to contact billiards player Michael Ferreira (who studied at Mount Hermon in Darjeeling), an invitation has been extended to Danny Denzongpa for his felicitation at the festival. But Denzongpa is yet to confirm his attendance. A carnival parade will be organised at the Darjeeling Motor Stand at 10am on December 20, following which the festival will be inaugurated by the celebrities at Chowrastha. “Six major heritage buildings will be illuminated during the festival,” said Mohan. The buildings are St Andrew’s Church, Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, Capital Tower, Darjeeling Planter’s Club, Darjeeling post office and the Gorkha Ranga Manch Bhavan, which is the main venue. The curtain will fall with a star guest switching off the lights at the six listed buildings, followed by an hour-long laser show, on January 5. “The laser show will be the first of its kind in north Bengal. It will depict the history of Darjeeling through the ages,” said Raju Pradhan, working president of the committee. Over a hundred events have been lined up for the festival which will be spread out in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik. -The Telegraph