09 September,2024 11:09 AM IST | Mumbai | Oshin Fernandes
Dibyendu Bhattacharya’s Paris Olympics-themed decor for Ganpati Bappa
Actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya, currently seen in the Anubhav Sinha directorial web series âIC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' that streams on Netflix, speaks exclusively to mid-day.com about his Paris Olympics-themed Bappa for Ganesh Chaturthi 2024 celebrations. We visited his Mumbai home where he explained how the decor consisted of medals won by his daughter, a football player, and also treated us to the delicious bhog he cooked himself.
It's his 18th year celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya has left no stone unturned to create a unique theme. Given India's incredible run at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the actor and his family extended the same for Bappa's decor. The actor, a proud dad, explained how they used his football player daughter Norah's medals to add the bling, with the deity of course wearing gold.
He shares, "Every year, we don't buy any decoration pieces from outside, except the raw materials, and do everything on our own. We have a theme for the puja and this time it is the 2024 Paris Olympics. Ganpati Bappa is number one with gold, then there's Neeraj Chopra with silver and the Indian Hockey Team with bronze."
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Since Dibyendu's Ganpati is for one and a half days, he cooks a traditional Bengali bhog on the first day, while his wife Richa offers Punjabi food on the second day. He explains, "I cook Khichdi and Labra. We have 5 types of Bhaja - Parwal, Baingan, Bhindi, Gobi, and Chauli. I offer it on the first day. And the second day it's my wife's turn. She offers something Punjabi style like Chole Bhature. That is our ritual."
When asked what he prays for, the actor replies, "I always pray for peace, good health, prosperity. I pray for everyone, for a better world. I pray that I should get more work and good work and I should get more accolades. I should be able to win the hearts of the audience. I don't pray for particular things. I don't pray like 'Ganpati Bappa mujhe ek dabba rasgulla mil jaye'. He's solving everything for me and the world."
