For Tollywood actress Madhumita Sarcar, Durga Puja means hitting the streets of Kolkata with friends, enjoying the festivities and trying not to get recognised. This year’s celebrations carry extra significance: they mark her first Durga Puja after marriage. Yet, rather than go pandal-hopping with her husband, she prefers exploring the city with her friends.
Being a celebrity makes a low-key outing tricky. Madhumita has developed her own way of blending into the crowd, as she revealed in a recent interview with The Wall.
“I can easily blend into a crowd. I don’t look people in the eye. I simply walk while looking down at the ground. After seeing the idols, I quickly leave. During Puja, everyone is busy with themselves, so people don’t notice me easily,” she said.
Her strategy does not always work, though. Madhumita recalled one particularly amusing outing when she and her friends left their car parked in one place and walked quite a distance. To return to the car, they later took a bus.
“My friends don’t say anything at first. But just as I am about to get off the bus, one of them suddenly says, ‘That’s not a bird!’ Before the other passengers can understand what is happening, my friends grab my hand and take me off the bus,” she said.
For Madhumita, these little adventures are part of the fun of celebrating Puja like an ordinary person while keeping her celebrity identity under wraps.
“So, what’s the fun of Puja without these moments?” she joked.
