Bips in fashion

The debate over whether having Bollywood stars at fashion shows shifts the attention from the designers and their creations, to starpower, has been on for sometime now.

But Kolkata is more than happy to have high-profile Bollywood stars walk the ramp. As the first edition of the Kolkata Fashion Week kicks off in style on April 2, the city will get to see none other than Bipasha Basu sashaying down the ramp!

It is a return to the roots for Bipasha, who came down to shoot for her debut Bengali film in Sob Choritro Kalponik. It’s another matter that the film is yet to be released over a confusion with Bipasha not agreeing to someone else (read Sohini Halder) dubbing for her in the Rituparno Ghosh film. “I find it ridiculous that one version of the film that’s dubbed by another artiste would be sent for the National Awards, while another version that’s dubbed by me will be used for the film’s commercial release,” Bipasha insists. The proposition seems a tad weird, what with the jury and the man on the street being quite familiar with the star’s natural voice quality.

While it seems that Kolkata will still have to wait for sometime till it gets to see the Ballygunge girl returning to the Bengali silver screen, it’s only a matter of days for the star to return to Kolkata ramp. “I will be walking the ramp at the Kolkata Fashion Week,” she says, much to the excitement of her fans.

And that’s not all. The buzz doing the rounds is that her beau John Abraham, too, would be gracing the KFW ramp! In case you thought the duo would be too hot together for the Kolkata ramp, grapevine has it that the stars would be walking for different fashion designers.

Yudhajit Dutta, managing director, Mindscapes Group of Companies that is promoting the KFW, isn’t ready to spill the beans yet. Refusing to confirm the news, he says, “All official announcements, including the names of the designers whose collections the stars will showcase, will be made on Monday.”

Neha Dhupia, Dino Morea, Mugdha Godse and now, Bipasha Basu... April sure seems to be the busiest month on Kolkata’s fashion street!