Arunima at the Ad Club bash. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

What: Celebration of 54 years of the Advertising Club Calcutta.

Where: Pala, ITC Sonar Calcutta.

When: Friday evening.

The bash: When some of the best minds in advertising come together to party, you can expect sparks to fly. And the party at ITC did not disappoint on this front. It was an evening of meeting friends, renewing acquaintances and finding new ones, over cocktails and dinner.

The guest list was a charming blend of achievers from various walks of life — from advertising veteran Ram Ray to film director Goutam Ghose. Arindam Sil dropped in with his wife. “I am a complete party person, but I don’t party with the film fraternity very often. My friends’ group is very mixed,” smiled the actor-producer. t2 columnists Rita Bhimani and Swati Gautam were also present.

The glamour brigade included Locket Chatterjee, Rimjhim and Arunima. While Locket looked radiant in a sari, Arunima looked chic in blue jeans and white shirt. Rimjhim was quite the baby doll in a mini-skirt and fitted top, with a chunky neckpiece.

The football fever that has been raging since India won the Nehru Cup touched this party too, as the ad men felicitated Alvito D’Cunha and Brazilian Edmilson Marques, both East Bengal players.

It was also a mini-reunion for Xaverians. Many ex-students of St Xavier’s Calcutta crowded around college principal Father Mathew, who regaled the crowd with anecdotes from his teaching career. The Advertising Club felicitated Father Mathew for moulding the lives of so many students down the decades. “I am humbled,” said the principal, who has also just completed 50 years of life as a Jesuit.

Voiceover: “It’s been a long journey for Advertising Club Calcutta, the first advertising club in the country,” smiled Sidhartha Roy, the president of Advertising Club Calcutta. “Four years ago, in its 50th year, the club was reborn with three objectives — to give back to the fraternity the knowledge that we have, to promote interaction between the fraternity and to take the ad awards forward. The last objective also gave rise to the Consumer Connect Award. I think we have been able to move forward in all these objectives,” said Roy.