Mahalaya: Sreelekha Mitra strikes again, criticises TV shows

Mahalaya is almost upon us and right in the morning of October 14 Birendrakrishna Bhadra’s recitation will begin the Debi Paksha. A number of curated dance shows of Mahishasuramardini will be broadcast on different channels. 

Amid this, the nostalgia of Sanjukta Banerjee also engulfs the Bengali audience. Her presentation of the Mahalaya-special dance show on Doordarshan used to be an iconic marker of the Autumn festival. Her style, original craft, and presentation still beat the VFX-driven mahalaya curations. Like last year, actress Sreelekha Mitra took to her social media to criticise the modern-day Mahalaya shows on TV. 

Also read: Sreelekha Mitra: My life is without the pressure of ED, CBI, and lavishness at others’ expenses 

Sreelekha is known to speak her heart. Each year, every television channel gets into a battle to milk the Mahalaya slot TRP. This year, Koel Mallick will be seen as Ma Durga on Star Jalsha. Zee Bangla will present their show with their serial Jagaddhatri’s lead Ankita Mullick. On her social media, Sreelekha wrote, “Once again that time of horrible Mahalaya is here. Please don’t take it personally. Even if you do, I don’t care.”

Last year too, Sreelekha took to her social media to criticise the shows. She wrote that it does not need a designer sari to become Ma Durga. “VFX cannot fix other shortcomings too. When will the channel understand? We saw Sanjukta Banerjee playing Ma Durga in our childhood. She was a perfect match because her face resembled Ma Durga. You don’t have that. It’s not your fault. The fault is in the system and it is political and of power. Please don’t think I am saying this out of jealousy. In fact, feel free to think so. Simplicity rules,” she wrote. 

Sanjukta Banerjee first performed as Ma Durga in Mahishasurmardini in 1994. She was last seen as Durga in 2014.