Jai Ganesh chants Bollywood

B-Town’s Ganpati devotees made a beeline for some of the mandals selected for the Times Utsav Moorti Sanman in its 9th year. The competition has received over 852 entries, out of which 14 have been shortlistedGanesh Utsav Mandal, Tardeo Actor Vivek Oberoi was awestruck by this mandal, where the idol has been encrusted with over three lakh artificial diamonds. Oberoi, who confesses to gorging on modaks and puran poli, spoke to us about his “sweetest” memory from the festival and said, “This year was all the more special as it was my son’s first Ganesh Chaturthi.”Shree Sai Darshan Mitra Mandal, Malad The 43-year-old Shree Sai Darshan Mitra Mandal at Malad is as offbeat as it is beautiful. In fact, the idol, made from 32,334 pencils, also caught director Abhinay Deo’s fancy. He said, “It is a great concept. I am an architect too and can understand the effort that went into creating this.” About his childhood Ganpati memories, he said that he remembers he went from door to door for modaks.Sahyadri Krida Mandal, Chembur Actor Tusshar visited the Sahyadri Krida Mandal at Tilaknagar in Chembur, which is celebrating the 100 years of Indian cinema. In tandem, the decorations here included lifesize statues of actors, movie posters and photographs of Hindi and Marathi actors as a salute to the era. Tusshar told us that Ganesh Chaturthi is one of his favourite festivals, more so since he is a Mumbaikar. “The buzz around the festival is quite amazing. It is one festival I always wait for. While the festivities are limited to a few days and end with the visarjan, the good thing is that Ganpati Bappa enters our homes again the next year,” he said.Bandra West Sarvajanik Mandal Actress Sophie Choudry loved every moment of her visit to this mandal. In fact, Sophie told us that this is the third consecutive year that she has been visiting a mandal shortlisted for the Times Utsav Moorti Sanman. Talking about how special the Ganpati festival is for her, she said, “Each year, I keep falling in love with the festival a bit more. I am getting a lot of blessings too.” Born and brought up in London, Sophie said that she started experiencing the fervour associated with the huge anpaticelebrations when she moved to Mumbai nine years ago. This year, this mandal has replicated Gujarat’s Abu Ambaji temple.