A coffee-table book celebrates the city of Kolkata, then and now

Kolkata, a city that defies change, is as much about its fabled history as its vivacious present. A coffee-table book unpeels the decades with a selection of photos starting from the late 19th century to the present day. From capturing the everyday lives of Kolkatans and their obsessions, to snapshots of its architectural riches and portraits of world icons, Calcutta Then, Kolkata Now is a palimpsest of a historic period of the ‘city of joy’.

 

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar at a jalsa (soirée) at the Marble Palace in 1984. (Photo: Sourendra Mullick Collection)

Singers Runa Laila and Usha Uthup (right) at the latter’s Studio Vibrations in 198. (Photo: ABP Archives)

Freed from jail, the ailing Subhas Chandra Bose relaxes at home. (Photo: ABP Archives)

The proprietor at an old family-run medical store that sells wonderdrugs to help combat the after-effects of the many savoury fried fatales. (Photo: Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee)

Political graffiti, once ubiquitous, has almost vanished after a state law in 2006. Seen here, a religious mural in a North Kolkata alley. (Photo: Tanayesh Talukdar)

The late chief minister Jyoti Basu, who led the Left Front regime for decades. (Photo: Getty IMages)

The legendary auteur Satyajit Ray directing actor Utpal Dutt (seated) on the sets of Agantuk. (Photo: ABP ARCHIVES)

Prominent Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (centre). Picture: Rupa and Gautam Gupta

An imported zebra used to harness a customised carriage is a sight of wealth meeting eccentricity in the Kolkata of yore. (Picture: Getty IMages)

Brazilian soccer superstar Pele in action in a tie between Mohun Bagan and Cosmos in 1977. (Photo: ABP Archives)

---

Reprinted with permission from Calcutta Then, Kolkata Now by Sunanda K Datta-Ray, Pramod Kapoor, Indrajit Hazra and Anshika Varma, published by Roli Books