Pujo is all about gearing up for the festivities with tons of energy.

This time Thums Up had organised Thums Up Toofani Gang with the Cinestars Abir and Priyanka; in association with t2.

A few simple fitness tests; a bit of adventure; participation in a quiz which challenges one’s intelligence and having a Thums Up in a toofani approach... that’s it! One would get a chance to be a part of the ‘Toofani Gang’. Now, one might ask, ‘Is there a new gang in the city called Toofani?’ Actually, during pujo all of us are in a toofani mood. From shopping to pandal hopping - we get charged up in everything. And for a few days during the pujo, we go berserk and spend fun times in the pujo pandals. So, in this season of fun and festivity, Thums Up has organised Thums Up Toofani Gang, in association with t2. Our emotions connected to pujo are special. And in the middle of all of this Thums Up Toofani raised up a Toofan. It was a weekend, with pujo shopping in full swing. And in the middle of this suddenly there was a lot of excitement created by the Thums Up event, in the various localities in the city and in the suburbs - Bagbazar, Hatibagan, Beleghata, Amherst Street, Girish Park, Maniktala, Beadon street, Tagore Park, Radhamadhab Dutta Lane, Baguihati, Garia, Beltala, Anandapur, Baghajatin and Chetla. Not only boys, but girls also participated with a lot of gusto and took up the challenge. In these 15 localities, more than 100 participants took part in each event. Out of all the participants, 150 were selected and a Grand Final was organised at the South City Mall on 28 September.

Actors Abir and Priyanka of the Toofani Gang, selected 8 candidates for their Gang. There would be a wild card entry for 4 candidates for pandal hopping day. There were prizes for all the participants in the event and a never-ending flow of Thums Up. Apart from this there was a Juggling performance presented by Ranga; a hip-hop dance performance by the Impulse Dance Troop and Brilliant toofani performance on cycles by Wajed and Akash. The audience enjoyed the event to their hearts’ content. The event was conducted by Surjo and Sanjay as emcees, they had pepped up the toofani flavour of the event throughout. On 4th October, the Toofani Gang of Abir and Priyanka would go for Pandal hopping to the different parts of the city. There was lot of madness and immense enthusiasm among the participants. Subhra Sardar, who got selected in this Toofani Gang, said that, she was feeling real toofani by getting a chance to be a part of this gang. She could not believe that she was going to go pandal hopping with the celebrities. Rohit Ghosh, who is a choreographer by profession has been selected to the Toofani Gang. He was jubilant about it and said, his pujo had started the moment he got selected into the team. Not just these two, all of the eight candidates who got selected were ecstatic. For one, it was the best pujo experience, for another this was a great pujo gift from Thums Up.

This article was originally published in The Telegraph.