KOLKATA: A group of 50 dancers brought out a flash mob on the iconic Howrah Bridge in Kolkata to mark its 72nd birthday today. Wearing the typical Bengali white dhoti, the group of dancers started dancing on the bridge early in the morning against the sound track ‘Calcutta Kiss’ from Dibakar Banerjee’s upcoming Hindi movie Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, which has been produced by Yash Raj Films.

Flash mobs are a common film promotional strategy in Bollywood or even Hollywood. This innovative campaign was praised by the city people and brand experts feel that YRF is leaving no stone unturned to publicize Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead role.

Carrying posters, which read ‘Happy Birthday Howrah Bridge’, the flash mob cheered for the iconic structure used by more than 1,20,000 vehicles and around 5,00,000 pedestrians to cross the Hooghly river flowing between the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge with a suspended span over the Hooghly River in West Bengal.

The bridge is one of two on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata. The third-longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, the Howrah Bridge is the sixth-longest bridge of its type in the world.

The flash mob was a promotional activity for the film, which is scheduled to be released on 3 April. Howrah Bridge, a British engineering marvel, was thrown open to commuters on 3 February, 1943 but never had a formal inauguration due to security issues during World War II.

“Detective Byomkesh Bakshi is set in the same time zone as the birth of Howrah Bridge and the team was keen to honour the bridge in their way. The bridge is a very important element in the film which was also seen in the poster image,” said a statement from YRF. 

Renamed as Rabindra Setu, the 705-metre-long cantilever bridge is among the busiest in the world.