WEST BENGAL››Kolkata››Entertainment

Kolkata is famous for its culture - film, poetry, music, art and dance all have their devotees here. Programmes are listed in the daily newspapers or in the leaflet Kolkata This Fortnight, available free from the tourist offices.
    A dance-drama performance, Bengali poetry reading or a similar event takes place on most nights at the Rabindra Sadan on Cathedral Rd. Foreign films and retrospectives are shown at the Nandan complex nearby, and many of the cinemas in Chowringhee show recent release US movies. There are often drama performances in English at the Kala Mandir, 48 Shakespeare Sarani, and musical programmes at the Sisir Mancha, 1/1 AJC Bose Rd.

Bars & Discos

In the Sudder St area, the Sun Set Bar at the Lytton Hotel is a good place for a drink. This bar is popular with travellers, young expatriate workers and local young people involved on the fringes of the tourist trade. It's a friendly place and they have a good music system. Similar  is the open-air bar in the forecount of the Fairlawn Hotel where there's always an interesting crowd.
    There are plenty of other, much more basic, bars, some with bizarre names like Off cum On Rambo Bar on Mirza Ghalib St, and Olypub, a pretty seedy restaurant and bar on Park St near the Moulin Rouge.
    Quite a few of the larger hotels have discos which go on until early morning. The best of them is probably the Pink Elephant, at the Oberoi Grand Hotel, where you can get down Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
    Thursday is a dry's day in Kolkata and the only places where you can get alcoholic drinks are in the four and five-star hotels, although some places seem to disregard this ruling. Several of the licensed restaurants are closed on Thursday.