JOIN USThe saying ‘work hard and party harder’ is one of the most popular ones around. A good party is a great way to enjoy and let your hair down after a week’s hard work. It can be a sit down affair with your close friends or a dance session in a crowded discotheque or the usual gather-around-a-cake-and-sing one. Sounds a bit boring? Make way for themed parties.
While themed parties are increasingly catching the fancy of Indians, the concept is not entirely new. These can be said to be inspired from the good old fancy dress parties, the origins of which can be traced to masked balls of the 18th century period. And Halloween played no small part in ensuring that we were entirely hooked to the idea of dressing and showing off!
“Themed parties are a lot of fun — both for the organisers and for the people attending them,” says T R Gowri, a young Bengalurean. “For our farewell party, our juniors organised a theme party where we had to come dressed as a movie or literary character and it was wonderful. We had people dressed as the ‘Queen of Hearts’, ‘Hulk’, ‘Joker’ and so on. I was a minion! To complete the look, everything from hats to cardboard and paint was used.”
Even pubs and other restaurants are catching on to the idea of themed parties. Indigo Live Music Bar leads the pack with a ‘Game of Thrones’ themed party last week and a ‘Super hero’ themed party before that. Troika restaurant too held a masquerade party recently. And there are many others lining up to join the bandwagon.
“I went to the masquerade party at Troika. They were giving away free masks and it was all so exciting,” says Damodar Varma. “It was different from the usual ones I go to because there was a bit of mystery involved.” Themed parties are a rage among kids too. Everybody wants customised celebrations and themes are the perfect way to make your birthday party stand out. “We have always had themes like ‘Princess’ (or ‘Prince’) and ‘Jungle’ but now customers have become very specific about the type they want,” says Malvika Raghuvanshi of Fantasy Events. “Now themes like ‘Frozen’ and the cartoon series ‘Krishna’ are trending. Sometimes people want a birthday party based on the first rhyme their child learnt. Also balloons and streamers are passé with paper crafts and customised backdrops becoming the new favourites.”
The wildly popular comic cons have also incorporated this idea of encouraging people to dress like their heroes. There is a competition for best costume and people put serious effort into it. Go to any comic con and you can see comic heroes or movie characters roaming about. Imagine clicking a selfie with Batman!
“Themed parties are more expensive than your regular ones because of the costumes and decor. They are also a lot less frequent than we would like them to be. My friends and I would love to go to a ‘Hawaii’ themed one. We are hoping it happens soon,” says Damodar Varma laughing.
Not just Hawaii but there are a host of other themes that you can choose from as well. From Avengers to Spartacus to the eternal favourite Star Wars and the 21st century phenomenon Harry Potter — the list is mind boggling. And sometimes, it becomes a little weird too. When ‘Radhe Maa’ hit the headlines, a group of women had a kitty party with the self-styled god woman as their theme. Now that is something!