“That side,” said Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awardee Usha Uthup, pointing towards the right corner of Trincas, a restaurant in Kolkata’s Park Street, “is where Sharmila Tagore and the Nawab of Pataudi would sit.”

Then she swept her hand across the room. “Farokh Engineer… the West Indies cricket team… Jyoti Basu… Uttam Kumar… Suchitra Sen…”

“I never had to go anywhere, the world came to me,” said the legendary singer as she remembered a particularly fond encounter with filmmaker Satyajit Ray at Park Street. The maestro visited Trincas often and had expressed his interest in making a film about the restaurant.

She paused before smiling. “It sounds like I’m dropping names. Which I am, actually.”

The audience erupted into peals of laughter. Around them was the same dining room that had once hosted many of those famous names.

On Sunday (July 19), Trincas became both venue and subject as The Hindu’s Lit for Life Unplugged brought together Ms. Uthup and historian Anand Puri, third-generation custodian of the iconic Park Street restaurant, for When Park Street Sings: A Conversation on Music, Memory & Kolkata. Moderated by The Hindu‘s Associate Editor Shonali Muthalaly, the discussion moved between Ms. Uthup’s five-decade musical journey and the history of Park Street, tracing how one restaurant became central to Kolkata’s nightlife.

The evening introduced Mr. Anand’s forthcoming book on revisiting the history of Kolkata in the last 100 years through the eyes of Trincas. 

The event also turned the pages of Ms. Uthup’s memoir, The Queen of Indian Pop: The Authorised Biography of Usha Uthup, written by Vikas Kumar Jha, and published by Penguin Random House.

The first stage

Looking back at the beginning of her career, Ms. Uthup returned to Madras in 1969. The conversation began with Ms. Muthalaly asking the singer about an inland letter she received from Mr. Anand’s grandfather in 1969 inviting her to Park Street in what was then Calcutta.

Prior to receiving the letter, she recalled accompanying her aunt, then director of tourism, to the Nine Gems nightclub in Madras where Ms. Uthup was spotted by Mr. Anand’s grandfather, Omi Prakash Puri.

Her musical career truly began when her aunt suggested she sing a line or two on stage. “My music teacher had thrown me out of class,” she said, laughing. “So being asked to sing with a professional band was unbelievable.” Usha chose the song Fever by Peggy Lee. 

“What stayed with me was the sound of the applause. I think that’s what clinched it,” Ms. Uthup remembered.

She never imagined that she would eventually become known for singing Western pop in a sari. “I was just myself. Nobody thought someone looking like me, wearing a sari and a bindi, would stand on stage singing pop music,” she said.

Music in Madras, she added, “has no barriers, no caste, colour, language or gender. It simply connects. And the best musicians in those times were all from Madras and Calcutta.”

A street built around music

Mr. Anand situated Ms. Uthup’s story within the history of Park Street itself. Before becoming Park Street, he explained, the road had been known as Badam Tala because of its almond trees, and later as Burial Ground Road because it led to the South Park Street Cemetery. It eventually took its present name from the deer park owned by Sir Elijah Impey.

By the early 20th century, Armenian builders had transformed the neighbourhood with apartment buildings equipped with electric lighting, piped gas, and elevators.

Its defining cultural moment, however, arrived in the 1960s. “Park Street became the first real entertainment district in India. Probably the most exciting entertainment district in the country,” Mr. Anand said. 

Every major restaurant in the area employed resident musicians, he said, creating what he described as “an entire ecosystem” where audiences moved between Trincas, Blue Fox, Magnolia, Mocambo, and other establishments, depending on whether they wanted jazz, dancing, or cabaret.

“Everybody had live music. Today, Trincas is among the very few places where that tradition still survives,” he said. 

Walking Park Street

During breaks between performances, Uthup said she rarely remained inside Trincas.

“I would always walk out,” she recalled. She browsed the bookshops that once lined Park Street before visiting neighbouring restaurants to hear other performers.

She remembered watching cabaret singer Pam Crain at Blue Fox, describing her as “the quintessential cabaret girl”, and recalled singer Amrik Singh Arora, known as ‘The Singing Sardar’, whose stage presence reminded her of Elvis Presley.

“I wanted to know where I stood. I wanted to hear other singers and learn from them. I’m still like that,” the singer revealed. 

A musical finale

The conversation eventually gave way to questions from the audience and a musical performance. Seated in her chair, Ms. Uthup enthralled a full house at Trincas, singing hits such as Ramba Ho, Dum Maro Dum, Skyfall, Shaan Se and Jaane Ja Dhoondta Phir Raha.

Within minutes, members of the audience had risen from their seats and were dancing between the tables.

As the final chorus echoed through Trincas, memory gave way to music, just as it always had on Park Street. 

Published – July 19, 2026 10:09 pm IST