West Bengal voters refused to get swayed by the glamour and oomph of candidates in the just-concluded state assembly elections. The majority of the aspirants from the music, fashion and film world bit the dust despite spirited canvassing, unable to match up to the guiles of seasoned political campaigners.

Even then there were a handful of celebs, who pulled off upsets, as they warmed their way to the hearts of the electorate.

A perusal of the list of contestants from the cultural landscape reveals they can be broadly classified into three categories: those who have been in the political arena for long years; some who were recent entrants into politics; and the majority whose baptism in politics coincided with the election.

Two of the successful aspirants – the versatile Bratya Basu and actor cum television personality Soham Chakraborty – as also the vanquished duo of singer-turned-union minister Babul Supriyo and film star-turned-MP Locket Chatterjee belong to the first category.

Basu, rated one of the best Bengali playwrights, has received many accolades for his acting on stage and screen over the years. Joining Trinamool during the peak of the anti-farmland acquisition movement in Nandigram and Singur that brought 34 years of Left Front rule to an end in 2011, Basu has been a prominent minister in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet for 10 years.

This time, he completed a hat-trick of wins from the Dum Dum constituency by defeating BJP’s Bimal Shankar Nanda by an emphatic 26,000 plus margin.

Chakrabory, who has acted in over 100 films, joined politics in 2014 and was immediately made one of the vice-presidents of the party’s youth wing.

He unsuccessfully tried his luck in the 2016 assembly polls, but  proved second time lucky by registering a comfortable win this year from the rural belt of Chandipur.

Singer Babul Supriyo’s meteoric rise in politics – where he became an MP and union minister within days of being inducted into the BJP in 2014 – hit the first electoral hurdle as he received a 50,000 plus drubbing against Trinamool leader and state minister Aroop Biswas in Tollygunge, which incidentally also has Kolkata's oldest film studio. Incidentally, actor Debdoot Ghosh, Communist Party of India-Marxist’s only nominee from the glamour world, came third from this seat.

Actress turned BJP MP Locket Chatterjee has emerged within a span of a few years as a leading political figure in the state, mainly due to her organizational acumen and gritty street fighting capability. But this time the result did not go her way as she lost the Chuchura seat to Trinamool's Asit Majumdar by over 18000 votes.

Noted fashion designer Agnimitra Paul belongs to the second category of celeb contestants. She pitched her lot with the BJP less than two years back ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and was since asked to head the party’s state women’s wing.

In Asansol South, she prevailed over Bengali film actress and Trinamool candidate Sayani Ghosh – a political novice - by 5000 votes after a closely fought race.

The Bhabanipur assembly constituency attracted much attention not only because Mamata Banerjee left the seat to fight the elections from Nandigram, but also because of BJP candidate Rudraneel Ghosh, an actor famed for playing sublime character roles on the silver screen.

Ghosh, known for his articulation and political knowledge, has often been at the receiving end of fierce criticism and trolls on the social media for his frequent party hopping. A staunch CPI-M supporter at one time, Ghosh crossed over to the Trinamool after Banerjee took over the reins of the state’s governance, only to ditch her ahead of the recent polls and take the BJP flag.

Despite lofty claims of coasting to an easy victory, the result day proved heartbreaking for the actor who lost to Trinamool veteran and state cabinet minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee by close to 29,000 votes.

Among the newcomers, young actor Hiran Chatterjee, in the fray for the BJP, emerged triumphant from Kharagpur Sadar over old warhorse Pradip Sarkar of the Trinamool by 3771 votes

Director Raj Chakraborty, who has consistently wooed film fans with South Indian remakes, proved his mettle in electoral politics by winning from the tough Barrackpore constituency   on a Trinamool ticket. He beat Chandramani Shukla (BJP) by over 9000 votes.

Popular singer Aditi Munshi, a handpicked candidate of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, handed out a crushing 25,000 plus margin defeat to state BJP stalwart Samik Bhattacharya at Rajarhat Gopalpur.

Actress June Malia retained Medinipur for Trinamool, while popular Bengali film comedian Kanchan Mullick brought further cheers for the ruling party by defeating sitting MLA and BJP aspirant Prabir Kumar Ghosal by over 35 thousand votes.

Incidentally, Ghosal had crossed over to the BJP ahead of the elections.

In a duel between two actresses at Sonarpur South, Lovely Maitra of Trinamool humbled BJP's Anjana Basu by over 26 thousand votes

However, a number of first-timers found their charm was not enough to strike a chord with the electorate.

BJP nominee and leading Bengali actress Tanushree Chakaborty had led a high octane campaign which saw party stalwarts Amit Shah and JP Nadda hold largely attended roadshows. But in the end, all her efforts came to naught, with Trinamool's old warhorse Kalipada Mandal cruising to his fifth straight victory with an emphatic 31,000 plus margin.

Leading Bengali heroine Srabanti Chatterjee, who sizzles with her beauty on the silver screen, however, found her maiden electoral contest against a Trinamool stalwart too hot to handle. After having grabbed much media space with her shrill protests against the administration's refusal to allow a roadshow of Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty, the actor went down without a whimper as education minister Partha Chatterjee won with a margin of over 50,000 votes.

Many an eyebrow was raised when veteran Bengali actress Papiya Adhikari, known for decades for her leftist sympathies, joined the saffron camp and was immediately rewarded with a poll ticket from Uluberia South. The 56-year-old yesteryears’ heroine, however, failed to make a mark, and went down by over 26,000 votes to Trinamool's Pulak Dhar.

Payel Sarkar of BJP also had a forgettable electoral outing, losing Behala East to Trinamool candidate Ratna Chatterjee by around 37000 votes (SAM)