Karwa Chauth, the KJo-fied festival

Sanjitha Menon is as excited about Karwa Chauth as Onam. "I observe Onam for my family. But when all my friends in Delhi's Defence Colony were decking up for this once-a-year opportunity to feel like a Karan Johar heroine, I would have been an idiot to not play along," says this Delhi-born Malayali.

Her mother Ambili Menon, who is visiting their Dahisar home from Thrissur in Kerala, seems visibly upset at the spangled, tinseled bling being pulled out of suitcases. "Is there any dearth of good, pure silks in your wardrobe that you want to wear such synthetic net stuff?" she asks disdainfully. All Sanjitha can do in response is shake her head and roll her eyes.

"In Delhi, you could say I was doing this to conform to the crowd around. Now I'm doing this for myself," she says. The mother's protestations seem to have hit a raw nerve with this young banker. "You know I wore an off-white and gold kasavu for my own wedding. You can call this my way of making up for that," she says.

What began in the national capital was not abandoned by Sanjitha when she and her husband moved to the country's financial capital. "I know feminism and the concept of Karwa Chauth don't really go with each other. But hey! It lets me doll up and feel happy. So, why not?" she says.

As Sanjitha heads to the salon to look perfect on the special day, we decide to tag along. The chic high-end salon at a Malad mall is Sanjitha's friend Satpreet Chawla's idea. "This is an old friend from Delhi who moved to Mumbai two years before me. She lives in Malad and introduced me to this place. I like the salon but getting to spend some girl time with an old mate is the bigger attraction," she laughs.

It is afternoon and we seem to have hit the rush hour at the salon, where several women are awaiting their turn. Sanjitha and Satpreet pick up an old issue of Vogue and begin dissecting models and their clothes in hushed tones, punctuated by high-pitched nasal laughter.

Sanjitha wants her wavy hair straightened, again, and Satpreet wants to lose the tint. "I'm wearing a zardozi sari with some of my late mother-in-law's hand-me-down traditional jadau jewellery," Satpreet says and adds, "Sanjitha wants to wear a lehenga-choli with an elaborate teeka and neckpiece."

The two pals aren't alone. Across the block, another mall and another salon is bursting at its seams with women planning the big day, when they will find joy in the pixelated view of their husbands through a sieve. Here, the owner of a chain of over 20 salons, Renu Kant, is getting ready for her own Karwa Chauth.

"Since I have been observing this ritual for nearly 25 years now, I know exactly what the clients need. We offer everything in hair, skin, make-up and mehndi, especially targeting Karwa Chauth, and are booked to the hilt," she says.

According to Renu, the last-minute arrivals are generally the toughest to deal with. "They don't invest any time or effort and then come to us with reference points of a Karan Johar movie or a tele-serial. They require help with make-up and sari draping too. I have specially trained staff to take care of all these needs," she says.

If you are lamenting the loss of an age-old tradition to glamourised kitsch, think again. Bollywood's had a finger on this pulse for long. Songs, spectacular sets lit up in tones that warm the cockles of your heart and well dressed women who look like they've walked out of a silk store ad in an in-flight magazine have all been part of this madness.

Credit for the last bit needs to be given to actor Rekha who, along with Maushumi Chatterji, set the ball rolling with Maang Bharo Sajna in 1980 and followed it up with Biwi Ho Toh Aisi, eight years later.

"That was till Suraj Barjatiya made Karwa Chauth the mother-of-all-spectacles in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994)," laughs cultural historian Mukul Joshi. "This was followed a year later by Yash Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, which made the ritual even grander. Judaai, Biwi No.1, Raja Hindustani, Humara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham, Baghban and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam further etched Karwa Chauth firmly on the national festival calendar," he says.