The prelude to each of the 15-odd video cassettes Romesh Sharma commissioned for his famous farmhouse parties, starting from 1992 to a lavish party he hosted just four days before his arrest.

The video recordings have several unusual features, besides a heavy-hitter guest list, including politicians such as former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, former Union minister of State for Home Maqbool Dar, several ministers in the Uttar Pradesh Government, corporate bigwigs including Reliance group director S V Balasubramanium and a host of others clubbed together by investigators as, ``senior Income-Tax, Customs and Union Territory cadre officials.'' In the tapes viewed by this correspondent, the host appears to have issued clear directions that the camera should focus on him. So you have clips of him welcoming guests atthe entrance to the Chattarpur farmhouse, with several falling at his feet and Sharma urging them to ``feel comfortable ji and use the jaacuji (sic)'' (feel comfortable and use the jacuzzi).

Sharma periodically looks the camera squarely in the lens and announces a particularly important guest, Ab desh ke neta Laloo Prasadji Yadav aa rahe hai (now the leader of the nation Laloo is coming) before scurrying off after him. Laloo's daughters also pop up on screen, and on cue, Sharma announces, Yeh hai kumari Misa aur Kursi, aggey ki bhavi pradhan mantri (this is Miss Misa and Kursi -- future Prime Ministers of the country). Laloo and the lesser VIPs of his family feature in four tapes and in one 1994 recording, Laloo is seen hugging a beaming Sharma and calling him his chhota bhai (younger brother).

Says a senior official: ``We are only going to question those people with whom a clear beneficiary relationship emerges and who also figure prominently in the tapes.''

Sharma'sReliance connection through its group president S V Balasubramamiun is evident since he is present in at least eight parties. Authorities who have seized the tapes from Sharma's Mayfair Garden house believe that copies of the same tapes have been recovered in raids on Balasubramanium's residence.

The tapes reveal Sharma's penchant for serving barbecued food and adding to the ambience with mujra dancers -- who provided the leitmotif for his convivial evenings. He is often seen in the tapes donning a chef's hat and personally serving a particularly favoured guest a choice morsel of meat. Then he is seen bragging about the imported liquor he serves and insisting, ``Yeh sab bahar ka maal hai (all this is imported).'' Sharma and his cronies call each other ``the Cabinet'', with his disciples addressing him as `bade bhai', `brother', and simply, ``the Prime Minister''. These seem to be shots taken at the fag end of the parties, and Sharma is at ease among just his cronies and friends.