It is the time of the year that has given Chennai its cultural identity. That which started as a small event in 1927 by a group of individuals has become one of the biggest cultural extravaganza in India. The Margazhi Festival of Music and Dance, held from December to mid-January in Chennai, witnesses over 3,000 programmes across 200 venues today. It has increasingly drawn an augmenting attention during its endeavour to promote art and artistes. The subject matter has diversified from concerts to lecture-demonstrations and conferences, included corporate participation and welcomed rasikas (audiences) and artistes from across the world.
“Planning of the festival begins as early as April-May. We have our monthly concerts and many artistes are selected by our committee via these concerts,” says R Sekar, secretary of Kartik Fine Arts, a popular festival venue. Sudha V Lakxmi, a Bharatanatyam dancer, has achieved a solo slot in Bharat Kalachar this season.
The artiste, who comes from a musical lineage, was put under the guidance of Guru Padmashree Sudharani Raghupathy by her grandfather, Padma Bhushan Mudari N Krishnan, when she was five.
“The path might be familiar for me due to my family, but definitely not easy. One certainly has to prove to the decision makers that one is worthy of it,” she says. Likewise, Sumithra Subramaniam, winner of the Spirit of Youth Festival 2011, is a leading Bharatanatyam dancer and daughter of eminent Guru Jayanthi Subramaniam. For her, “Whether it is a few minutes appearance or a lead role, I have considered all of them as platforms to showcase my skill to the organisers.” She has been invited to perform at the Music Academy Festival 2016, after her first solo at the venue in 2013.
The festival sees stalwarts like Vyjayanthimala Bali, the Dhananjayans, Bombay Jayashree, as well as a host of new comers.
Speaking about the increasing number of young performers showing interest in the festival, Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao, secretary of The Music Academy, says, “Young talents come up with new innovations that essentially do not dilute our tradition but strengthen the quality.” Sixteen-year-old Nivedita Raghavan, a CCRT scholarship holder in Bharatanatyam and a disciple of Dr Lakshmi Ramswamy, made it to the limelight at an audition, Ilamayil Thiramai, conducted by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. She is one of the youngest to perform at such a prestigious platform this season.
“You always start as a ‘nobody’. I am lucky to have a guru who does not stop with her teaching but holds our hand in our journey from a classroom student to a stage performer,” says Raghavan.
Titles and competitions help these performers grab new vistas. Cultural entrepreneur Mudhra Bhaskar is the founder of Mudhra and has started conducting a competition since July 2015 to select his candidates. Further, Mudhra is one of the very few to webcast its programmes. Can you get a slot without application? Yes indeed, if you are as lucky as vocalist T Kalaimagan who is pursuing his MA in Music from Madras University and has been invited by Kartik Fine Arts. “They followed my concerts last year,” he shares. “Winning the Times Thyagaraja Award early this year brought me to their notice,” he adds.
Alongside winning competitions, accompanying senior artistes can also be a good option for budding talents as in the case of mridangist R Kishore who is performing and accompanying others like R Thiyagarajan. “It is a challenge to draw the attention of the audience towards me when I am sitting at par with senior members of the art fraternity,” says this schoolboy.
Talents from India and the world over are searching for ways to boost their profile as a ‘season’ artiste—one who has performed under prestigious banners. Instead of receiving payment for their performances, they end up incurring huge investments per show. But they still perform.
“Notifications are not done because there is a long, perennial trail. My suggestion to the younger generation is to start applying in February. A written application, paper and video clippings, biodata, guru’s profile are the basic guidelines to help us take the decisions. Apply and pursue it,” suggests Dr Venugopala.
For Sri Y Prabhu, Secretary, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, CDs can sometimes be deceptive and they consult the teacher as well. The Sabha is inaugurating its Centre for Performing Arts this year and has installed Bose speakers costing `1.5 crore for enhancing the music for the rasikas.
“Sixty-five per cent of our slots have been given to newcomers. Decades ago, the festival was only a week long during Christmas. Today it is getting bigger and better. The tourism sector along with the government and media must work closely to give the festival its due recognition on a global arena,” Prabhu believes.
Nevertheless, both the art and the artistes continue to grow in an enthralling spirit of life, joy and culture. For the rasikas, there is also the hot aroma of filter coffee, gossips, flaunting their new Kancheevaram silks and checking out the newspaper in the morning to hop skip and jump from one sabha to another.