One hundred and eleven days is a long duration for any festival. For Soorya, it is another year on a calendar that has been running for nearly half a century.
The 49th edition begins on October 1 at 6.45pm at Ganesham -Soorya Nataka Kalari in Thycaud. The festival will see more than 2,000 artistes in programmes ranging from Carnatic music and dance to theatre, cinema, painting and poetry.
Soorya Krishnamurthy, who started the festival in 1977, remained at its helm and guided it until his death. This year, for the first time, the festival has to find its way forward without its founder.
“Everything was planned well in advance. He personally called the artists, discussed the programmes with them and made all the arrangements. He had even planned next year’s festival, which will mark the golden jubilee, and made provisions for the finances,” says G Gopalakrishnan, president of the Soorya Festival.
The festival is now being managed by a committee of around 15 members, with Krishnamurthy’s son, Laxman Moorthi, as secretary. The Soorya Kiran volunteer group also assists with hosting the programmes and other festival work.
“Whatever we are doing now is based on the arrangements he had already made. He had planned the festival with great foresight,” Gopalakrishnan says.
Playback singer and Carnatic vocalist K S Harishankar will open the festival on October 1. The Dance and Music Festival will continue until October 10, featuring artistes including Parshwanath Upadhyaya and troupe, Meenakshi Srinivasan, Priyadarshini Govind, Hareesh Ramakrishnan, Pallavi Krishnan, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Asha Sharath, Navya Nair and Janaki Rangarajan. Actor and dancer Shobana, who was scheduled to perform on October 1, will perform on another day due to health issues.
The rest of October will feature the Pancha Ratna Women’s Lecture and Women’s Film Festival, the Choreography Festival, Jalsaghar Hindustani Chamber Concerts and the Sindhubhairavi Carnatic Music Festival.
November will bring dance, music, theatre and films. The Parambara Dance Festival and a Bharatanatyam workshop led by Braghabasal are scheduled from November 1 to 10, followed by the A P Udayabhanu Memorial Lecture on November 9. From November 11 to 13, composer M Jayachandran will curate ‘Madhu Soukumaryam’, a musical programme in memory of his parents. The National Theatre Festival and a Malayalam-Tamil film panorama will follow.
December will feature the Soorya Art Gate, bringing around 40 painters together, along with lectures, group dance programmes and a Short Film Festival from December 11 to 20, where two award-winning films will be screened each day. Other programmes include ‘Prathidhwani’, the Cherthala Gopalan Nair Memorial Concert ‘Smarare Gopalam’ and ‘Sugatham’, a series of poetry and lectures. A children’s poetry recitation, a Mohiniyattam festival and a youth festival are also scheduled.
The Indian Panorama Film Festival will screen 20 films in different Indian languages from January 11 to 20, in association with the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The festival will conclude on January 21 with a Carnatic music jugalbandi by M Jayachandran and Kavalam Sreekumar.
“The feeling of performing at Soorya without him is beyond words. I have never danced with such pain in my heart,” says Asha Sharath, who has performed at the festival for years.
She recalls receiving a message from Krishnamurthy shortly before he was hospitalised. “He asked me to pray for this year’s Soorya Festival to happen without any problems. It feels difficult to dance on that stage without him, but I believe he will give me the strength to do it,” she says.
Actor and dance exponent Navya Nair says there will be “a vacuum without him”. “None of us really knows what it will feel like until we actually stand on that stage. But I believe in the soul, and I know he will be there. He cannot leave art, artistes or Ganesham,”
She hopes the festival continues despite his absence. “This is such a great festival, and his absence should not stop it. I hope the government will take the initiative to ensure that the festival continues in the years ahead,” she says.