CHENNAI: Metro rail users from the Airport station were in for a pleasant surprise on Friday morning, as artistes dressed in bright green and yellow walked in. These were Oyilattam artistes — one of them played the thavil, a few others carried parai and others matched their steps with the beats. The regular Metro users on the Airport-Washermanpet line had a musical morning thanks to Metro Theru Vizha, which was part of the ongoing Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha. Along with folk dance performances, Carnatic music and theatre acts were also presented at various stations and inside the Metro.
All the performances were interwoven to ensure a natural transition from one act to the other. They even improvised — for example, Carnatic vocalist Bharat Narayan helped Sunanda, a theatre actor with an impromptu beginning from where the previous performers had left off. Even the Oyilattam artistes pitched in with sound effects as and when needed during Sunanda’s performance. The one hour-ride began with the Oyilattam performance at the concourse area of the Airport Metro station and was followed by a performance by Othasevaru, a band’s duet performance of rock music set to Tamil lyrics talking about life in villages. There was also a solo theatre performance by Sunanda who played the role of Kannagi, the historical character who set Madurai on fire. In the mono-act she wanted to know why people have dedicated a temple in her name and pray to her.
Passengers and onlookers took keen interest in these performances. Their smartphones were out, not to distract themselves by listening to music or browsing the Internet, but to film these acts. Sunanda even interacted with some of the passengers as part of her performance. The ride ended with a Devarattam performance at the Washermanpet station.