Think reality show and you think of grandeur and a lot of drama, right? Wrong. Sirinadu, a web TV channel, by Kannadigas and about Kannadigas, shot the grand finale of its reality dance show, Siri Gejje, last weekend in Bengaluru.
The venue was the Sharada Stree Samaja Chamarajpet. There was a handful of people in the audience. The show was recorded as it was being staged for those present. Unlike other reality shows, this was simple, with no-frills and to the point.
Siri Gejje is features the classical dance form, Bharatanatya and saw the participation by many Bharatanatya dance schools in and around Karnataka.
Sirinadu, started by Rajashekar Kambar (son of Jnanpith Award winning poet-playwright Chandrashekhar Kambar), has been passionately promoting the food, literature, music and dance of our state.
“We started the reality show in July this year and shot the entire series at this same venue,” shares Rajashekar, who adds, “We started by reaching out to all the dance schools in and around Bengaluru. After the initial response, which was massive, we zeroed in on 14 dance teams for the preliminary rounds. They were chosen as they seemed serious about dance and our vision too,” explains Rajashekar.
For the semi-finals there were nine teams and four teams — Bharata Sangeetha Nrutya Akademy, Upadhye School of Dance, Vaishnavi Natya Shala, Sri Lalitha Kalaniketana — reached the finals.
The reality show has been aired on Sirinadu at 8 pm since July every alternate day. “ Siri Gejje is unique in the sense that this is a reality show that focuses only on classical dance. It was created in collaboration with Shekhar Rajendra, also a Bharatanatya dancer. Today we see all kinds of dances on television. We have Bollywood dance, salsa, jazz, contemporary and modern and so on. Pure classical dance is never promoted. That is what prompted Sirinadu to organize Siri Gejje. We also differ from other reality shows in the manner in which we judge the participants. We made a strict rule that we would not criticise any participant or make them cry on our show. Siri Gejje is more like a celebration of our great heritage and dance,” adds Rajashekar, who says Sirinadu is a platform for anyone who wants to showcase their talents.
Each team was introduced to the audience with a short clip of them dancing in their dance schools. After each dance, the judges ask the group details about the dance they presented, the taala and the music. They also had to explain what they had presented on stage.
While the first round was pure dance with a bit of abhinaya , the second round was about portraying contemporary issues using the classical dance format. The topics covered by the four teams varied from dowry harassment, domestic violence, female infanticide and environmental issues to deforestation. What was interesting was the manner in which the dancers linked harassment of women to mythology. They also brought in Draupadi from The Mahabharata and connected her to the modern woman.
Bharata Sangeetha Nrutya Akademy emerged as the winners, with Upadhye School of Dance bagging the second place and Vaishnavi Natya Shala the third. Rekha Jagadish of Sri Lalitha Kalaniketana won the best costume design award.
Not just the winners, but every other team walked away with trophies and a cash prize.
The grand finale of Siri Gejje will be telecast today at 8 pm on Sirinadu Web TV. “It can be watched on a smart TV or by downloading the app on your mobiles. I would call it an Infotainment channel as we have stuck to our motto of providing entertain that is informative,” explains Kambar.
