Madrasana’s Margazhi festival at Sathyam Cinemas

Madrasana is back with its music series at Sathyam Cinemas

Chennai’s crowds are flocking to Sathyam Cinemas and it’s not just the promise of another Rajni entertainer that has them rushing to the theatre halls. Instead, the pulsating background scores are replaced by vibrant talas and soothing ragas, as arts organisation Madrasana gets set to reboot its ‘Sathyam series’ and its co-founder Mahesh Venkateswaran is excited about another unusual musical experience.

“We’ve pushed the boundaries of how Carnatic music can be consumed and enjoyed this year, from a set of Carnatic albums people can listen to while working out to 360-degree camera and ambisonic technologies that we’ve been innovating with,” he shares.

Taking place in Sathyam’s Serene Screen, the line-up of artistes includes vainika Jayanthi Kumaresh and vocalists Vignesh Ishwar, Bombay Jayashri, Abhishek Raghuram and Shertalai K.N. Renganatha Sharma. While round two remains focused on audial clarity and a no-frills, no-fuss approach, Venkateswaran and his team say there’s still lots to look forward to.

“Apart from adding an instrumentalist, as requested by our fanbase, we are also adding a photo exhibition that features portraits of artistes taken by photographer Amar Ramesh of Studio A,” he says. And that’s not all. The team also plans to use VR technology to allow for a more all-encompassing and engaging experience.

Of course, the adapting of new techniques is only enabled by the artistic support that Venkateswaran says was so willingly given by the artistes on board.

For a cause

“It allows for greater inclusivity, even the way they advertise online to their fanbase. And when I was told the festival would be used for DATRI, a non-profit organisation raising funds for those with cancer, the whole process is nothing but fulfilling,” says Bombay Jayashri.

She hopes to use this space to experiment with repertoire in view of such acoustic excellence, a sentiment echoed by young vocalist Vignesh Ishwar .

“The music presented in two places may be the same, but the novelty here is how the theatre allows for the arts to be experienced and engaged with in a completely different context. In a way, our interactions are magnified — it’s exciting, but the challenge is to ensure that my art is within the grammar of my learning while exploring new contexts of presentation,” Ishwar smiles.

“It speaks of what Madrasana’s been doing for so long — maintaining the core of our arts while using social media to harness a new group of rasikas,” says vainika Jayanthi Kumaresh.

Madrasana’s Margazhi festival will be held at Sathyam Cinemas’ Serene Screen from December 23 to 27, with concerts daily from 9 a.m. to noon.