A look into why Chennai shies away from an active nightlife

On the face of it, the city’s party scene has been on an upswing only in a couple of years with youngsters finally able to tell their peers in Bengaluru or Mumbai that namma ooru has begun to have a social scene. However, a closer look offers a less-than-glamorous perspective. 

While it is true that many new spaces in Chennai have managed to attract talent from all over the country, as well as provide an opportunity for local independent performers, the grim reality is that many of them perform to half-full venues or quite a few times, have their shows cancelled after failing to attract an audience. 

A variety of possible reasons are to blame. Perhaps Chennai, apart from a select clique of people who appreciate the arts and the bustling college crowd, hasn’t yet evolved from spending their weekends in front of the television or at the cinema. Or are the entry prices or ticket costs not affordable enough?

DJ and Visual Jockey Zen, who performs at a number of pubs and festivals in town, said, “Usually whenever a new place opens, everyone goes there to check it out... so there is good business in the first few weeks. But sustaining the same after that becomes extremely tough because Chennai doesn’t have that many people who party regularly every weekend. That’s the truth.”

He added, “The only way to attract more people is by bringing in special nights with attractive offers. Some places click and most of them don’t. Chennai needs multi-genre music festivals than just techno fests, to attract more crowds, as very little percentage of party-goers here are true techno heads. But we only have electronic and techno music fests every now and then, and the same few hundred people attending.”

Stand-up comedian Saadiya Ali is one of the better-known comics in the city, having even garnered a national following after her appearance on TV show Queens of Comedy. The wise-cracking artiste has been spotted performing at many resto-bars in the city since, and agrees that Chennai is still a bit shy as an audience. 

“I don’t know if this increase in the number of new venues is bad, but I do agree that sometimes the way some of these events are organised are terrible. Either the artiste isn’t paid or there’s no crowd or it’s just badly done. Added to that, I also believe that Chennai audience isn’t really at a place where they’d step out to go attend such events. Sure, we’re heading there, there are more open mics these days unlike a couple years back,” she says. 

However, some others like singer-songwriter and actress Maalavika Sundar said that the city has just hit a ‘right ratio’ now, and there’s much to cheer about. “I think that people are stepping out more than ever before, and it’s always a high for performers like myself to stand on stage before a packed hall. Even family elders are taking it upon themselves to spend their weekends trying something new. But I do think that we have just the right amount of spaces now – any more and it could be too much.”