This Margazhi, music wafts into a movie hall

This is one time of the year when Carnatic music aficionados all over the globe travel to Chennai to listen to their favourite musician or watch a dance performance. Sabhas in the city have lined up an interesting slew of events and regular sabha-hopping rasikas have already chalked out their plans. Well, this is for the kind of audience who are bored of listening to kutcheris in sabhas. MadRasana, a collective founded by music aficionados, presents classical art form in an intimate setting to bring the artistes and the audience close to each other to have a better connect. They organise concerts in natural open settings like gardens and intimate indoor settings. Team MadRasana is all set to organise a music festival at an unconventional venue — a movie hall.

“Music is something that’s very close to every Chennaiite and we wanted to do something for the music fraternity. I have been looking at how to present the classical art form in a different format so that there is a better connection between the artiste and the rasikas. That’s how I founded MadRasana. We started with garden concerts at my home in Besant Nagar, where the number of listeners was just 80. It was a very close setting and the format was appreciated by all,” says Mahesh Venkateswaran, founder of MadRasana.

When TM Krishna took Carnatic music to a fishing village, MadRasana decided to take music festival at a venue which has not been used for a Carnatic classical concert before. “Our idea was not to change the existing format of concerts, it has got a big following and it will continue to thrive. But we wanted to give a different experience to the rasikas — a better ambience, high production value and an interesting experience. We don’t want to distract the audience from anything other than the art. We have given importance to each element of the entire production. That’s the reason for selecting an unconventional venue for our upcoming concert. Moreover, there are already 4,000 concerts happening in the various sabhas and we didn’t want to be added to that long list,” he adds. The MadRasana Festival will be held from December 23 to 27 at Serene Screen in Sathyam Cinemas.

Inclusivity in Carnatic music is still a topic of debate in Carnatic music circles and team MadRasana isn’t averse to the idea. “We have tied up with Prayojana, a group that helps senior citizens stay healthy, active and happy. We have structured the whole festival in such a way that people from all walks of life can step into the cinema hall for a concert. Since the venue is a theatre it is less intimidating for some people who find it difficult to go to traditional sabhas,” he says.

Music composer Sean Roldan, also a part of MadRasana, takes care of selecting the musicians and the sound department.