A three-day annual festival offered variety, comprising a Carnatic concert, dance performance and Hindi film songs presented by an orchestra. It was hosted by Mulund Fine Arts Society at the Mahakavi Kalidas Auditorium, Mulund West. On the inaugural day, the Malladi brothers, accompanied by Nishanth Chandran (violin), P. Jayabhaskar (mridangam) and Shankar Lakshman (ghatam), opened with ‘Sri Ganapatini’ in Saurashtram. Then, they moved on to Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kumaran thazh paninde’ in Yadukulakhambodi. Dikshitar’s ‘Sivakameswari chintaye,’ in Kalyani and ‘Seetha pathe’ in Khamas were rendered well. ‘Kaddhanu Variki’ in Thodi was followed by a scintillating thani. ‘Pooraya mama kamam’ in Bilahari, ‘Nanati brathuku’ in Revati, ‘Hari smarane mado’ in Yamunakalyani, ‘Chandrasekhara Isha’ in Sindhubhairavi, slokam ‘Manikya veena’ and Sriramachandra in Madhyamavati were also on their list.
Though many of the pieces were Tyagaraja’s , it was a comprehensive concert that included the compositions of Sivan, Syama Sastri, Dikshitar, Narayana Teertha, Annamacharya and Purandaradasar. Their vibrant voices, knowledge of the idiom and excellent manodharma made the presentation a connoisseur’s delight.
On the second day, students of Mulund Fine Arts, trained by Padmini Radhakrishnan presented ‘Nritya Manjari’ (Bharatanatyam), a garland of various, well-chosen pieces. The swarajati, the imaginative poses of Dasavatharam, Vishnu and Adisesha in ‘Sriman Narayana,’ the melodious singing emphasising the Tamil lyrics of ‘Muthu sirithalum, mullai sirithalum’ highlighting the smile of Kartikeya in Sindhubhairavi were appreciated by a full house. ‘Govindan kuzhalosai’ in Ragamalika created an imagery of flora and fauna, and ‘Janani Janani’ was a deserving ode to the Mother.
Mallari in Gambira Nattai followed by ‘Ganesha gayatri’ set the pace for ‘Shiv Shakti,’ the thematic presentation by senior dancers of Padmini’s Soundarya Natya Kalalaya foundation.
With recurrent slokam chanting, use of props and jet-speed jatis, the tempo of the dance was sustained. ‘Ya Devi sarva bhooteshu’ in intermittent poses reiterated the power of Shakti. Mahishasura vadam with ‘Aigiri Nandini’, extolled the warrior goddess. The episode of Shiva locking in every drop of the feisty river Ganga was visually appealing. Bringi munivar refusing to pay respects to Parvati, who challenges him by cutting off his legs. He takes a bee form and circumvents Parvati. Finally the divine couple merge into Shivshakti, the ardhanareeshwara form of combined energy of purush and prakriti. Bharati’s verses with poignant lyrics celebrating Shakti was apt.
Padmini (vocal and nattuvangam), Mumbai Sankaranarayanan (mridangam) and B. Anantharaman Ravi (violin), complemented each other.
The concluding day featured the orchestra by Musicolor, titled Suhana Safar, and was a journey down memory lane. The old Hindi film songs with their ageless appeal, kept the audience entertained.