A fusion of dance and music

'One person's mother tongue is a tongue twister for another, if one cannot follow the language. Yet the world of film music has operated with an universal approach where songs have freely been inter-mixed between one language industry and the other as the appeal is common across cinema lovers.

Hence Dakshin Dhwani has introduced this open mic concept where people are encouraged to sing songs in their mother tongue apart from other Indian languages which brings in a variety and appreciation for different rhythms and sounds' said T Balakrishnan, founder-member of the group which has staged nearly 40 programmes over two-and-a-half years all across Hyderabad.

Nritya- Forum For Performing Arts was the venue where their latest event was held last Saturday evening among a heterogenous mix of people, from senior citizens to school students who belted away songs to their heart's content. There was a 'pseudo natyam', an expressive depiction of old Hindi film songs strung together as a medley, as the exponent of that form Patruni Chidananda Sastry called it.

For close to two hours, nearly ten singers sung what they thought would suit their styles and voice ranges. It included hits from recent Hindi films to chartbusters of the yesteryears starring heroes like Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. The mood was alternating between retro and the modern times as singer after singer came up with their renditions, in an ambience which was an intimate, approving one.

'Our group has benefitted immensely at the same time as we unearth new singers who join our group and take part in our programmes time and again. Our presence in social media and regular publicity over the local press is useful but once a participant performs, he or she knows whether they will fit or not' says Mudit Kapoor, who was one such entrant 18 months ago into the group. All the same, it was an enjoyable and entertaining weekend programme.