Kerala all set for 111-day-long Soorya Festival

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 20 (PTI) Over 2000 artistes,including eminent singers and dancers from all parts of thecountry and abroad, will take part in the 40th edition ofSoorya Festival, a 111-day art and cultural fiesta beginninghere tomorrow. An array of programmes including dance and musicfestivals, national theatre fest, film festival, Hindustaniconcerts, traditional art shows, Mohiniyattam and Ramayanafestivals and painting and photo exhibitions would be held aspart of the annual event at various venues here. The sought-after event of art buffs would commencewith amega show, titled ‘Ganesham’ at Tagore theatre here, in whicharound 50 artistes would perform, said Soorya Krishnamoorthy,founder of SOORYA Stage and Film Society, the organiser ofthe annual event. "Over 2000 artistes from and outside the country willtakepart in this year’s festival. It will begin with Ganesham showtomorrow and conclude on January 11," he said here. The classical concert of eminent singer K J Yesudas,whohad performed in all previous editions of the event, is one ofthe major highlights of the festival. Other highlights include a concert of NityashreeMahadevan, performances of Lakshmi Gopalaswamy and Shobhana(both Baharatanatyam), Manju Warrier (Kuchupudi), SharmilaMukherji (Odissi) and Madhumita Roy (Kathak). Popular singers like Pandit Ramesh Narayan, Gayathri,Manjari, Shahabaz Aman, Umbayi, Anita Sheik and AbraditaBanarjee are among those who would perform in ‘Jalsa Ghar’,the Hindustani concert series, he said. Organised with the support of Directorate of FilmFestivals in New Delhi, the film festival will have a slice ofregional movies including Tamil, Kannada, Bodo, Bengali andMarathi besides Malayalam films. The ‘Meet the Masters’ section will have the screeningofselected classical movies by eminent filmmaker AdoorGopalakrishnan, he said. ‘Mithuna’, a French ballet by Annette Leday, would beanother attraction, the organisers said adding ‘EnteRakshakan’ (My Saviour), a mega Bible show, would mark the endof the festival on January 11. A non-profit, non-commercial voluntary organization,’Soorya’, functioning with its headquarters here, has itschapters in 36 countries. PTI LGK BN ARKTRK