The 17th Keli festival changes its face this year to include Hindistani classical music

When K Ramachandran came to Mumbai in 1990, there wasn’t much to speak of in terms of a Malayali cultural movement or festival. Ramachandran and a group of friends from Kerala got together and began to organise yearly cultural programmes in suburban Vasai where they lived. Inviting the lords of traditional Malayali performing art forms such as Kathakali, Kutiyattam, Mohiniattam and musicians every year, the festival grew under their working title, Keli.

Kathakali maestro Kumaran Nair, Kutiyattam great Ammanur Madhava Chakyar, Chemmangudi Sreenivas Iyer, Sivaram Poduval and Kalamandalam Appukutty Poduval are some of the doyens that have graced Keli festivals over the last 16 years.

And as they prepare for the 17th edition, the three-day festival that begins today at the Y B Chavan auditorium may seem a bit surprising that all the masters this year are non-Malayalis. “Over the years, we only showcased traditional artists from Kerala, and we realised that we should also bring other art forms to our stage. Art or culture doesn’t have boundaries and so we’ve decided to go further and include Hindustani classical music.”

An important feature of the festival is the felicitation of the senior artists that visit and perform every year. This year, sarangi virtuoso, Padmabhushan Pandit Ram Narayan, tabla maestro, Ustad Zakir Hussain and sarod exponent Brij Narayan will perform and be felicitated. Subhash Chandran, artistic director of the festival, feels this is an attempt to “spread the wings of the festival and embrace other art forms”.

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