Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival: Ambi, Bindu & SubraMania Take Centrestage

Bhubaneswar: SubraMania, led by young violinist Ambi Subramaniam and vocalist Bindu Subramaniam, presented a magical musical evening at the Rabindra Mandap here as the 30th Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (GKCM) Award Festival 2024 reached its half-way mark on Sunday.

Ambi and Bindu, who are carrying forward the rich musical legacy of their father, celebrated violin virtuoso Dr L Subramaniam, captivated the audience with contemporary world music.

With Frijo Francis on the keyboard, Anirudha Bhat on the mridangam, Prashanth Gnanamuthu on the guitar and Karthik Mani on the drums, they presented a fusion of traditional Indian music with elements of pop, rock and jazz, with their breakthrough track ‘Days in the Sun.’

With their unique musical arrangement, SubraMania presented a distinctive harmonic blend of different sounds, tonality and pieces. Each track had a distinct element including Spanish Flamenco, Hungarian gypsy, and rhythmic intricacies.

Among the guests for the evening were Odisha’s Director General of Police and Head of Police Force Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, Odisha government’s Joint Director-cum-Joint Secretary, Department of Odia Language, Literature & Culture Subodh Chandra Acharya, Dharitri and OrissaPOST CEO Adyasha Satpathy and Srjan Director and Dean, Faculty of Arts, Communication & Indic Studies, SSU Guru Ratikant Mohapatra.

The week-long GKCM Award Festival, organised by Srjan-Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Nrityabasa along with institutional support of Sri Sri University (SSU), Cuttack, will next feature performances by world-renowned musicians Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia and Ojas Adhiya, a Kathak performance by exponent Guru Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee and the Upasana Centre for Dance and Guru Ratikant’s very own Srjan ensemble.