A buzzing campus, wacky contests and ultra-energetic contestants — Mood Indigo is back with a bang. The four-day annual cultural festival of the IIT-Bombay (from December 20-23) like every year, promises to embody the true spirit of youth through every aspect — music, dance, drama, competitions and exhibitions to name a few.
In keeping with its tradition of being a festival that provides a platform for the convergence of culture around the globe, MI 2008 had a ‘rocking’ performance by Ensiferum, the metal rock band from Finland.
“It is the first time we are performing in India. We feel the young audience here will be able to enjoy this performance all the more,” said Sami Hinkka, member of the band. Considered the best viking metal band in the world, the five-member group performed the closing act at one of MI’s legendary pronites, Livewire or the rock competition with stunning visuals and lights, 50,000 watts of sound and a frenzied crowd.
Initially a “bit scared” owing to the recent terror attacks in the city, band member Petri Lindroos said that they were “glad the show wasn’t cancelled and we are able to perform in Mumbai.”
The jam-packed open-air theatre (OAT) at the Powaii campus rocked to a 90-minute, power-packed performance — a fitting start to the pronites, considered the biggest event at MI.
In a deviation from the previous years, where the rock-competition is conducted on the last day of MI, this year, Livewire finals also got over on Saturday with the rock fraternity paying homage to their idols.
Considered a “dream platform, a launchpad and one of the toughest rock competitions to get into”, this year had almost 75 demonstrations with only 29 making it to the elimination rounds. Rock bands Slain from Bangalore, Rosemary from Mumbai and Zygnema from Mumbai made it to the finals. “It is one of the biggest shows of Mumbai and for us it’s an experience and not just another competition. We had performed here two years back but couldn’t make it to the finals then. We are here to enjoy the stage,” said Sidharth Kadadi, member of Zygnema.
However, another act by the Nofit State Circus (UK), had to be cancelled due to an unruly crowd. Studenta confirmed that the show has been cancelled. However, when contacted, one of the student coordinators refused to comment and said that "the show hadn't started then. We'll see how the situation goes and accordingly take a decision on it". Meanwhile, with 135 competitions, day one also had eliminations of several events and exhibitions.
