Soorya festival begins

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Soorya Festival, the colourful cultural festival hosted by the city, began on Wednesday.The inaugural ceremony held at Kalabhavan theatre was enriched with the performance of Samudra contemporary dance troupe.As part of the festival, a painting exhibition will be organised at Kalabhavan from September 22 to 26 and from November 11 to 20.The paintings of Kanjana Manilal and Anil Karoor will be exhibited.Shobana, Lakshmi Gopalaswami, Rama Vaidhyanathan and Priyadarshini Govind would participate in the dance and music fest from October 1 to 10.The Theatre Festival will have twelve plays directed by Soorya Krishnamoorthy, apart from the dramas of Gopi Kuttikal, P A M Rashid, Kavalam and John T Walker.From October 21 to 27, the performances of art forms like Chakyarkoothu, Koodiyattam, Ramayanam Ballet, Bhajan, Ottan Thullal and Bharatanatyam would be performed in the Ramayanam festival.The speeches by N Gopalakrishnan, Babu Paul, P K Hamsa Maulavi Farooki, C Radhakrishnan and M G Shashibhooshan will be the part of the Talk Festival.A programme called ‘Muttathe Mulla’ has been arranged for the young artistes in Kerala from October 28 to 31.Ten chamber concerts by eminent artists is the new package introduced.Five films of Tamil actor Sivaji Ganeshan, old Hindi movies and famous movies in various languages would also be screened at the festival.Carnatic music recitals by famous singers such as Nila Ramgopal, Aswathi Thirunal Ramavarma, Dilip Kumar, Bappukutty Bhagavathar, Maya Varma and Vanajam will be held from October 6.Mohiniyattam Fest, Kathakali Fest, Jugalbandi Fest and Odissi Fest will also be part of the festival.Around 50 artists would participate in the programme for artistes named ‘Kalagramam’ at the fest.The 365 days’ programme will arrange dialysis for 365 patients, with the financial aid of NIMS hospital and SREE Foundation.Soorya Festival has also envisaged a free heart operation programme called ‘Art for Heart’ with the help of Harvy Heart Hospital.