Saarang is the annual cultural festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, accredited with a heritage stretching from the late ’70s and proud of hosting talents like Farhan Akhtar, Opeth, When Chai Met Toast, Shankar Mahadevan, and other international headliners have performed. This covers a variety of genres like Rock music, Classical music, EDM and Pop.
It is the largest student-run festival of its kind in the country, witnessing a footfall of over 75,000 in the last few editions. The five-day festival is scheduled from 6th to 9th January 2022. As an ISO accredited fest, it is one of the biggest cultural extravaganzas of the year.
Saarang is coming back this 2022, with the grand theme “Lores and Legacies.” In this edition, they explore stories of the old fables and legends, some passed on from ancestors and some we have witnessed in our transient lives, reliving every moment of it in a mystic way.
Over the five-day span, the events and workshops range from categories of Music, Sports, Food, Fashion, Fine Arts, Dance, Oratory, Drama, Quizzing, and so on – providing a platform for showcasing the talent and energy of the youth because Saarang is such a unique channel to reach a diverse demographic of audience.
In continuation with the previous year’s social cause, this year Saarang launched Mann 2.0, a campaign surrounding mental health awareness. Aiming to destigmatize the topic of mental health, Mann 2.0 strived to bring conversations on the topic to the forefront. A number of events were conducted under the campaign, with the goal of reaching the maximum number of people across the age groups and sparking discussions on mental health. Mann 2.0 strived to bring conversations on the topic to the forefront. A number of events were conducted under the campaign, with the goal of reaching the maximum number of people across the age groups and sparking discussions on mental health.
Kicking off World Fest for Saarang 2022, the flamboyant Melbourne-based didgeridoo player – Mitch Tambo is going to put on a show to impress. Blending traditional Aboriginal sounds and language with contemporary beats and production, Mitch is a new voice for a generation producing music that cuts across cultures and lifestyles. World Fest’s second act is Love X Stereo, an electric duo from South Korea! Consisting of lead vocalist and synthesizer player Annie Ko and guitarist and producer Toby Hwang, they are one of the most eminent K-Indie music bands and have created their own trademark in Electro-rock.
The next act for World Fest 2022 ,Tim Vantol is an indie singer from Netherlands. He currently resides in Germany and frequently tours all over the country. Apart from making legendary covers, he thrives when he composes his original music.
HNH Powerpack Dance Crew is an award-winning street dance troupe from Accra, Ghana. Quite recently, they won Ghana Dance Crew and Ghadia awards for doing what they do best. Their fiery moves will not let you bat your eyelid even for a split second. They are going to be performing a couple of amazing hits that will leave you absolutely astounded.
The next act in the World Fest Arts series is Dan Ahtola, a hypnotherapist all the way from Sweden! He is the founding creator of the technique TranceMorf that is a transformative experience in personal and spiritual development. He also received the Golden Buzzer in Sweden’s Got Talent for the mastery of his art.
World Fest’s next act is Robin Packalen, a pop singer from Finland! He started out as a teen pop artist and is now one of the 70 best-selling artists of all-time in his country.
If you think that the World Fest lineup is a lot, that’s not all. The Saarang Professional Nights starting off with Indie Night on 7th January 2022 with a performance by Raghav Meattle. Having his debut album listed in Rolling Stones India, Meattle is all set to give the Professional Nights a vivacious start. He shot to fame after he auditioned for Season 2 of The Stage, the first home-grown English singing talent hunt show. The night of 8th January promises to be a smashing one with Rock Night’s lead act, Corner Cafe Chronicles. Corner Cafe Chronicles is an alt-rock band from Mumbai formed in 2017 and have performed over 100 shows all over the country. Their debut album, Renaissance I, created a buzz across the industry, making the band feature in GQ India’s list of ‘indie musicians that need to be in your playlist in 2021’, among other reputed magazines including Rolling Stone and Elle India.
Keeping the momentum going, the stage is set for Saarang’s first-ever Pop Fusion Night, with singers Malavika Sunder and Palak Muchhal promising a melodious and exciting time. Maalavika is a Carnatic Musician and has appeared in Indian Idol, Super Singer. For starters, she is one of the regulars at Margazhi concerts every season, and she has recently turned into a playback singer. Maalavika has also a number of cine songs, including a few hits like Karuppu Nerathazhagi from Komban, Gum Zaare from Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru.
Palak Muchhal is an Indian Playback Singer based out of Madhya Pradesh, who is widely renowned for her extremely melodious voice. She has been awarded for her exceptional work in popular Bollywood films like Aashiqui 2 (2013) and MS Dhoni (2016). Along with this, she has also sung in many regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada. Palak uses most of her earnings for charity work, for which she has been recognised in the Guiness Book of World Records as well.
The Music events lineup consists of a diverse set of events covering all kinds of musical talents. Starting with Vox, Saarang’s Western Music solo vocals competition. The event renders a podium for all western music, with genres ranging from Pop to R&B. This event brings with itself a flair that sets it apart, trooped by artists battling it out with their voices at this monumental face-off. With Vox being an event amassing vast popularity and love, this is a stage for striking performers – for dreamers who wish to take scale of Western Music vocals to the next level.
The next event, Alankar, has a rostrum that invigorates the glory of Indian music, invoking a colossal participation and an abundance of genres. Vocalists wishing to set the stage ablaze with their melliflous sounding tunes from the brihas to the swaras, and Rafi to Rahman can dive into Saarang’s glorious Indian light music vocals competition.
Saarangs’s solo instrumental event, Cadence, sets up a high-toned stage for those wishing to demonstrate their instrumental adroitness- proving that not only voices and words but notes, harmonies, and melodies can be euphonious. The platform that Cadence brings forth is all set to be enraptured by individual dexterity, be it through a classic Beethoven piece or a pulsing Jimi Hendrix solo.
The Indian fusion music battle of the bands event, Tarang, encapsulates our musical traditions while being authentic to Saarang’s heritage of cultural richness. Tarang is the home of the great Indian musical prowess of today, and has been honoured by the presence of A.R. Rahman, Anirudh Ravichander, and the band Aathma. The fortuitous parallelism of traditional Indian instruments in a band-like framework, the harmonizing of these surreal synths, is nothing short of astounding.
Serving as a launchpad for evolving musicians, Saarang’s Western music battle of the bands event Decibels is all about flaunting the synergy between band members. With sound levels climaxing, feel the zeal of the crowd soar up several decibels while bringing forth headbanging-worthy performances. Be it a classic metal infusion or indie rock, transform the stage into your concert.
Attracting the most proficient singers across colleges and schools from the country, Saarang’s vocal competition Acapella is all about music born purely from the human voice. Acapella as a genre emanates from musical theatre and brings the sophistication of its source through transformation, challenging vocalists to produce the most pitch-perfect demonstrations of musicality possible from the human vocal chords. It is for those who would rather forego their instruments and create the entire spectrum of frequencies by harmonizing voices on top of each other.
Online or offline, Saarang promises great entertainment and a commemoration of art and culture like no other. With 850 young minds working together to make Saarang the kind of magnificent phenomenon it is, the festival is not just another college fest. Rather, it is a celebration of a collective effort taken to realise a dream and make it happen.
