Musical and entertaining events in Boston, featuring promising local performers have become an integral part of the cultural life in the Greater Boston area, since 2010 in particular. This year too, South Asians in Boston have had a feast with a string of highly engaging and fun-filled events, usually for a cause. In terms of exposing and then transforming hidden talent into a pure dazzling entertainment in soaring class for a full house of 600+, SwaRaag Performing Arts' 2013 Bollywood Music & Dance Competition on Oct 26th, could easily walk away with the honors.

Swathi Subramanian, founder and president of SwaRaag, and her team made a highly charged in-style presentation at the Ashland High School on Saturday, October 26 with relatively unheard and unseen local talent. The presentation, combined with prime time celebrity star playback singer Anuradha Palakurthi was supported by gold medalist in music Amol Khanapurkar and also featured the talented winners of the past music and dance competitions. Composer Shyam Vai, who has worked with Oscar winning composers and recorded songs with notable singers from India like Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sadhna Sargam, Mahalakshmi, Naresh Iyer Karthik and Nityashree created a special SwaRaag Anthem with inputs from Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi to bring this piece to represent the rhythm of SwaRaag.

The program kicked-off with a dazzling start with very creative group dance presentations. Gurjar’s theme It’s a Jungle Out There was rather off-beat and the seven vibrant Dancing Divas in their now signature black-red attire, ensured that the eyes were firmly glued to the stage. Indira Chakrabarty and Rafeeq Abdul were brilliant in the Solo Song (17-30) Category, but Srikaanth Niranjan Anand clearly aced it with Ya Ali Reham Wali. The audience had barely savored the vocals when Meghana Nair, clad in her yellow attire, took my breath away with her Solo Dance on Bhool Bhulayyan and Hare Ram. Krithi Nathan & Isha Laad also performed engagingly in this category. Group Dances from Kalaimangai’s Amudhasri and Urvi Pathak’s Satvikam Shivam came next and tugged our hearts with their patriotic presentations, where the Indian flag was as prominent as the performers. I was most captivated with Solo Song (9-16) Category for which the judges must have had a tough time. Sachi Badola’s Raina Beeti Jai, Aaroni’s Barso Re and Vandana’s Pyar Hua Chupke se were all brilliant. Tehniyat Hakim impressed me immensely with Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai, but in the end it was Harini Shanmugam, who scored with her flawless voice variation in the Arabic-styled melody Maiyya Maiyya.

The Duo Dance concept was brilliant and well-showcased. It was a treat to watch the Mangalat sisters, Amritha and Anjana with Dola Re, Shachi-Karishma and Priya-Nisha pairs, but brotherly Jaikishan and Nagaraju stole the show with their flawless and well choreographed performance.

Next, Neha Parikh’s Chidambaram Nrityakala girls showcased how the years at bollywood had transformed heroines from shy maidens to today’s demure beauties, taking us through various decades of songs.

Act I came to closure with a colorful blend of voices of Anuradha Palakurthi and Amol Khanapurkar, and their brilliant rendition of Rahat’s Tera Sajda - Ye Jahan Chhoot Jaye along with sterling classical dance performances in Bharatnatyam and Manipuri styles by Radhika Jaishankar, Shrunothra Ambati, Shriya Srinivas and Nilam Mistry.

Post intermission with Act II, the evening continued to unfold talent after talent. Aparna Rajan opened the scene playing her saxophone to a melodious instrumental piece from Jodha Akbar.
While Group Dances by Risbud’s Rasarang with cheerfully clad Joker’s got the kids excited and Shrunothra’s Mayuris on the flowing instrumental got the crowd enchanted, I was truly captivated by the Talluri twins – Harika and Mounika from NH with their Dola Re- Nach Le combination in the Junior Duo Dance category. Young ones Juhi & Forram had a sweet presentation whereas Farrien Khan and Shaila Abbott were in their element and ended up winners.

Comedian Dan Nainan, who recently performed for President Barack Obama and also toured with comedian Russell Peters, was invited as a guest artiste and provided the stand-up comedy that kept the audience in stitches.

Solo Song (31 and up) came next followed by the final Group Dance, clearly the high point of the competition component of the program. Shyla Madur, Pallavi Joshi, Saurabh Dubey, Div Prakash & Sunil Nambiar enriched this Song category, each with a different flair. Pallavi’s enactment in ‘Jhalla Wallah’ was perfectly suited to entertaining the crowd, whereas Shyla’s ‘Morni Baga Ma’ was very impressive and also claimed the prize.  JaiKishan’s Jai Ho Dance Group’s skillfully choreographed Fusion Mix was in a class of its own, both in terms of creativity and flawless execution and deservingly earned the first position. Jasmine Shah’s Aangikam Dance Academy had to share the second position with Des Rangila performed earlier by the Satvikam Shivam School.

The program could not have come a better closure than the dazzling Primetime presentation by Anuradha Palakurthi that she created encompassing the past winning singers and dancers, optimizing their talent, truly rocked. Guest artsist Amol Khanapurkar along with past winners: Parag Joshi, Nalini Krishnan, Nidhi Tare, Sahana Srinivasan, Anusha Kulkarni, Anusha Anand, Valentino Almeida, Nagaraju, JaiKishan, Shrayu Mahale, Manasi Danke worked each thumping number with Anuradha Palakurthi holding the thread through the segment. Truly deserving is a special mention for Anusha Anand who flew in from California to be a part of SwaRaag’s Special Feature and Nalini Krishnan of Berklee School of Music who gave a spectacular full throttle presentation of the title song from her own album ‘Money Back’. The special feature starting with Amol Khanapurkar’s intense Ramta Jogi to their finale Lungi dance presentation led by Parag Joshi and group left the audience charged up craving for more.

Finally, the moment that all had been waiting for. The winners and special awards were announced and presented with their trophies. Prestigious teachers and artists from Boston graced the judge’s panel. The dance judges were Sridevi Ajai Thirumalai, Meena Subramanyam and Ranjani Saigal, while Shyam Vai, Janani Swamy and Pravin Sitaram served as the song judges.

With over 100 artistes, SwaRaag’s event was a spectacular kaleidoscope of themes beautifully welded together with high power video presentations, synchronized lighting, engaging flow, the spectacular show raised the bar even higher for future events as we look ahead at 2014 and beyond.

An A+ to Swathi Subramanian and her team for providing an entertainment event of the highest order. We Bostonians truly love up the city’s reputation as the cultural heart of the nation and look to next year’s SWARAAG Competition slated for 18th October 2014!

The final winners were the following:

SWARAAG 2013 WINNERS:

SOLO SONG Category
Age Division 31&Up:     1st Place: Shyla Mudur     2nd Place: Div Prakash
Age Division 17-30:     1st Place: Srikaanth Niranjan Anand     2nd Place: Indira Chakrabarty
Age Division 9-16: 1st Place: Harini Shanmugham 2nd Place: Sachi Badola

SOLO DANCE Category
Age Division 9-17:     1st Place: Meghana Nair     2nd Place: Krithi Nathan

DUO DANCE Category
Age Division 17&Up (Senior): 1st Place: Nagaraju Cemitathollu & JaiKishan
2nd Place: Shachi Risbud & Karishma Navani

Age Division 9-16 (Junior): 1st Place: Shaila Abbott & Farrien Khan
2nd Place: Harika Talluri & Mounika Talluri

GROUP DANCE Category
1st Place: Fusion Mix — Choreographer JaiKishan- Jai Ho Dance Group
2nd Place: Tie between
* Shudha Desi Romance - choreographer Jasmine Shah - Aangikam Dance Academy and
*Des Rangila - choreographer Urvi Pathak - Satvikam Shivam School of Indian Cultural Heritage

Aap Ki Awaaz (People's Choice Award)
Audience Vote by texting for group dances awarded to Des Rangila choreographer Urvi Pathak - Satvikam Shivam School of Indian Cultural Heritage

* Lucky draw winners from all those who auditioned with SWARAAG in Solo & Duo Categories:
FREE Western Caribbean Cruise awarded to Farrien Khan

* Lucky draw winner from all who came in first place at the SWARAAG Competition in Solo & Duo Categories: Dinner with a Celebrity: Nagaraju Cemitathollu & JaiKishan

SWARAAG Audition Judges: Uma Sankar, Preeti Nagar, Hiral Parikh, Anandini Sekhar, Kalaimangai Anbalagan, Swathi Subramanian

SWARAAG Final Dance Judges: Sridevi Ajai Thirumalai, Meena Subramanyam, Ranjani Saigal

SWARAAG Final Song Judges:   Shyam Vai, Janani Swamy, Pravin Sitaram

SWARAAG TEAM & Supporters:

Swathi Subramanian, Shobha Shastry, Raji Rajan, Uma Sankar, Anandini, Sekhar, Swetha Subramanian, Asha Manish, Hiral Parikh, Rekha Palriwala, Rens Methratta, Shikha Bajpai, Manjiri Danke, Abhijit Kanade, Vaibhav Dabade, Preeti Nagar, Kalaimangai Anbalagan, Jawed Wahid, Anuradha Palakurthi, Prashanth Palakurthi, Shyam Vai, Amol Khanapurkar, Christy-Daisy Mathew, Manish Kurup, Sharayu Mahale, Varsha-Bal Mahale, Shridhar-Jaya Kulkarni, Siraj Khan, Anushree Bopardikar, Mahesh Palriwala, Shaila Shastry, Rajan Vishwanathan, Arjun Rajan, Akash, Jyothi Pravin, Deepa Mangalat, Tej Dhakkar, Puneetha Palakurthi, Parag Joshi, Nalini Krishnan, Nidhi Tare, Sahana Srinivasan, Anusha Kulkarni, Anusha Anand, Utpala Anand, Nagaraju, JaiKishan, Manasi Danke, Jothi Raghavan, Tara Anand, Durga Krishnan, Deepal Parikh, Lata Vasanth, Suzana Naik, Shraddha Agrawal, Vasanth Murthy, Nikhil-Kalyani Pendharkar, Ani Chitaley, Sankar Gangaikondan, Sudha Lakshmi Rao, Raghu Saranathan, Meena Sundaram, Ujjwal Parikh, Deejay Yogz, Dipesh Patel, Aditya Kalyankur, Amit Kavthekar, Pradeep Shukla, Shuchita Rao, Swati Panda, Anjali Arora, Raagini Seth, Shaku Patel, Almas Zaidi, Shashank Bellary, Venu Challa, Deepti Navratna, Muneeza Nasrulla, Eshani Shah, Jasmine Shah, Manoj Shah, Arsh-Anil Mehrothra, Kumkum Malik, Raj Velmurugan, Seshi Sompuram, Sayali Marathe, Vaishali Sabnis, Lalitha Prabhuram, Radha Petaru, Paresh Motiwala, Sharda Jha, Sudha Subbaraman, Alankar Decorators, ISW, IANH, NEMA, UIA, NETS, TAGB, NEKK, NEMM, Maheshwari Group, Aaroh, Saptaswar, Mirchi Beats.
 
Media Channels: Lokvani, Bipin Parikh — Gunjan, Harish Dang — Sounds of India, Razia Mashkoor — Boston Desi Connection, India New England – Upendra Misra.

Caterers: Thank you Vinod & Sorabh Kapoor of Masala Art / Bombay Club
Sound Engineer: Thank you Jawed Wahid for the perfect sound.

Special Thanks to Shyam Vai for creating the SWARAAG anthem with Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi.

Special Thanks to Anuradha Palakurthi for bringing together the SWARAAG PrimeTime segment.

Special Thanks to Shobha Shastry, Alankar Decorators, Prashanth & Anuradha Palakurthi, Aaroh Music Group, Mirchi Beats, Raji Rajan & Family, Siraj Khan for breathing life into this endeavor, their unflagging support and their confidence inspired in the team all the way through...
 
The families and friends of all the performers for their unstinting and unconditional support.

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