City mall ups entertainment quotient

City mall Phoenix Marketcity brought about a whole new metamorphosis in the entertainment sphere in the year 2018 and for Chennaiites, it was more than just shopping experience that took their breath away. Local and international talents continued wowing the city audience with round the year performances and activities.

Eat pray laugh
The 2018 edition of ‘Eat Pray and Laugh’, the annual comedy fest by Phoenix MarketCity, in association with Evam Standup Tamasha presented ‘LOL’ with Daniel Fernandes and Kunal Kamra hosted by Vikash Paul in January. The first to get on stage was Kunal Kamra. His humour highlighted the daily absurdities of life. His quick- witted comedy on the life as a bachelor and ridiculous advertisements on television. The funniest man on the face of the planet, Vir Das, also entertained the audience as a part of his Boarding Das Tour, covering more than 20 countries.

Rapper badshah
Badshah’s exhilarating two-hour performance at the mall in August, revealed why he was the most sought after rapper! Badshah and Aastha Gill set the place ablaze with the very first number for the night, Abhi toh party shuru hui and Humma Humma leaving no time to waste to heighten everybody’s enthusiasm. 

Global Isai festival
The mall also witnessed the magic of sounds with the Global Isai Festival in February with the performance of highly acclaimed artists like Jack’ Styles, The Vinyl Records, Rajhesh Vaidhya V5 The Gang, Simangavole and Balabhaskar & the Big Band. The second day of the grand Global Isai Music saw performances of international musicians and bands such as Samghata, Forest Pooky, Plantec, Itaca band and Tanvi Shah lifted the spirits of Chennai to a completely new level of music ecstasy.

Folks of Harmony
For the first time in the city, the mall put together a musical act like never before in November titled, ‘Folks of Harmony’ with about 80 talented kids from the famous troupe, ‘Leap Boundary Breakers’, who are mentored by the guru AR Rahman himself. Considered as one of the top musical troupes in India, the team comprising of little children along with few enthusiastic parents stepped on to the stage with color coordinated outfits and bright smiles. The founder of Leap Boundary Breakers, Srinivas Krishnan was the director for the musical night. The team was led by singer Aparna who sang in famous Tamil movies like Sarkar and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam and were supported by musicians from KM Music Conservatory. They welcomed the mixed crowd that had people from all walks of life with their soulful music.

GAmING EXPO
Chennai, put-together the country’s biggest gaming event in September, in association with Arknemesis. The three-day festival united gamers from all around the country on a new battleground. Spaces in and around the mall were transformed into a battleground for customers and walkers-by to experience gaming at its best. There were also board games set up for family members and friends of gamers who attended the event. Ardent fans came forward to participate in games like FIFA on PS4, DOTA 2 on PC and PUBG on mobile to win the largest prize pools in India of INR 10 Lakhs. Around 1000 people registered to participate in the various tournaments.

Geat indian dog show
In association with The Blue Cross of India (BCI) hosted, ‘The Great India Dog Show’ was hosted in August, in order to support the adoption of homeless pets, celebrate indigenous dog breeds and appreciate the people who have adopted Indian breeds over Pedigree breeds. The Great Indian Dog show had about 1000 visitors to raise awareness on the need to adopt pets, rather than shop for them.

AnimeCon
A September extravaganza at Phoenix Marketcity and Palladium celebrated Asian pop-culture with animecon! The highlight of the three-day festival was the Main Cosplay competition which saw an active participation of more than 100 ardent cosplay followers in the avatar of their favorite Anime characters. International cosplayer, Onrumpa Jingrukwong, from Thailand attended the event to entertain and encourage the audience.

Christmas cantata
The mall spread the Christmas cheer with a musical repertoire as a part of their Christmas celebration by hosting, Christmas Cantata in December. The artists from all over the globe brought out the relevance of the spirit of Christmas with a beautiful performance marking the holy birth of baby Jesus in Jerusalem. The play was enhanced with special background effects, effective spotlights during important moments that made it an altogether gratifying delivery. The audience listened to the exquisite sound of the multiple voices from the combined choirs, as the instrumental music uplifted the whole ambiance.

Shillong Chamber choir
The world-renowned choir, Shillong Chamber Choir was in Chennai in December, 2018 as part of their world tour and commemorates the month-long Christmas celebrations at mall. The opening performance for the evening was a peppy number, Barcelona. The act set the stage for one of Shillong Chamber Choir’s most enduring acts.  The sight of the 10 member-number troupe performing in colour coordinated outfits, with coordinated actions against the backdrop of a stunning décor, make the evening a visual pleasure for all those seated. They impressed everyone with their blend of harmonic richness and dynamic beats, as they effortlessly married the old melodies to the latest chartbusters, to deliver a power packed performance. The troupe sang the beats in 7 different languages with so much ease and grace.