There was no dearth of entertainment for college students of Kerala until last year. After the unfortunate death of a student in an accident during Onam celebration inside the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, the High Court of Kerala imposed restriction on activities in college campuses across the state. One of the points in the order that miffed both students and the entertainment industry alike was that programmes by external agencies, professional groups, paid programmes such as DJ and musical events were no longer permitted on campuses.
The order also specifically stated that technical festivals should be limited to technical activities. There was a hue and cry amongst students as well as artists once the order came out. For an already weak music scene in Kerala, this order meant death of parallel music. With the ban on DJ shows across the state, students were left with no choice when it came to pepping up campus festivals.
So how do they organise campus festivals today? Have the students found any loopholes for entertainment? One would be surprised to learn that band/rock shows or DJ shows continue to take place in campus fests although they are disguised under a subtle programme name and are held for a shorter duration. In this way, students continue to enjoy one or two musical events in a year. A testimony to the fact that curb on a fare share of creative growth and enjoyment defies the purpose of college education.
Professional shows, exclusively music shows, are sometimes organised in a private auditorium outside the college campus. There are times when a singer is invited to the college as a chief guest or judge after which he or she gives a performance. There are times when the college authorities take up the responsibility. And then there are the competitions, hours’ long rock or DJ competitions by various young and upcoming artists which are a sure shot crowd-pullers. These are some of the alternatives to banned stage shows currently.
Manoj K Varghese, Founder and Director of India Elements event management company, says, “A ban is never a remedy for anything. When something is banned, there will always be ways in which it will resurrect in another form and that is what is happening to the music events on college campuses. If band shows can be organised in schools then why not colleges?”
Not all colleges go for stay orders. DJ Arez happened to give a performance of an hour and half at SCMS, Kochi, as part of the DJ competition held in connection with campus fest Igniz and Vh1 Supersonic 101, a brand extension in order to integrate our artists into leading college festivals.
“He was invited as a judge for the DJ competitions. Unfortunately, we had to drop the competition due to lack of participants after which he gave a short performance,” says Vishnu Bose, College Chairman. Goving Menon of Thaikkudam Bridge says “We were never invited in that way, but if students are finding innovative ways to include professional performances in fests then that is a bold move.More than just inviting a celebrity to campus they want us to perform and that counts.”
Lijo Joy of Ezone Entertainment points out, “Once the court put a hold on DJ events, many event management companies survived on college shows. Sometimes student organisers do not get permission for such events as there is an expense of nearly '30,000 to get a special permission from court.”
Sachin Dev, student of Government Engineering College, Kozhikode, points out, “We are busy with a technical show for the past two days. We do not have any pro shows. However, we had an intercollegiate band competition which was inaugurated by Thaikkudam Bridge-fame Siddharth Menon, who also gave a small performance.”
Ace musician Bhalabhaskar recently performed at Marian Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram. He strongly points out “That court order in non-sensical. And it is true that students organise pro shows either inside or outside the campus. If I am invited by the students I will surely go. It is a burden for students to organise the show outside campus, it must be bought back within the campus walls.”
