Purple Lounge which is fast turning out to be the best party spot in Trivandrum is out with a new event this weekend. Dance Revolution featuring DJ Mahi on 20th February 2010 from 8pm onwards. Free entry for couples so all you fresh off the valentines day celebrations, you know where to go

So folks, will you be there? If yes, lets catch up!

Ustad Dilshad Khan and Begum Parveen Sultana took the humble population of Trivandrum to another plane with their heavenly rendition of  hindustani classical music.  The audience was spell bound for over two hours. They palyed a total of five selections including tow bhajans.

The renditions were in raga Hamsadwani, Misrbhairavi among others. Well I am a novice as far as Hindustani Music is concerned but I do have a good ear. Begum Perveen Sultana was sheer magic.The way she captures the top saptak and sings a taan over it, God it was heavenly .

Those taranas and bhajans what more could I ask for……..

The 14th International Film Festival of Kerala from 11th-18th Dec 2009  is being organized by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy
on behalf of Cultural Affairs Ministry. The movies to be screened are as follows..

Kerala cafe is a novel concept which is being first introduced in Malayalam Movie industry .Though not alien to movie culture Kerala Cafe is made up of ten short films where the theme of travel blends all the movies together.  “Paris J’taime” was the first of its kind in this genre. Indian example include Mumbai Cutting.  Ace director and script writer  Ranjith who has given  movie buffs  many movies to cherish has been the chief architect behind this project.  He has involved some of the best directors in the movie industry to work on this project. Ten different short films are packed into one single movie under the common theme of yathra ( travel ). The movie is produced by Backwaters Entertainment Private Limited. The short film includes

1. Lalitham Hiranmayam directed by Shaji Kailas and starring Suresh Gopi, Jyothimayee and Dhanya Mary George.

2. Puramkazhchakal directed by Lal Jose and starring Mammootty, Sreenivasan, Manikandan, Sreelekha and Suresh Nair.

3. Aviramam directed by B.Unnikrishnan and starring Sidhik, Swetha Menon and Sudheesh.

4. Bridge directed by Anwar Rasheed and starring Saleem Kumar, Kozhikode Santhadevi, Kalpana, Jinu Joseph,
Molly Master Akash, Baby Karthu.

5. Offseason directed by ShyamaPrasad and starring Suraj Venjaramood, Frank Pietropinto, Marie Muscroft, Vindhyan.

6. Nostalgia directed by M.Padmakumar Dileep, Navya Nair, Suresh Krishna.

7. Makal directed by Revathi and starring Sona Nair, Augustin, Srinath, Sreelakshmi, Archana, Jayarao, Sasi,
Master Arun, Sai Shree.

8. Happy Journey directed by Anjali Menon and starring Jagathy Sreekumar, Nithya Menen, Mukundan.

9. Mrityunjayam directed by Uday Ananthan starring Thilakan, Fahd Faazil, Reema.

10. Island Express directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan  starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Rehman, Manian Pilla Raju,Sreejith Ravi,  Sukumari,  Kani, Shelly,Geethu Christie.

The cast includes all the leading male and female actors of Kerala Film Industry with the exception of  Mohanlal.  the movie is set to hit theatres on October 29 2009. For interviews, exclusive contents and wall papers visit keralacafe.moviebuzz.org.

DJ Aqeel will be in the city to set the dance floors on fire! For the first time ever, DJ Aqeel will rock the stage at Hotel Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach. His show, ‘White Nite’, will be on at the convention centre from 8 p.m. on September 19. DJ Aqeel, known for the heart-throbbing ‘Shake it Daddy Mix’, is the only Indian DJ who has gone international.

He is the only DJ to have played twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos entertaining Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan.  He is the one who redefined Bollywood music worldwide. He also introduced the first ever DJ owned record label in the country under the brand PowerPlay records. Over five millions copies of his six albums were sold across the globe. So folks, dress up in white smart casuals and dance to DJ Aqeel’s tunes!

Soorya Festival, one of the biggest and longest cultural festivals ever, will begin in Thiruvananthapuram from September 21. The Mohanlal-starrer ‘Bhramaram’ to flag off 111 day long Soorya Festival ! You’ll get to see a kaleidoscope of music, dance, drama, documentary and discourse at 10 locations including Thiruvananthapuram. The inauguration will be held at the Tagore theatre here. ‘Ganesha Stuthi’, a well choreographed programme will be shown at the inaugural ceremony. The films to be screened at the festival are Thalappavu, Thirakkatha, Benares, Slumdog Millionaire, Ritu, Ghajni, Laptop, Vilapangalkappuram, Akashagopuram and Bhoomi Malayalam. The renowned singer K.J. Yesudas will sing at the Tagore theatre on October 1. While Lakshmi Gopalaswami will present a Bharathanatyam performance here on October 2, Shobhana will present the same on October 5. Also Padma Subramaniam and Gayathri will perform Bharathanatyam on October 10.

Three plays of ‘Soorya’ Krishnamoorthy —‘Melvilasom’, ‘Pulari’ and Prema Lekhanam’— will be staged at various locations as part of the theatre festival. Four films of maestro Satyajit Ray will be screened in the ‘Meet the Master’ programme. There will also be an ‘India Mainstream’ and ‘Malayalam Mainstream’ section to the festival. As part of ‘Jalsaghar’ programme, concerts by vocalists Ramesh Narayan, Manjari and Gayathri, ghazals by Shahabaz Khan, sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will also be staged.The programme ‘Samasya’ will feature talks on religious thoughts by eminent personalities and the ‘Talk Festival’ will feature talks by Sukumar Azhikode, K. Ajitha, Thomas Isaac, A. P. Abdullakutty and G. Vijayaraghavan. With a specially-choreographed mega show ‘Sangamam’, the Soorya festival will conclude on Januray 10, 2010.

Big 92.7 FM organising a week-long road show led by RJ Kidilam Firoz from Monday. The show titled ’Vande Keralam’ will travel through 700 villages and 70 small towns in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts, spreading the message against alcohol and drug abuse. Vande Keralam is aiming to will help people to get rid of the bad habits.

The road show was flagged off by film director Saji Surendran at 7 a.m today. The show will conclude at 7 p.m. on August 30 on the Museum premises.

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Ginger is organizing a Desi Night under the Stars described as a rain or shine event. The venue is  The Joint at the SquareMeal restaurant on 14th August from 19oo hours. DJ Arun will pump up the volume. The entry fee is Rs.249 for one person and Rs.449 for a couple. The fees is inclusive of one complementary mock tail and a snack. For booking contact +91 9746123555 and +91 9249524429.