Cheque this out! Margazhi fest change on cards

Chennai: Demonetisation has not spared Chennai’s renowned Margazhi festival too. Sabhas, which organise hundreds of concerts during the December fest, have begun feeling the pinch with not many sponsors coming forward to help them run the annual show.

With poor cash flows seen this season, sabhas, which fear rasikas may think twice before buying season tickets, are working out alternative arrangements to woo them back.  

Except for a few sabhas, a majority organises the festival in rented halls.  “Sponsors play a big role in helping sabhas to organise concerts.

Post-demonetisation, many sponsors are not ready to chip in their bit.  Some of them don’t even respond to phone calls.  In such cases, organising the music festival becomes tough. It is like burning a hole in one’s pocket.  While floods washed out the fete in 2015, demonetisation this year has stripped the season of its charm,” says well-known vocalist and Carnatica founder K.N.Shashikiran, who recently organised his Bharat Sangeet Utsav in Chennai and Coimbatore.
 However, sabhas, braving the odds, have not cut down on the number of concerts. “This year we have concerts arranged in other parts of the city too,” says Krishnamurthy, secretary of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, the oldest one in the city.

But how are they going to pay artistes and make rasikas buy tickets? Many musicians have okayed cheque payment this year.  “We are going to issue cheques to all artistes.  As for rasikas, we are planning to install PoS machines and allow them to use their e-wallets,” adds Krishnamurthy.

But not all organisers are going for it. “We don’t want to invest in PoS machines which won’t be of any use after this festival. We prefer rasikas to book their tickets online which is picking up,” says Mudhra Bhaskar, a mridangam player and founder-secretary of Mudhra.

Musicians also feel the brunt of demonentisation to some extent. Eminent vocalist Sudha Raghunathan says, “As a lead artiste, organisers give us the full payment and expect us to distribute them to all in our team. Now, with not much cash in hand and cap on bank withdrawals, we either have to tell our troupe members to wait and get their money after some days or collect it after our next concert. It is quite embarrassing.”