IIT-M Saarang 2025: tapping into energy and nostalgia at Chennai’s iconic college cultural festival

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 10/01/2025 : Choreo Night, a dance programe at Saarang 2025 in IIT,Madras in Chennai on Friday. Photo: R. Ravindran.
| Photo Credit: Ravindran_R

If there is one thing that is on every Chennai college student’s social calendar, it is IIT Madras’ student-led cultural festival, Saarang. On Day One evening (of the five-day festival), the campus was buzzing with anticipation of Choreo Night, deemed to be the country’s biggest inter-college dance competition. Both the public and college students lined up outside IIT’s famous OAT (Open Air Theatre), hours before the gates opened.

While the queues kept getting longer by the minute, the enthusiasm never turned into frustration. “I have been coming to Saarang for the last 35 years, and my favourite is the Rock Night. Film stars come to perform at those events. We keep coming back to Saarang because of the nostalgia and nothing else. I used to come to OAT since I was a kid and watch movies here for ₹2 on weekends,” said Manish Batra, a 56-year-old alumnus of the Vanavani Matriculation Higher Secondary School, located inside the 617-acre campus.

His friend Bennet Richardson weighed in. “Technology is supposed to make things easier, but we feel like it has complicated the access to the fete,” added Bennet.

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 10/01/2025: People and Students looks stalls at Saarang 2025 in IIT, Madras on Thursday night..Photo : B. Velankanni Raj/ The Hindu
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B

But woes around the complicated parking system and confusing entry access with bar-code scans were soon forgotten when one came across a couple of spotted deer amid the greens.

The main festival area along the Hostel Ave road was adorned with lights and decorations. Stalls that sold merchandise, books, accessories, and other knick-knacks were set up along the way. The Hindu’s wall of iconic film moments matched the festival’s theme, Frames & Fables.

Each day of the festival, which is on till January 13, is packed with activities ranging from pottery and art journaling to filmmaking workshops, and even an escape room to keep the audience engaged.

“I think the number of college students who attend the fest has gone down. Previously, we used to see a lot of the young crowd. The turn-out yesterday [on opening night] was huge because of Ilaiyaraaja sir [who inaugurated the festival], and we’ll also have a lot of crowd for Pop Night,” observed Janani Lawrence, who works at IIT-M’s administration department and has been attending the event since she was five.

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 10/01/2025 : Choreo Night, a dance programe at Saarang 2025 in IIT,Madras in Chennai on Friday. Photo: R. Ravindran.
| Photo Credit:
Ravindran_R

As the OAT gates opened following cursory announcements, the stage was set, sound-checks were booming through the amphitheatre, and the crowd started to trickle in. The centre and top rows were quickly filled, as were the seats below the gallery. “Last year’s edition was really good. This year I’m really looking forward to EDM Night and Pop Night. I did not take part in organising this year because I just wanted to rest and enjoy the show,” said Ridhima Minkuri, a second-year student of Medical Sciences and Technology.

Aside from some technical difficulties, Choreo Night was a smooth show with stunning performances from college teams across the country. The competition was judged by Indian choreographer Anusha Viswanathan and hip-hop freestyle dancer and actor Ben Wichert. Actor Arun Vijay was the chief guest.