Mood Indigo (festival)

Mood Indigo, affectionately known as MoodI or MI, is the cultural and signature festival of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. It is usually held towards the end of December every year. Started in 1971 by a group of students, it has attracted considerable media attention and numerous sponsors over time. Mood Indigo is also held in over 2000+ colleges and universities before ending in IIT Bombay.

History

A group of the first Mood Indigo organizers - gave the festival its name from Duke Ellington's Jazz piece 'Mood Indigo'. Mood Indigo had a legacy of organisers that include Nandan Nilekani, Anand Sivakumaran among others.

Mood Indigo was started back in 1971, with a budget of 5,000, contributed partly by the IIT Bombay Gymkhana and partly by advertisements. The 1981 edition of MI saw the widely celebrated duo of music stalwarts Asha Bhosle and R D Burman perform at the Indian Music Night. Classical Concerts, Rock Shows, Bonfires, and Jamming that went on till dawn were amongst the other highlights of MI'81.

From a sponsorship of around 5 lakhs in 1993, Mood Indigo had grown to have a budget of around 24 lakh INR in 1997. In 1998, Indian classical music aficionados got to listen to the likes of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain. Amongst other events that took place were a workshop by Annu Kapoor and by eminent cartoonists like Unny and Sabu and a pyrotechnics display.

Mood Indigo 2008 saw the first international night in the form of an Ensiferum concert. In 2009, the band Porcupine Tree came to India for the first time to perform at MI. It also had performances by Parikrama, Alms for Shanti and concerts by the trio of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and Manna Dey. This edition also showcased Victor Rubilar, French band Moriarty and Swedish performer Meja. Other highlights included the sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik and the social drive of Khoon Chala.

In 2010, MI saw India's first ever Sumo Wrestling match, between three-time world sumo champion Byambajav Ulambayar and former world champion Naranbat Gankhuyag. Swedish metal band Katatonia had its first Asian performance in MI, and Livewire went national. Apart from them, MI 2010 also witnessed performances by Asha Bhosle, Indus Creed, Amit Trivedi as well as interactive sessions with Ramchandra Guha and a Harley Davidson Bike exhibition. The International Music Festival had the Indo-German rock band Fire On Dawson, French percussionist Minino Garay, Glass harp musicians Glass Duo and the fusion band KarmetiK.

Karnivool, the Australian progressive rock band performed in India for the first time at Mood Indigo 2011. The festival also witnessed concerts by Agnee, Raghu Dixit and KK while Worldfest was initiated. MI '11 also made into the Limca Book of Records for most number of international artists in a college festival. Other performances included Gamblerz and Gong Myoung from Korea. The 2012 Mood Indigo promoted tribal culture and tribal practices and included a social initiative called 'Hakuna Matata -Spread a Smile'. Simple Plan, the Canadian punk rock band headlined Mood Indigo, 2012.

The 2012 edition hosted India's first international carnival and Bollywood actors Anushka Sharma, Imran Khan, Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh. The concerts saw performances by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Talavya, Karsh Kale collective and Salim–Sulaiman, and DJ Lloyd. Mood Indigo 2013, the "Oriental East", saw a unique display of 3000 Korean lanterns. Mike Portnoy performed alongside Neal Morse for the first time in Asia during this event. Mood Indigo 2014, themed "A Vintage Affair" featured installations including a vintage car, gramophones, typewriters, and cassette film art. Renowned EDM artist Sander Van Doorn, Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, Adnan Sami and Bollywood heartthrobs Vishal–Shekhar performed in the concerts at Mood Indigo 2014. In 2015, the theme being "A Hawaiian Escapade", the campus featured a 10-ft sand castle, tikkis, beachballs, and surfboards. New bars for entertainment were set with the hosting of a unique "Silent Disco"! 2016's Mood Indigo themed as "A Bombay Chronicle" gave the visitors a flavor of the city Mumbai through interactive installations. The events saw a line-up of artists like VINAI, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Mame Khan, Sorabh Pant, Arjun Kanungo, Kumud Mishra, Zephyrtone and Crown the Empire. Mood Indigo 2017, "La Fete Carnaval" featured artists including Biswa Kalyan Rath, the Bassjackers, P.Chidambaram, Amit Trivedi and Haken. The 2018 edition of Mood Indigo, themed as "A Montage of Dreams", continuing the legacy set by previous editions, also saw an amazing line-up of artists and bands perform in the festival, like DJ MAG 23 Ummet Ozcan, Mithila Palkar, Leprous, Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Papon, youth heartthrob Prateek Kuhad, Abhishek Upmanyu, Kunal Kamra, Smriti Irani, amongst others.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 and 2021 editions were organised online as virtual events.

Events

Concerts

Concerts or "Pronites" feature national and international artists from various fields of music, like Rock, Sufi, Classical and Bollywood. Mood Indigo Pronites have staged international bands like Epica, the Neal Morse band featuring Mike Portnoy in 2013, Simple Plan in 2012, Karnivool in 2011, Katatonia in 2010, Porcupine Tree in 2009 and Ensiferumin 2008. Mood Indigo also played host to its first EDM concert with DJ Lange performing in 2013. This was followed by a concert featuring Sander van Doorn in 2014 and Borgeous in Mood Indigo 2015. Ummet Ozcan(DJ MAG 23) performed in the EDM Nite on Day 1 of Mood Indigo 2018.

Pronites has also hosted Asha Bhosle (once with music director R D Burman in 1981 and again in 2010), Jagjit Singh, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Amit Trivedi, Kailash Kher, Salim–Sulaiman, Mohit Chauhan, Vishal–Shekhar, Pritam, Adnan Sami, Raghu Dixit, KK, Lucky Ali, Amit Kumar, Kavita Seth, Raghav Sachar, Agnee- the band and Javed Ali. Classical artists like Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt.Jasraj, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt. Vikku Vinayakram, Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra, sitar maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Manna Dey and Taufiq Qureshi have performed here as well.

Fusion artists including Louis Banks, Sivamani and Alms for Shanti have performed in the past at Mood Indigo. Pronites also organizes Livewire, a rock band competition and has been a launchpad for bands Parikrama, Zero, Vayu. Headliner events in the past have included Motherjane, Indus Creed and Sceptre. In 2012 over 200 bands from across the country participated in the competition, with preliminary rounds being held in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Mood Indigo has also hosted a number of Indian rock and fusion bands like Indus Creed, Euphoria, Indian Ocean, Motherjane, Parikrama, Thermal and a Quarter, Sceptre, Antaragni and Zero, and international bands like Canadian band Q.E.D.

Competitions

Competitions at Mood Indigo have been the stage for college contingents from across the country. Competitions cover all the genres of art - Dramatics, Lifestyle, Literary arts, Speaking arts Fine arts, Visual arts, Film & Media, Music, Dance and journalism.

These competitions have had personalities associated with them over the years. Finalists of the dance competition 'Dancing with the Stars' performed for an audience of 3500 and were judged by Shahid Kapoor and Rajiv Surty. The finalists of the music event 'Singing with the Stars' were judged by singers Kavita Seth

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