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Imperial College London - International Tamil Society
Mega Maalai 2008
Sunday 20th January
The London Palladium
Photos : Ben Waran
Review : Amrith Balasingham
The 2008 Mega Maalai Show was held at the world renowned London Palladium off Oxford Circus. This year's show though strong on several counts, most notably the professional presentation of its two co hosts Anujen 'Local Hero' Vijayarahaven and Pravinth Mahendarajah, lacked the razzmatazz and spectacle of previous years.
The stand out acts for this year included 'Bollywood Blast', 'Rosh n Dan', 'Urban Kuthu', and 'Anarchy'. These acts through their performances brought the Palladium alive and made the show a memorable one. The co-hosts this year though, Anujen & Prav deserve special mention for their exceptional ad-lib delivery in keeping the show moving through its paces, as well as their ability to connect with the audience. They had the audience in tears with their comedy sketches and one-liners. I feel they also deserve special mention as their stage presence often outshone those big name stars that have been used by several university shows to lend some 'celebrity' or endorsement to the end product. Hats off to you two gentlemen on a job well done.
I felt the venue let the show down this year, which goes to show the importance of venue selection. Most acts found themselves in a desert of blackness on stage and this did not lend itself well to the acts who for the most part had clearly put in a lot of time and effort into their performance preparations.
Funkology, led admirably by lead choeographer and dancer Imran Sajid, were a perfect example of this. On numerous occasions I have seen their expertise and prowess on the dance floor amaze and wow audiences. This year however the Floetic formula lacked sparkle. Heads up for next year committee. Check out the 02 Indigo venue for example. It has been the venue of choice thus far for the Kings Diwali Show, and the upcoming 2008 BLAS Show and with good reason. With a light and sound show to amaze even the faint hearted - any show is lent a helping hand in making the production that much more professional.
As President select Ramanan Sri-Pathmathan commented this year, the annual ICTS variety show: Mega Maalai is one of the most highly anticipated events of the student calendar. This year's packed Palladium venue was a testament to the President and his hardworking committee. Charities that benefited this year included Unicef, NECTAR and Tamil Aid. So...Until next year...Ciao.
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