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As expected, SRCC’s ‘Crossroads’ came, it amused, conquered hearts and the ‘last party before forty‘ culminated leaving people with amazing fun filled memories of four interesting days. Apart from the exhilarating star appearances, the fest was also garnered with numerous formal and informal events,games, variety of stalls and great footfall.

Here’s what all happened in the most sought after cultural festival of DU, take a look!

Day One : A jaandar ‘Shaan’dar inaugural to SRCC’s Crossroads

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Image Credit: Abhay Makhija for DU Beat

The festival kick started its first day with the ‘shaan’dar performance of the singer cum stage performer Shantanu Mukherjee, commonly known as ‘Shaan’ at Encore. Shaan took a heroic entry singing the famous lines ‘mujhko pehchaan lo, mai hu kaun?’  This was followed by a number of his soft romantic melodies including ‘Tune mujhe pehchana nahi’, ‘Chand Sifarish’ and ‘Jabse tere naina’. Acknowledging the new talent in industry, Shaan sang the chart buster Arijit Singh song ‘Tum hi ho’ from  the movie ‘Aashiqui 2′ on public demand and referred it to be one of his favourite songs tooNot only did he entertain audiences with his melodious voice, but with frequent jokes, digs  and audience interactions. The event concluded with announcement of Bewakoofiyan star cast – Sonam Kapoor & Aayushman Khurrana coming to SRCC on fourth and final day of Crossroads.

Day Two : Random Collisions brings Western – Classical music together

Crossroads brought together Slovenian rock/folk artist Vlado Kreslin and Hindustani classical musician Sharat Chandra Srivastava as part of Random Collisions on 7th March,2014.The duo was also accompanied by Gyan Singh, an accomplished Tabla player.The event began quite promptly and created a mellow atmosphere all at once, quite different from the rest of musical nights taking place in DU fests. As the violin and tabla notes worked magic, it was certainly music to all ears.

Day Two : SRCC goes Supersonic with Dualist Inquiry & Nikhil Chinapa

After enjoying soft romantic numbers with Shaan and blend of western and classical music at Random Collisions, Crossroads brought the audiences to savour the taste of PLUR i.e. Peace Love Unity Respect with VH1 Supersonic bringing their unique EDM music to Crossroads,SRCC. With renowned artists like Audiogramme, Dualist Inquiry and Nikhil Chinapa performing, the crowd was seen throwing hands in air,  feeling completely content and enjoying. The gigantic screen, flame throwers, pyrotechnics and confetti, all added to the night,making it the most happening and memorable one for SRCC as well as DU.

Day Three : Crossroads welcomes international DJ Jennifer Rene

The third day at Crossroads saw Jennifer Rene, a DJ star of international fame mixing EDM tracks. The night began with the song ‘Wake me in’ and what followed were numerous numbers from her own discography. The performer soon got into grooves with her famous tunes and people, specially patrons of this genre of music cheered for Rene and  had a great time.

Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

Day Four : ‘Bewakoofiyan‘ star cast Sonam Kapoor & Ayushman Khurrana at SRCC

B’wood celebs Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor, picked Crossroads 2014 as a platform for the promotion of their upcoming movie ‘Bewakoofiyan’, scheduled to release on 14th of March. The duo entertained the crowd with their presence for about 20 minutes. Ayushman Khurrana sang four songs including, “Paani Da Rang” and “O Heeriye”, whereas Sonam took to the traditional ‘Battle of the Sex’s ‘ path. They distributed limited  goodies of their upcoming film to the massive crowd and signed off leaving a smile on the audience’s faces.

Catch a short glance of Sonam Kapoor & Ayushman Khurrana, in this recording by DU Beat –

Day Four : SRCC Crossroads culminates with Sukhwinder Singh’s ‘Jai Ho’ & ‘Chaiiyan-Chaiyyan’

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Image Credit: Abhinav Arora for DU Beat

SRCC’s Crossroads’ ‘Last party,before forty‘ came to a befitting end with the internationally acclaimed singer Sukhwinder Singh and his troop performing for about two hours, setting the stage on fire with his zeal, enthusiasm and energetic songs like Chaiyya Chaiyya, Haule Haule , Bidi Jalaile , Dard – e – Disco, Dhan Te Nan, Marjani Marjani, Saki Saki, Lagan Lagi, Chak De India, Ramta Jogi and a few more. The night began with Sukhwinder singing ‘Jai Ho‘ the Grammy award winning song from Slumdog Millionaire and ended with the same song completing the circle and leaving the crowd with refreshed memories of the night.

The Foodie’s Junction at SRCC Crossroads

Much like everything else at SRCC’s Crossroads, the food was in large variety. There was something for every palate and pocket. From Italian to Chinese to Indian Street food, it was hard to find something that was not available.

  • Chole Bhature: although they are easily available at various events, SRCC had a variety of chole bhature from different corners of Delhi. Even small, and highly exclusive, eating places like Om Corner had put up stalls there.
  • Cup Cakes: And not the ones that look like they are here because no one bought them off the shelf at the bakery. The ones that wanna make you eat them even when you’re on a diet.

 

  • Waffles: When was the last time you ate waffles at any cafe, much less at a fest!
  • Rico’s: If you’re a DU student who happens to pass by north campus at least once every few months, then you know what I’m talking about. Rico served almost all their specialties at the fest and they tasted like fresh from the oven.

 

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The busy food stall lane bustling with people at Crossroads, SRCC | Image Credit: Abhay Makhija for DU Beat
  • Banoffe Pie: Yolo 21 served Banoffe pie that’ll make you want buy one more every half hour. And when I told the stall manager that it was as good as the ones they served in posh south Delhi restaurants for five times the price, he happily said that his was better.

Escapades : Adding adventure

With all the stars that rocked the crowds at night, Escapades made sure that the students were entertained through the day. Bringing the spirit of adventure to SRCC through the four days of Crossroads, the Traveler’s Society truly gave students a chance to ‘forget their limits’. The Xerox lawns were packed through the day with students lining up for the adrenaline rush, a chance to experience the thrill of adventure sports, test their ability and most importantly to have some unrestricted fun. The numerous events lined up under Escapades were the Slow Race, Flying Fox, Zorbing, Paintball, Wall Climbing, Trampoline Volleyball, Dodge Ball & Body Zorbing.

The Winners’ Tally

Fashion Show  [by Demeanor, the Fashion Society of SRCC]

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Judged by : Ms. Konica Kant, the Winner of Timeless Beauty and Delhi finalist of  the Miss Femina 2014 Contest.
First Position : Kamala Nehru College & Lady Irwin College.
Second Position : Amity University

Choreo – The Choreography Competition  [hosted by Verve, the Choreography Society of SRCC]

Judged By : Dance India Dance fame Amit Kashyap & ABCD movie fame Vicky.
First Position : Kamala Nehru College’s ‘Adaigo’
Second Position :  Hans Raj College’s Terpsi Chorean and LSR’s Choreography Society.

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Kamala Nehru College’s Adiago | Image Credit: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

 

Bass Camp : The Rock Band Competition [hosted by the Western Music Society of SRCC]

Judged By :  Moses Khiagte, a vocal coach and a retired musician and Bhanu Mehendiratta, a well known musician, part of bands like Sold Outand Half Step Down.
Winners : Conundrum, an alternative Rock Band from P.G.D.A.V. College.

Exuberance – The Western Dance Competition [ hosted by Panache, the Western Dance Society of SRCC]

Judged By : Meher Malik, famous Indian belly dancer, founder of ‘Banjara School of Dance’
Winners (Duet) : Aseng & Somya from Kamala Nehru College.
Winners (Group Dance) : ‘We-Defyn’, the  Dance Society of IIT – Delhi

The Street Dance Competition

CVStreets, the ultimate winners from CVS.

Judged By : Jatin & Sanchit, famous names in DU dancing circuit
Winners : CVStreets  from College of Vocational Studies.
Runner Ups : Drift Up from DCAC.

Also featuring…

DU Beat Correspondents in exclusive conversation with the ‘Bewakoofiyan’ star cast – Ayushman Khurrana & Sonam Kapoor after their public appearance at SRCC Crossroads on the final day, March 9th, 2014. We would soon be releasing the same!

DU Beat Correspondent Ishika Gupta in a backstage conversation with Meher Malik, the famous Indian Belly dancer, ex participant of India’s Got Talent & Just Dance, and founder of the ‘Banjara School of Dance’ about her experience at Crossroads, SRCC.

Crossroads through the DU Beat Lens

 

With Inputs from Akash Pattanayak, Ishan Sengupta, Raghav Chopra and Brij Pahwa

Day four of Crossroads 2014 started with Bass Camp, the Rock band Competition organised by the Western Music Society of Shri Ram College Of Commerce. The finals of the Competition started at around  12:30 in the afternoon. The prelims were conducted earlier under the supervision of three eminent judges of the Delhi School of Music. 32 bands had showed up and out of these bands, the best 10 bands were sieved out. The judges for the finals were, Moses Khiagte who is a vocal coach and a retired musician, currently working in three places namely, Bikers Cafe, Punjabi by Nature and 100% rock. He has managed three contemporary rock bands. He is also the ex-music teacher of Delhi Public School, Sonipat. He has also done recording sessions with Parikrama and Black Shades.

The other judge was Bhanu Mehendiratta, a well known musician, who is a part of bands like Sold Out and Half Step Down. This was his second time at judging Bass Camp. He has also won the famous competition 440 yards.

Out of the 10 selected bands, 9 had turned up and they battled it out for the first position. The winning band was to receive Rs. 7000 as the cash prize and a keyboard from Casio. Conundrum, an alternative rock band from P.G.D.A.V College played two of their original compositions and proved their worth. Their music had alternative and progressive rock elements to it that led them to obtaining the winning spot in the competition.

All in all the event provided followers of rock music a wide variety and variation of genres right from Hindi Fusion to Funk to Death Metal and provided the audience a few new independent bands to follow.

The final day of Crossroads 2014 ended with Woodstock. After three days that featured performances by Shaan, Dualist Inquiry and Jennifer Rene, the last day had Sukhwinder Singh performing at the main stage. The popular singer decimated the whole crowd at Shri Ram College of Commerce with his extreme vocal range and melody.

The internationally acclaimed singer performed for around two hours at one of India’s biggest college fests.
He was accompanied by his team of spectacular musicians and dancers to add some flavour to the night. Just before Sukhwinder Singh was about to start, his Microphone Tech and his Female accompanist sang two songs each to get the crowd going.

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Sukhwinder Singh finally started his performance at 6 30. His first song was Jai Ho, the Grammy Award winning song from Slumdog Millionaire. His set also included songs like Chaiyya Chaiyya, Haule Haule , Bidi Jalaile , Dard – e – Disco, Dhan Te Nan, Marjani Marjani, Saki Saki, Lagan Lagi, Chak De India, Ramta Jogi and a few more.

Every song that was sung, was accompanied by the dancers who were dressed in vibrant colours. Often, in the middle of songs, he would start a vocal – instrument jugal bandi between himself and his musicians. There were also times with songs like Bidi Jalaile, when he would ask the audience to clap while he sang and the audience would blissfully oblige.

He finally ended with a repetion of the song Jai Ho, bringing the concert to a befitting full circle and then signed off at around 9 15 in the night. Apart from the whole Parking lot, a third of the whole college ground was occupied by students who couldn’t stop dancing. And with that, Crossroads came to an end.

Image Credit: Abhinav Arora for DU Beat

On the third day of Crossroads 2014, Demeanor, the Fashion Society of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) organized the Fashion Show Competition. The event commenced with the performance of Sri Aurobindo College at 4 p.m. on the main stage. The competition was judged by Ms. Konica Kant, who has been the Winner of Timeless Beauty and was the Miss Femina 2014 Delhi finalist. Each team was given 10-12 minutes for its performance. A total of eight teams participated in the event, the performance of Demeanor being the non-competitive one. After the performance of Demeanor, FBB models showed up their Spring-summer collection, followed by the models from Red Chief.

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The Fashion Society of Lady Irwin College

Ms. Konica, the judge for the event said “The competition was well organised. Overall, I can use three words for the event – it was good, tough and interesting. I personally liked SRCC’s performance a lot.”

The prize for the best model in male category went to Rohit Pachauri from Amity University and that of female category was bagged by Kriti Kathreen from SRCC. The first position was shared by Kamala Nehru College and Lady Irwin College, while the second position was bagged by Amity University. The winning team got Rs. 25,000 and shoes sponsored by Red Chief, one of the key sponsors of the event.

Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

Verve – the Choreography society of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), organised ‘Choreo’ the choreography competition as a part of the third day of SRCC’s annual fest Crossroads. Amit Kashyap of Dance India Dance fame and Vicky, who featured in the movie ABCD adjudged the event.

Five teams participated with Lady Shri Ram College for Women initiating the programme with their performance. It was followed by Sri Venkateswara College dance titled ‘Noises’.

After an hour long line-up, the result was announced. Kamala Nehru College’s, Adagio was declared as the winner whereas Hans Raj College’s Terpsi Chorean and LSR’s Choreography Society were the joint runners-up. Total prizes of worth Rs. 45,000 were given to the winning teams.

“Delhi has better contemporary dancers than most other cities in India including the entertainment hub, Mumbai”, said judge Amit. When asked about how a choreography society is different from a Dance society he said, “Choreography is not just about dance, its thematic and subjective and any society which focuses on choreography has a lot more to offer than a normal dance society.”

Shaily Sharma and Brij Pahwa

Featured Image Credit: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) held a street dance competition on the second day of their fest, Crossroads 2014. The event was adjudged by two well known names in Delhi’s dancing circuit, Jatin and Sanchit.

Five teams participated in the competition. Delhi Technological University’s team, Soul Diggers were the first to go, followed by Ramjas’ In Step. CVStreets, who ultimately rose as the victors, faced technical issues and were made to perform twice. The Unpredictables from Shyam Lal College performed to a rather fun medley of songs, including oldies like ‘Chura ke dil mera’ and the Vodafone Zoozoo song ‘Zumi Zumi’. Drift Up from DCAC, who had recently won the street dance competition at Nexus’14 went last.

After each college had performed, the judges chose DCAC and CVS as the finalists. What followed was a street dance battle, a la Step Up, which was won by CVStreets.

CVStreets, the team from College of Vocational Studies, has also previously secured the first position at the Goa Nokia India Fest Delhi Prelims, and the second position in both, BITS Pilani and IIM Lucknow this fest season. This was their first DU participation. Their routine was choreographed by Dennis, who has also worked with Yo Yo Honey Singh for Blue Eyes.

After enjoying a night of Bollywood with Shaan it was time for Delhi University to get a taste of PLUR- Peace Love Unity Respect. VH1 Supersonic that took the world by storm with the festival in Goa last year did not disappoint when they brought their unique brand of EDM music to Crossroads 2014 at SRCC. The lineup was one that made sure the students (and the old guys) had their hands in the air as the danced to the music. With renowned artists like Audiogramme, Dualist Inquiry and of course Nikhil Chinapa, it was truly a night SRCC and Delhi University will remember for a long time.

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Audiogramme | Image Credit: Abhinav Arora

The size of the crowd only increased as the time went by and this meant that the parking lot and the front lawns of SRCC were packed to capacity. The crowd cheered and threw their hands in the air as they danced through the night. Dualist Inquiry, the solo act that combines the guitar with electronic music was widely appreciated by the DU audience as he ended the act with Get Lucky by Daft Punk. This was followed up by Nikhil Chinapa who mixed tracks like If I lose myself by One Republic and a unique rendition of Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd.

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Nikhil Chinapa | Image Credit: Abhinav Arora

The arrangements added to the performance with a gigantic screen, flame throwers, pyrotechnics and confetti. Nikhil Chinapa kept the audience involved as he complimented the SRCC crowds, the girls of Delhi, invited everyone to Goa for Supersonic and of course made sure everyone had a good time. As the second day of Crossroads came to an end, students were glad that the event lived up to expectations and that the hype was well and truly justified.

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Sahej Bakshi/Dualist Inquiry | Image Credit: Chirag Sharma

Be sure to come in for the next two days as performances by Jennifer Rene and Sukhwinder Singh bring the hits to Crossroads 2014. Tonight the party went Supersonic, but make sure you’re there for the next two days for the last party before forty.

Featured Image Credit: Abhinav Arora for DU Beat

Crossroads 2014 at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) brought together Slovenian rock/folk artist Vlado Kreslin and Hindustani classical musician Sharat Chandra Srivastava as part of Random Collisions on 7th March, day two of the fest. The duo was also accompanied by Gyan Singh, an accomplished Tabla player. Mr. Singh is also a co-member of the fusion band ‘Mrigya’ along with Sharat Chandra.

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Sharat Chandra. | Image Credit: Chirag Sharma

The event began quite promptly and created a mellow atmosphere all at once. Vlado sang a mix of his own songs and those of popular rock artists, the unique mix of Slovenian folk and Indian classical music was certainly a change from the Punjabi/ Bollywood/ Pop songs one usually gets to hear during fests. The sound of a violin and tabla accompanying a guitar and mouth organ made everybody sit up and take attention.

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Vlado Kreslin | Image Credit: Abhinav Arora for DU Beat

Some of the songs that were played were Kreslin’s own ‘Dizzy from the Height’, Neil Young’s ‘Down By the River’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ leading to a violin solo by Sharat Chandra. The fusion act engaged the crowd well, people could be heard humming the songs even after the event ended!

The 4th edition of Histrionica, the annual theatre festival of the Shri Ram College of Commerce is here, but with a changed format. A four day festival, it will be held from the 16th-19th January 2012. The previous editions of the festival were competition based, but this year, productions won’t be competing for any prizes but the participating teams would instead be felicitated with certificates, cash, and mementos.

The four day festival is slated to see performances of nine stage plays including three by the dramatics society of SRCC, eight street plays, ‘Groove’ the choreography competition and a number of filler events which include Shutters- the photography competition, Ad-Mad, Imagery-the poetry writing competition, ‘This, then that’- the act and react competition, Mimmikry Gimmikry. Along with these events, there’ll be a street play performance on the ill effects of tobacco by the children of NGO Hriday. These children were subjected to tobacco torture and have now been rescued. As a part of its roadtrip, Lok, the theatre group from Kolkatta will be performing its musical. It will also be conducting workships during the fest.

The festival received 21 stage play entries out of which 13 were shortlisted based on the content, and the idea was to select a spectrum of genres. The judging at this level was done by the faculty of the dramsoc of SRCC and certain alumni. These teams went through another round of selection in which they showed a few select scenes from their play. Acting, direction, execution, basic lights, music and use of the sets were some of the parameters on which they were evaluated. The judges’ panel in this round included two alumni of the dramatics society of SRCC, and one each from that of Sri Venkateswara College and Hindu College.

The plays that will be performing are ‘Mr Kolpert’ by Ramjas College, ‘Us Paar’ by Ibtida, the Hindi Dramatics Society of Hindu College, ‘Ek tha Gadha’ by Hansraj College, ‘Skeleton Woman’ by LSR, ‘Park’ by Ramjas College, ‘The Blue Moon’ by KMC. Plus, SRCC’s own dramsoc will be putting up the plays titled ‘The Untitled’, ‘Three Blind Mice’, and the ‘Studio Ruins’.

‘Skeleton Woman’ by LSR is a story about two people who defeat fantastical odds to be together. Swinging between reality and make believe it weaves together an Inuit folktale and a modern day story about a young fisherman turned writer with a potent imagination and his long suffering wife. Raksha Thakur plays the young man, Saumya Deojan plays young woman one and Garima Jaju plays young woman two.

‘Us Paar’ by Hindu College revolves around Meera, an ordinary homemaker, a mother but an extraordinary wife who sees a hero in her poet husband – Sagar, whom the world has conveniently tagged a failure. To reassure Sagar of his greatness, Meera takes it upon her to make him believe that he will essentially complete that one composition with which he has been struggling. The play is directed by Aarushie Sharma and the charcters are played by Anuran Das Gupta, Vishakha Singh, Vedi Sinha, Shreya and Animesh Panwar.

For the street play part, nineteen entries were received out of which eight were selected. The plays that would be performing during the festival are ‘Tu Maar De Seeti’ by CBS, ‘Zarurat Kya Thi’ by Hindu College, ‘Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyun Aata hai’ by IP College, ‘Mehfooz’ by DRC, ‘Praathmik’ SRCC, Dharm by Khalsa College, Laalsa by Hansraj College and ‘Ugte Suraj ka Sapna’ by SGGSC.

DHARM- the street play of Khalsa College tries to question the concept and relevance of religion in the contemporary world. The focus of the play lies on the creation and establishment of religion/religions and their interpretations in today’s times. The play tries to explore the control on and fear of religion in the common man. The play is an attempt to look for answers to a few difficult questions like-‘Is religion a creation of man’, ‘Has religion become an escape for us’, ‘Has man become a puppet in the hands of his own doing’ and ‘Do all religions preach the same things’

‘Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyun Aata hai’ by IP College disapproves the apathetic outlook to daily news headlines of rape, murder and abuse and questions human nature.

The theme of the play ‘Tu Maar De Seeti’ by CBS primarily revolves around the phenomenon of ‘Whistle-Blowing’. The motivation for the play came from the tragic fate of Sh. Satyendra Kumar Dubey, who was murdered for raising his voice against the corruption in NHAI. The play aims to awaken the conscience of the masses and encourage them to speak out against anything wrong.

Histronica is one of the finest and the most popular theatre festivals in campus. It was started four years back by four of the alumni members of the society. Talking about changing the format of the festivals, Medha Bankhwal, organizer, Histrionica says, “ The idea of holding a performance based festival is to bring together theatre enthusiasts to appreciate the art and not rank them as first, second and third. Street plays can’t be judged. Because you can’t label one social issue as more important than the other”.

Street theatre today, as we see has evolved a lot. Its not only about a group of young men and women performing a street play using danda, chunni and daffali as props. Today we see innumerable musical instruments, jute sacks, powdered colors, placards, banners, huge cloth pieces, et al being used as props. Talking about this change, Dhruv Raj Gupta, an alumnus of SRCC dramsoc says, “If using different props makes conveying the message of a play easier, then why refrain from using it. Theatre after all has no boundries”.

Medha agrees with him, “Street theatre gets audience who aren’t even vaguely interested in theatre. It spreads a message through entertainment. So if using certain props makes the play more interesting, then why not use it. And anyway there isn’t any hard and fast rule that you have to stick to a chunni danda and daffali as props”.