Writers and performers come together at Five Oh music and literature festival in Mumbai

A poetry and indie music festival in Bandra, cocurated by Jeet Thayil, promises to bring together left-of-centre writers and musicians

I think the point about the performers, the writers and the panels is that they are not generic,” poet, novelist and musician Jeet Thayil tells us about Five Oh, an upcoming day-long music and literature festival that he has co-curated with friend and restaurateur Anil Kably. Thayil observes that “the Indian literature festival has evolved at this point [in a way where] it’s a very dry and predictable enterprise. I think we all know what a literature festival is, and there are so many and they are kind of interchangeable. You could take a panel from one and [replace it] with one from another and nobody would know the difference. It’s become generic.” What will set Five Oh apart, he believes, will be its unusual mix of writers and performers. “There’s a sense of urgency among the musicians and the writers and I think that will bring them together in a way they themselves will not be expecting.”

Borrowing its name from Bandra’s zip code and presented by Short Story, the festival will host panels on writing and filming Mumbai, spoken word sessions featuring the likes of Denzil Smith, Imaad Shah and Thayil himself, and performances by bands including Thayil’s HMT and Honey’s Dead, whose guitarist is Kably’s son Rahsaan. “One of the performers has called this the ‘nepotism edition’ because everybody’s either a friend or family,” laughs Thayil. 

“But it just so happens that between Anil and I, we seem to know some of the most interesting people around.” However, in addition to being friends, he says that they also make an outstanding list of performers. “I think the bands would hold their own in any music festival and the writers in any writing festival,” Thayil points out. 

“These are not the usual suspects,” admits Kably. He says that while some, like journalists Supriya Nair and Genesia Alves—who he jokingly calls ‘the Patti Smith of Bandra’—are known names, there are first timers like writer and comedian Kamal Trilok Singh and media entrepreneur Mandovi Menon. “It’s a coming-together of people who may not have otherwise come together or had the opportunity to. It’s [presenting] another viewpoint, another lens, another expression in terms of conversations or opinions or points of view or music that’s not really mainstream. And generally, I think that is what it is.” Kably likens the festival to a genre of music known as Shoegaze. 

“It’s famously said that Shoegaze is a scene that celebrates itself. I don’t mean that we are celebrating ourselves, but in a sense, if you had to laugh at yourself a little, we’re just bringing together people who we know and we feel have something different to say.”

WHAT: Five Oh: A festival of Music and Literature
WHERE: Pioneer Hall, Bandra
WHEN: November 18, 4 PM onwards
COST: Rs 499

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