Mood Indigo (festival) - MI Over The Years

MI Over The Years

• 1971 - It saw the beginning of Mood Indigo with a low budget of 5,000, which was contributed partly by the IIT Bombay Gymkhana and the rest by advertisements in the Mood Indigo brochure.

• 1973 - Mood Indigo as a purely student-run non-profit organization was set up in this year. Since this year, the organization of Mood Indigo has been in the hands of the students of the institute.

• 1976 - The first “huge” MI which has led to the misconception that MI started in 1976. It was due to the efforts put in by Adil Zainulbhai (presently McKinsey India Managing Director) and Atul Kanagat (a senior member in McKinsey India) that MI'76 outperformed previous editions of MI by a distance; despite the National Emergency prevailing at the time.

• 1981 - MI'81 saw the widely celebrated duo of 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 major highlights of MI'81.

• 1992 - After a series of unfortunate events as the Ayodhya incident and the Bombay riots, MI'92 took place in March 1993 - just a week after the Bombay bomb blasts. A quote from Mr. Anand Sivakumaran, then Overall Coordinator of MI, says “It was supposed to happen in December, but Ayodhya happened instead - so we postponed it to January. Then the Bombay riots took place - scores of people wanted to cancel it - so we postponed it even further. Finally we had it in March, believe it or not, just one week after the Bombay bomb blasts took place. Half the Core Group members weren’t there. The entire team must have consisted of thirty people (Wow !). Live Wire went on till 5am. I shall never forget those five days - there were ego problems and fights before MI. But those 5 days we just worked and worked. Thirty people did the work of three hundred.” Amongst some very famous stories about MI'92 are - "Close Up and Colgate were the main sponsors. That’s like Coke and Pepsi sponsoring an event together. Mind blowing!"

• 1997 – It was in this period that MI started becoming huge with big amounts of cash pouring in. From a humble sum of around 5 lakhs in 1993, the budget exploded to around 24 lakhs in 1997. MI‘97 was bigger by far than any other Bombay College Festival.

• 1998 - The theme for MI '98 was "Bombayed". Indian classical music aficionados got to listen to the likes of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain. Amongst other major events that took place at MI'98 were a workshop by Annu Kapoor and by eminent cartoonists like Unny and Sabu and a spectacular display of pyrotechnics (courtesy Wizcraft). Ever since, Mood Indigo, the Cultural Festival has grown in stature and popularity, attracting visitors and participants from other parts of the country.

• 2009- The 2009 edition of MI was decked with the theme “Pirates” and brought to India for the first time, the renowned band Porcupine Tree. 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 4 time Guinness World Record holder Victor Rubilar, French band Moriarty and Swedish performer Meja. Famous sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik also exhibited his skills.The social drive of Khoon Chala was also continued this year.

• 2010 – Desi Tadka- Mood Indigo went really big in 2010: featuring three-time world sumo champion Byambajav Ulambayar and former world champion Naranbat Gankhuyag. MI 2010 also had Asha Bhosle for the classical nite. For the first time, Livewire went national. Mood Indigo 2010 witnessed the likes Katatonia, Indus Creed and Amit Trivedi. The International Music Festival this year shined with the Indo-German rock band Fire On Dawson, French percussionist Minino Garay, Glass harp musicians Glass Duo and the fusion band KarmetiK. Also there was an interactive session with Ramchandra Guha. And an enthralling Harley Davidson Bike exhibition.

• 2011 - 'The Wild West' was the theme of Mood Indigo 2011 with Spike and McHat as the mascots. 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 at the Open Air Theater. Worldfest, an initiative to bring together the youth of the world was conceptualized and initiated in MI 2011. Mood Indigo 2011 also made its name in the Limca Book of Records for most number of international artists in a college festival. Other performances included Gamblerz, Gong Myoung from Korea and a plethora of musical and street performances.

• 2012 - Mood Indigo 2012 will be themed on 'The Tribal Tryst' and will promote tribal culture and tribal practices which have gotten endangered over the years. MI 2012, to be held in December, will also include a social initiative called 'Hakuna Matata -Spread a Smile'. Simple Plan, the Canadian punk rock band will headline Mood Indigo, 2012. It will be the only punk rock concert in the country in 2012.