The conception

Bandra, the heart of Mumbai, turned into a union of India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage with the Mahindra Group’s newest cultural outreach initiative - the Mahindra Roots Festival - unveiling a line-up of over 10 incredible artists across multiple genres, languages, and subcultures for its debut edition.

Distinctive and forgotten art forms brought to the contemporary scene

The Mahindra Roots Festival (MRF)  featured theatre performances, immersive storytelling, folk music, classical music and poetry in multiple languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, English, and Kannada, among others, as well as tribal music forms, contemporary Sufi, abhangas, Bengal’s Baul music tradition etc.

The opening night

The festival opened with noted playwright and theatre director Roysten Abel's 'Weaving Voices', an immersive musical experience at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir.

It saw eight unique and renowned musical talents take to the stage: Carnatic percussionist Sumesh Narayan, singer MD Pallavi, Indo-American flautist Rasika Shekar, noted vocalist Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, classical vocalist Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, violinist Apoorva Krishna, Rajasthani folk singer Deukhan Manganiyar, and tabla player Aditya Srinivasan.

Day 2

Shabnam Virmani, well-known for co-creating an online collection of Kabir poetry and music with folk singer communities in India, mesmerised the audience with her soulful performance. 

Folk-fusion band Abhanga Repost performed traditional Marathi abhangas reimagined through a fresh new lens.

Renowned urban folk artist Arko Mukhaerjee presented a soulful rendition of urban folk.

Multi-instrumentalist Tajdar Junaid left the audiences in awe by fusing ethnic roots with contemporary bars.

Day 3

The third day opened with a spectacular presentation by The Aahvaan Project, a folk music and storytelling collective.

Musician, Alif, aka Mohammad Muneem Nazir, brought a unique contemporary fusion rooted in Urdu and Kashmiri music and poetry.

‘The Raghu Dixit Project,’ offered an absolute aural treat for all music lovers through soulful folk songs.

Deeply rooted in the Indian folk music scene and the music industry at large, each artist brought a unique perspective and flavour to the Mahindra Roots Festival.