Performing Arts Festival
Encyclopedia
Powai
Powai is a suburb situated in the north-east of the city of Mumbai, India. The word Powai comes from Padmavati a Hindu Goddess , whose temple is situated on the banks of Lake Powai...
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
(India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
). The term PAF is used to refer not only to the festival itself, but also to the individual cultural performances that constitute the festival.
Both Undergraduate and Graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
students at IIT Bombay participate enthusiastically in the preparation and organization of the festival. Typically three or four hostels (out of fourteen) are grouped together by random draw for each PAF. Though technically a drama, each PAF comprises contributions from several of the cultural arts including dramatics, literature, music, fine arts, debating and dance. Since 1999, the PAF has been held at the Open Air Theater (OAT) inside the Students' Activity Center (SAC), within the main campus of IIT Bombay. Typically, all dialogues at PAF are delivered using voice overs and not by the actors themselves, mainly owing to the huge size and structure of the OAT. This requires a great deal of co-ordination between the actors and the voice actors.
Prod
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
rope and screens made with layers of newspaper glued together by freshies and seniors in co-operation. Structures strong enough to hold the weight of more than two or three people have been prepared time and again. In the PAF of 2007, for instance, a two storeyed set was made in order to give the dramatists a chance to perform at an elevated level.
Production sets requires maximum amount of man hours to put them in place. Building of production sets (usually from bamboo) starts about a month before the PAF. The teams are allowed 3 days to install the sets and perform the finishing touches in the Open Air Theater.
Theme and Language
PAFs can be made in Hindi or English. Themes chosen are usually serious and have been drawn from history, science fiction, social injustice, biographies etc. The only caveat is that the scripts are expected to be original.Some recent PAFs
The PAF season is usually during the last week of March and the first week of April each year, officially culminating all the extracurricular activities of IIT Bombay for that academic year. Some recent PAFs include:- Year 2011
- , by hostels-3,5 and 10 on 25 March 2011 - runners up
- , by hostels-2,8,12 and 13 on 29 March 2011 - the winning PAF
- , by hostels-4,9 and 14 on 3 April 2011
- , by hostels 1, 6, 7 and 11 on 7 April 2011
- Year 2010
- by hostels-4,10 and13 on 18 March 2010
- by hostels-1,3,9 and 12 on 22 March 2010 - the winning PAF, winner in 5 out of 9 different aspects of PAF like script,dance and voice over.
- by hostels-5,6 and 11 on 26 March 2010 - runners up,won best music and costume.
- by hostels-2,7,8 and Tansa on 30 March 2010 - third position, won Prod and Lights.
- Year 2009
- by hostels-5,9,12 and Tansa House on 20 March 2009 — third position.
- , by hostels- 3, Hostel 8 and Hostel 11 on 23 March 2009 — runners up.
- , by hostels- 6,7 and 10 on 26 March 2009.
- , by hostels- 1,2,4 and 13 on 30 March 2009 - the winning PAF. Won all individual trophies except best music and best costumes
- Year 2008
- by hostels-1,7,8 and 13 on 18 March 2008 — third position.
- , by hostels- 4,9 and 10 on 21 March 2008 — runners up.
- , by hostels- 5,6,12 and Tansa House on 25 March 2008 — the winning PAF.
- , by hostels- 2,3 and 11 on 28 March 2008. .
- Year 2007
- by hostels-3,8,10 on 18 March 2007 - first runner up
- by hostels- 1,5 ,11 and 13 on 21 March 2007 — the winning PAF.
- , by hostels- 2, 6 and 9 on 24 March 2007.
- , by hostels- 4, 7 and 12 on 27 March 2007.
- Year 2006 (all in Hindi)
} , by hostels 2, 8 and 7 on 19 March.
} , by hostels 13, 6, 10 and Tansa House on 22 March-first runnerup.
}, by hostels 3, 5 and 12 on 25 March — the first PAF ever to use the F-word
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
and 'orgasm'
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
.
} (French, lit., already seen), by hostels 1, 4, 9 and 11 on 28 March — the winning PAF.
- Year 2005 (all in Hindi)
} , by hostels 2, 7 and 11 on 20 March.
} , by hostels 9, 13 and Tansa House on 23 March.
} , by hostels 1, 5 and 10 on 27 March— first runnerup.
} , by hostels 4, 8 and 12 on 30 March.
} , by hostels 3 and 6 on 2 April— the winning PAF.
- Year 2004
}, by hostels 3, 9 and 12 on 29 March. (in English)
} , by hostels 6, 8 and 11 on 1 April. (in Urdu-rich Hindi)
} , by hostels 7, 10 and Tansa House on 26 March. (in Hindi)
} , by hostels 2 and 5 on 23 March. (in Hindi)
} , by hostels 4 and 13 on 4 April. (in Hindi) —the winning PAF.
- Year 2003
} (French, lit., the painter of death), by hostels 2 and 3 on 22 March. (in English)
} , by hostels 5 and 6 on 7 April (in Hindi) —the winning PAF. Won all individual trophies except Best Choreo and Best Costume.
}, by hostels 4 and 11 on 25 March. (in English)
} (Italian, lit., the homicide), by hostels 9, 10 and Tansa on 28 March. (in English)
} , by hostels 7 and 8 on 10 April. (in Hindi)
- Year 2002
} , by hostels 8 & 9 (In Hindi) - the winning PAF.
} (Spanish, lit., the island of music, the island of love), by hostels 2, 10 and Tansa on 4 April (In English) - first runnersup.
} , by hostels 4 & 5. (in Hindi)
} , by hostels 1, 3 and 11 on 21 March. (in Hindi)
} (a Biblical reference), by hostels 6 & 7. (in English)
- Year 2001
- Thespian, by hostels 2 and 7 (In English) — the winning PAF.
} , by hostels 4 and 9. (In Hindi)
} , by hostels 8 and 10. (In Hindi)
} ' onMouseout='HidePop("11716")' href="/topics/Narmada_River">Narmada
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
) by hostel 3 alone. (In Hindi)
} , by hostels 5 & 11. (In Hindi)
- Year 2000
} by hostels 2 and 9. (In Hindi)
} , by hostels 5 and 8 (In Hindi) — the winning PAF.
} , by hostels 3 and 4. (In Hindi)
- Year 1999
} ' onMouseout='HidePop("62344")' href="/topics/Abhimanyu">Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...
of the Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
), by hostels 4 and 7 - The Winning PAF. (In Hindi)
}, by hostels 3, 10 and Tansa. (In English)
}, by hostels 5, and 6. (In English)
- Year 1998
- The Dream Theater, by hostel 2 and 3 - The Winning PAF (In English)
- OR, by hostel 4 and 5 (In English)
- The Artist, by hostel 6 & 7 (In English)
} - Hostel 9 & 10
- Year 1997
- ...In Love and War, by hostels 2 and 5 (In English)
- Nightfall, by hostels 6 and 8 (In English - based on the Isaac Asimov story) - The Runner Up
- Mrigtrishna , by hostels 7, 10 and Tansa (In English) - The Winning PAF
-
- Sachin Jade (H3) won the best actor award
-
- Year 1995
- The End, by Hostels 4 and 8 - Joint Winner
- Harlequin Chevalerie, by Hostels 2 and 7 - Joint Winner
- The Twilight Zone, by Hostels H9, H11, and H1
- Year 1994
- Raga Saaga, by Hostel 7 and 8 - The Winning PAF
- "Any Dream Will Do" by H3 and H10
- The Unforgiven, by Hostels H9 and H4
- Year 1993
- Locomotivation, by Hostel 8 and 9 - The Winning PAF
- Year 1991
- Moonstone, by Hostel 6 and 9
- Songs of a Distant Earth, by Hostel 2 and 7 - The Winning PAF
Importance
Most of the students of IIT Bombay consider PAF to be the single most important extracurricular activity in this institute. The prizes awarded for the best PAF and the various other aspects of the PAF's are highly coveted by the hostel fraternities. On the flip side, there have been repeated accusations levelled against the PAF's' in that freshmen are coerced into building the prod. Such allegations have been countered by claims that freshman actually "enjoy the concept of forced labour, cruel torture, slavery followed by a little free food." Another source of displeasure for some of the professors at IIT Bombay is that many students get so involved in the activities that they skip classes to work for the PAF.All said and done, alumni,students and professors who have been actively involved with the festival believe that the PAF is an integral medium of the campus culture of IIT Bombay. No other IIT has managed to sustain and excel at such a form of theatre, which in itself is worthy of recognition. The beauty of the concept of the PAF lies in the fact that it reinforces in everybody working for it, the fundamental trait for which IIT's stand for - 'Building from scratch, Hand's on and to perfection !'.
For some students, PAF is more about being an IITian than the Technology Degree for which they joined the institute in the first place.