Graduate students Portia Banerjee and Prateek Shetty perform during Sargam on Nov. 23, 2013, at Pasant Theatre. Sargam is an annual event by the Indian Students Organization, and this year’s performance was a Bollywood musical theme.
The Wharton Center hummed with Bollywood fever Saturday night as the cast members of this year’s Sargam took the stage in a vibrant display of Indian culture.
Sargam is the Indian Students Organization’s annual song-and-dance show that features students acting and dancing to popular Hindi songs.
Sargam’s title comes from the sounds of Indian classical music notes.
This year’s Sargam, “Lost & Found … a Desi Trilogy,” showcased the diversity within India and took a Bollywood twist by following the story line of the popular Indian film, “Amar Akbar Anthony.”
The movie examines the customs of three of India’s main religions — Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.
The audience heartily laughed at the characters’ antics and jokes, during which the actors often poked fun at the story line of the play.
Beaded skirts swirled as feet pounded the wood floor to the beat of the music, awing audience members.
Indian Students Organization is a group made up primarily of graduate students of Indian descent.
The president of the Indian Students Organization, Ranjani Srinivasa, also served as the director of Sargam and the lead choreographer for the dances.
Around 430 people came out to see the performance, Srinivasa said.
Srinivasa, a graduate student, said there were more than 20 cast members who rehearsed nearly every night for the past two months.
“Most of us are master’s and Ph. D students,” Srinivasa said. “This gave us a break from our usual mundane stuff.”
When planning this year’s Sargam, Srinivasa had the goal of portraying all different facets of India while involving students in the international community.
Sargam’s cast was not limited to students of Indian heritage. Students from all ?cultural backgrounds graced the stage in a celebration of Indian culture.
Linda Umulisa, an international relations junior from Rwanda, a small country in east Africa, performed a dance number ?during Sargam.
Umulisa said she was approached by Srinivasa to perform in the show and was excited to participate.
Umulisa, who has watched Bollywood movies in the past, learned the dance in a week’s time to perform it for the show.
She said the diversity in the show was definitely the most important part for her.
“You honestly learn so many things,” Umulisa said. “I love Bollywood, I love everything about it.”
Maggie Cosand, a linguistics and Chinese junior, said she came to the show because she appreciates diversity and Indian types of dancing.
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“I think it’s really flashy, I like the costumes,” Cosand said. “It (has a) quick (tempo) and the music is fun.”
Srinivasa also viewed Sargam as a way to connect to her heritage.
“I think when you’re away from your own country, it’s important for us to hang on to our roots,” Srinivasa said. “I really wanted people to know where we come from.”
