08 March, 2021, Bengaluru: The students of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) celebrated Unmaad 2021, with a complete virtual experience for the very first time. Themed 'Happiness Reloaded’, Unmaad 2021 was inaugurated by Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIMB, and Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, Chairperson of IIMB’s two-year fulltime MBA programme – the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP).
The first day of the fest, on March 05th, started with ‘In the Spotlight’ – a speaker series that had talks by singer and music director Sonu Nigam, Olympic medallist Abhinav Bindra, and Indian actress of Mirzapur fame, Rasika Dugal. Sonu Nigam’s talk revolved around his motivation to pursue music and his persistence in following his passion. Abhinav Bindra emphasized the importance of enjoying the journey of preparing for success, pushing oneself every day, not merely to win medals, but because of the love of what one is doing. Rasika Dugal’s talk focused on the shift of mainstream cinema to OTT platforms and finding work-life balance in the entertainment industry.
A solo instrumental music event, ‘I AM B-FLAT’, provided a platform for young musicians across the country. The top five musicians from the video/voting round performed live. ‘Wordsworth’ pushed the participants to challenge their grey cells, solve exciting word puzzles and prove their mastery over words. With the ‘Footloose’ event, dance enthusiasts got an opportunity to show off their amazing moves to the audience. ‘Cinetopia’ saw participants from various colleges portraying their cinematographic skills through short films.
Three-time Spanish freestyle football champion Paloma Pujol delighted the audience with her masterclass. There was beautiful and soul-touching music by Indie band Phavors who performed from New Jersey. Stand-up comic Kanan Gill presented a rib-tickling show. The first day of Unmaad 2021 ended with 'Unplugged Nights,' a night music arena with live music and an open mic.
The second day’s highlights included ‘Spp-entastic’, a quiz especially meant for sports enthusiasts, dance competitions ‘Get Set Solo’ and ‘Duet Danza’, a fashion show ‘Haute Couture’, ‘Kissa Kaviyon Ka’, an event for poets, and ‘The Voice of Unmaad’ - a solo singing competition. Beatboxer Morgan, from South Africa, notched up a power-packed performance.
Unmaad 2021 also hosted actor Namit Das, of Wake Up Sid fame, who recounted his foray into the Hindi film industry and spoke of how he had found new opportunities, to explore his craft, through social media. Actor Harshita Gaur spoke about her journey from engineering to cinema and credited OTT platforms with providing exciting opportunities for actors.
Best-selling author Amish Tripathi delved into the world of philosophy and religion. Sharing his views on liberalism, he spoke of how his childhood and upbringing had influenced his writing the Shiva trilogy. He urged students in the audience to follow their dreams with a practical and realistic approach. Day 2 of Unmaad concluded with ‘Sunburn Campus’.
‘Jest A Minute’, ‘Mr. & Ms. Unmaad’, a rap contest and a soulful performance by the American multi-instrumentalist BlueBrown were the highlights of Day 3 of the fest. Speakers in this session included Ranveer Allahbadia, social media entrepreneur and leadership coach, INOX CMO Shubham Verma and actor Mimi Chakraborty. The three-day fest concluded with a performance by the Indie band, ‘When Chai Met Toast’, led by Prateek Kuhad.
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