Posted on
12 December 2011
by
BMMBoxer
Polaris. Blitzkrieg. And finally DETOUR!
The third BMM fest of the year, Detour, is a much awaited and anticipated event. More so this year because being held right after a rival college’s fest is never easy; because of the shift on Day 2 to a fancy new location- Y.B Chavan; because of the hype generated around its main sponsors (Google and Coca Cola); and simply because it’s a Jai Hind’s fest.
Just four years of its conception, and the excitement surrounding it was palpable. The fest cumulatively lasted for less than 36 hours; the effort that went into it was stupendous. Preparations were in full swing since the commencement of the session. Six months before the event, after several intense sessions of brainstorming, Jai Hind BMM this year decided to take the contingents away from the real to the surreal world. Thus Detour 2011- The Reign of the Surreal, brought to life mythical creatures in the form of contingents; the most memorable ones being Yeti, Gargoyle, Werewolves, Vampires, Phoenix among others.
The spirit of BMM fests reached another altitude this time as the mythical creatures took over social media. Thus the buzz around Detour began much before the actual event with Facebook and Twitter pages being created over a month in advance by each contingent, all in the quest of spreading the word their mythical creature, their contingent, and winning points for P.R.
Day1
The first day of detour kick started with contingents turning up with elaborate hair-dos, flamboyant costumes, ostentatious props and catchy jingles. Bottles of red-blood, people with fangs instead of regular teeth, garish headgears, and large groups in bright florescent clothes was not an uncommon sight.
The opening ceremony was a reminisce of the past detours, with speeches and videos which made the second and third years as well as the pass-outs, who keep pouring back in large numbers to show their support, nostalgic.
As always, detour events were judged by prominent personalities in their respective fields. In A New York Minute, a film event where the participants were required to make a one minute move without any cuts saw judges like Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya, Ken Ghosh, & Cyrus Dastur. The theatre event, in which the participants had to trace the origin of their mythical character and present it as a play, gathered a huge crowd and won it over. The judge for this event Joy Sengupta also left mightily impressed.
Day one also saw the all the contestants living up to the spirit of Detour’s signature journalism event, Breaking News that has been a constant feature in the fest, since the very first year. Several events like I Can transform Ya, Executive Decision, Law Suit Up and writing events took place through the day in various classrooms.
The first day was wrapped up soon after the dance event Rang Barse, which saw the participants unleashing their creative reservoirs in the form of graceful kinesthesia, their fellow contingent members off stage letting their hair down and even volunteers grooving to the beats.
Day 2
The next day, detour moved base to Y.B Chavan near the Mantralaya. Larger area and a well-equipped auditorium, no one could contain their excitement and larger crowds with renewed zeal poured in. The workshop by the leading marketing and management guru and highly regarded columnist Suhel Seth, was attended in large number. This was followed by a sports event Stumped where participants were in for a surprise since the nature of the tasks was kept under wraps till the last minute. The signature event Buzzkill on day 2 was yet another crowd favorite. It was judged by noted stand up comedian Saurabh Pant, who ended the show with a performance. The street play event, which promoted the cause of a particular NGO, held in the amphitheater was also a great success. The day ended with Collision Course, a band event judged by Vishal Dadlani of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, which was at its noisiest best.
Day 3
The last day was packed movie-making events judged by prominent filmmakers like Zoya Akhtar, Tarun Mansukhani and Sanjay Gadhvi; photography events and also the Google events like Digidoodle- the google logo-designing event and Google Mobile Move.
Stride of the Surreal, the fashion show that showcased creativity talent of designers combined with exuding confidence of the models on the ramp, marked the end of Detour’11.
Detour ended with the K.C’s Phoenix rising from the ashes and winning the overall fest with the Gargoyles (St. Xavier’s) and Werewolves (National’s) closing as runners up. St. Andrews with their brilliant jingles and won hearts as their contingent Yeti skied its way to winning the overall P.R.
The best part about detour weren’t the celebrities, weren’t the locations, wasn’t winning or loosing; but watching over a thousand students from over 20 colleges not get lost in competitive rivalries but keep up the essence of the fest by accepting other colleges from different parts, inter mingling and making friends. Detour 2011 will remain itched in the memories for a long long time…… Or atleast till XYZ, St. Andrew’s fest!
Contributed By: Medha Uniyal
