On 27 Jan 2018, Badhri Narayanan Seshadri hosted his first Motta Maadi Music session on his terrace at Thillai Ganga Nagar. A handful of 20 members took part. Fast forward 1.5 years, a whopping 1,000 audience sign up and thousands more wait in queue with hopes to witness at least his next session.
A sound engineer by degree, Badhri is an independent musician from the neighbourhood and is much-known for making music an inclusive event. In conversation with News Today, the 25-year-old lad speaks what sparked him and about the road that lies ahead.
“I came to Chennai in 2014 and settled here at Nanganallur. I conceptualised the idea to create an inclusive space for like-minded people to perform and to chill with friends in my terrace, which is a normal way to celebrate music. We met once in 1.5 months and the response to the second session was itself overwhelming,” he chuckles.
Asked about how his neighbourhood reacted, Badhri replies, ”The neighbours and the locality did not show any objection. They never had a problem, the residents were a part of the event and enjoyed our tunes as they are from their respective terraces. I received huge support from them as they realised we were celebrating music genuinely. Sound and music was never a problem, although parking was a challenge.”
The audience base began growing in a steady manner and in the last session that was held at his homes terrace, Badhri says he had 1,200 members singing along. “Right then, we had tough time managing the bottleneck. The entire road was blocked with vehicles and residents were unhappy. There was a bit of commotion due to traffic and could not continue having at Nanganallur since then,” the artist adds.
Following which, his popularity caught several eyeballs and people began sponsoring venues. Asked if he would continue hosting in Thillai Ganga Nagar, the Srirangam native says, ”I do not know. It is a bit difficult to handle crowd and do not want to create chaos. Space is a constraint here, Im unsure if I would be back hosting here at my place. Many participants have an affinity towards my terrace, at least 30 people from here turn up to my sessions,” he beams.
He has now taken to auditoriums and malls to host his sessions in an attempt to stay away from creating inconvenience to the public. Badhri, who runs the band Hrudhya, is now on a five-city tour, covering Chennai, Trichy, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Madurai to host his signature event.
However, it was just not celebrating music, the experience provided much more for the musician and his 25-membered crew. On it, he added, ”An artist can make anyone support them in their journey and also being inclusive, I was able to engage people by distracting them away from mobile phones with my music – art has the capacity. I realised how genuine their love for art has been, I have seen them cry when they sing their hearts out and people with depression feel better when they come here and sing out, as my place is dark and no one can see the emotions, they felt comfortable.”
Asked about his plans, he says, “I’d start composing music for movies from next year and Motta Maadi Music will continue to happen.” The 24th Street, Thillai Ganga Nagar resident can be reached at 96770 70525.