‘Avakai’: A multidimensional cultural festival
For three days, the banks of the river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, reverberated with the sound of music, dance, and poetry recitations alongside fascinating discussions on literature, cinema and theatre; besides puppetry demonstrations and storytelling sessions too. Beginning January 8 and until March 10, 2026; Punnami Ghat and Bhavani Island on the riverfront hosted ‘Avakai’: Amaravati Festival of Cinema, Culture and Literature organised by the Andhra Pradesh Government.
The choice of the Amaravati-Vijayawada region and the outdoor venues was deliberate, an attempt to enhance community participation and also promote this region as a tourism hub of the state.
For the unversed, ‘Avakai’ aka Avakaya is the name of the fiery mango pickle native to the twin Telugu states and a signature item of Telugu cuisine. It is not only greatly relished as a food item, it is intertwined with precious family memories for countless people of many generations from the two states. Hence the choice of name for this event.
It was a carefully curated celebration of culture so as to make it multidimensional and with an appeal to all ages and tastes. As
Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts which was entrusted with the production, told us: “Through ‘Avakai’, we are presenting a public cultural platform which emphasises the creative economy and showcases Andhra Pradesh’s great traditions of art and culture.”
As the inauguration approached, crowds gathered at the venue and were regaled with the melodious rendition of choice Telugu cinema hit songs by the band Jammers. There was a big procession by giant puppets from Rajasthan and Teen Maar drummers. The multifaceted celebration began with Prarambhotsavam, by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Shri Kandula Durgesh in attendance. Also present as a guest of honour was Ambassador of the European Union to India, H. E. Herve Delphin besides Sanjoy K. Roy; and also Ajay Jain, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture; Amrapali Kata, Chief Executive Officer, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority; etc. Adding a spiritual component was the visually stunning spectacle of Harathi of various kinds as a mark of reverence to the river Krishna followed by a houseboat inauguration.
The visitors then witnessed an unusual dance performance where classical dance was combined with circus-theatre. The Omaggio Performing Company showcased their production titled ‘Her Frames, Her Fire’. The evening finale saw Love Story: A Musical, which had several dancers performing to a medley of Hindi film songs with a few Telugu songs thrown in.
Under the shade of sprawling trees in Bhavani Island reached by a ferry ride over the picturesque waters of river Krishna, the next day of ‘Avakai’ Festival saw a series of intellectually stimulating discussions on various aspects. The ones which stood out were the discussion on the understanding the role of cinema in portraying the underworld wherein audiences were also informed about the difference between the commonly misused words ‘gangster’ and ‘mafia’. Visitors heard the valuable insights of Sudhir Mishra, Hussain Zaidi and Yendamuri Veerandranath during these sessions.
The discussion titled Evolving Storytelling: The Journey of Indian Mythology was interesting especially because Telugu cinema has a long and glorious history of interpreting the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas in outstanding films. Interesting perspectives were offered by Bnim, Kasturi Muralikrishna, Sanjeev Pasricha and Anuradha Mothali. Another illuminating session was on Cinema in the Age of OTT where panelists like Leena Yadav, Saugata Mukherjee, Supriya Yarlagadda, etc., talked of how OTT had opened up a whole new platform for cinema and as Supriya added, the story and the math are important and also different.
Author Yendamuri Veerandranath told this writer that the festival was well-organised and hoped this would lead to bigger and more comprehensive events on Telugu cinema as it was such a huge and talent-rich industry. Veerendranath later participated with famed film personality Kodandarami Reddy on a discussion about adapation of books to cinema with Valli Padmanjali. Visitors especially appreciated the Katha Kalakshepam by StoryHour UK of Neelima Penumarthy with painter Sangeeta Kirti wherein actors from Surabhi company gave a brief but impressive appearance.
Attendees at ‘Avakai’ Festival also expressed appreciation of the sessions titled Words on Water/Katha Tharangalu; besides Friday Release: Cinema and Journalism (with Vara Mullapudi; Rajeshwari Kalyanam, Vaddi Omprakash). There was another discussion titled Sundaramaina Telugu about the sweetness and natural melody of the Telugu language and its literature featuring Kasturi Muralikrishna, Mamidi Harikrishna, Anuradha Mothali, Sripati Sarma Vedantam, etc., as participants. With translation becoming an increasingly important feature of the literary landscape in India, there was a session on this art, aptly titled World Without Borders with Dr Jayaprada, T. Vijayakumar, Maria Puri, and K. Sreenivasa Rao as speakers.
Curated culinary experiences were another delightful component of the festival with multicuisine offerings while local delicacies like Ulavacharu, Gutthivankaya Koora, Gongura Mutton, etc., were showcased. However, avakaya pickle after which the festival was named was absent at many meals as several amused visitors pointed out!
On the sidelines were workshops on martial arts, Kalamkari, puppet making and a very popular one on dance by Gilles Chuyen. A grand and richly deserved tribute to film icon and former chief-minister N.T. Rama Rao titled Vishwaroopam of Acting also featured in ‘Avakai’ Festival but some said it should have been longer and were left longing for more.
A performance by singer Javed Ali was included in the finale. There were other cultural treats lined up for visitors: Punnami Ghat had Carnatic and devotional music by Chandana Bala Kalyan, Kuchipudi by Vanashree Rao in Dramatic Tales – Rasa United, and another performance titled The Sound of Stories: Music & Poetry in Cinema featuring Shekhar Ravjiani and Kasarla Shyam. Poetry and literature lovers enjoyed Mushaira, Mehfil-e-Sukhan, where well-known poets participated, and also the musical collaboration “Aaj Rang Hai” by Anirudh Varma Collective and Nizami Bandhu.
Thanks to the carefully curated mix of a variety of events, and the fact that the venues were accessible to the public, many locals and others from cities like Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam attended and enjoyed the festival. Hopefully, the ‘Avakai’ festival will soon lead to bigger festivals in the region and showcase more local art-and-craft forms too in future editions.