Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday 22 August 2010: Over 4,000 artistes are scheduled to perform at 18 venues in the city as part of the Onam Week celebrations which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium today.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy will be the chief guest at the inaugural session which will be presided over by Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. A major attraction of the inaugural day will be ‘Swarna Kamalam,’ a special programme designed to pay tributes to actor Kamal Hassan who has completed 50 years in the profession.

The programme, being organised in association with Kairali TV, will feature a ballet led by danseuse Nina Prasad, a symphony showcasing the reel life of Kamal Hassan prepared by music director Balabhaskar, a special show featuring actors Jayaram, Kottayam Naseer and Reema Kallingal and a dance-music ensemble led by dancers Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan, singer Anuradha Sreeram and by Mattannur Shankarankuty Nair and Karunamoorthy.

This five-part programme which delineates Kamal Hassan as an actor, singer, dancer, poet and writer has been directed by T.K. Rajeev Kumar. In the following days mega shows sponsored by various TV channels will be organised at different venues.A photo exhibition featuring the characters portrayed by Kamal Hassan will be put up at the Kanakakkunnu palace.

At the Poojappura Maidan, there will be ganamelas led by P. Jayachandran, M.G. Sreekumar, K.P. Udayabhanu, Unni Menon, Anuradha Sreeram, Rimi Tomy, Sudeep Kumar, Anvar Sadath and Ranjini Jose. At the VJT Hall, dramas of organisations including KPAC, Jana Samskrithi, Abhinaya, Sangeerthana and Sahithi will be staged on different days.

The N. Krishna Pillai Foundation Hall has been selected a venue for the Onam Week for the first time. Here plays staged by Kerala Theatres, Swadeshabhimani and Athulya will be staged.

The Kanakakkunnu palace will be the venue for classical music concerts by such artistes as Bavana Radhakrishnan, Mukhathala Shivaji, Sreevathsan J. Menon, Parvathipuram Padmanabha Iyer and Thrippunithura Girija Varma.

For lovers of Kathaprasangam, the venue to head to will be the Gandhi Park where there will be performances by Vasanthakumar Sambhashivan, V. Harshakumar, Thevarthottam Sukumaran, Ayilam Unnikrishnan and Kadaikkode Viswambharan.

(news agency inputs)