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Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), Pune flagged off its annual flagship event Fest-O-Comm 2016 on Wednesday, February 10 with the theme ‘Boombox’. The two day event was a delightful amalgamation of competitions such as Take 24, a 24-hour filmmaking competition and Coca-Cola Decrypt, case study competition sponsored by Coca-Cola; sporting events and cultural performances.
The inauguration ceremony commenced with the arrival of Manoj Bajpayee, along with the principal director of Symbiosis International University, Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar and the director of SIMC, Prasanna Hulikavi. The students of SIMC created a video montage as a tribute to the veteran actor’s illustrious career in the Indian film industry. Dr. Yeravdekar added to the discussion by emphasising the role of educational institutions, especially SIMC, in providing the media industry with trained professionals who bring in the requisite creativity and motivation.
Sameer Pathak, Head of Sustainability, Marketing and Student Alliances, Coca-Cola, India, hosted a one-of-its-kind quiz. The questions centred on breaking popular myths ingrained in the consumer’s psyche. The students also gained fresh insights into the various CSR activities that Coca-Cola India partners and spearheads.
Another event organised by Coca-Cola was a case study competition, Decrypt, which was based on its ‘Support My School’ campaign, in association with NDTV. The case deliverables ranged from ideas such as leadership programs, digital empowerment, employability skill training and teacher incentive schemes, among others. The winners were Team ‘Idea R Us’ from Welingkar Institute.
‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’, the street play competition, saw theatre groups rejuvenating the age old form of street plays, where teams proved their mettle through their exceptional performances. COEP’s performance was extremely high voltage and as a result, bagged the first spot.
A thrilling event, the Amazing Race was a real crowd puller this year. Teams dashed across the hilltop, racing against the clock, executing twisted challenges that made them think twice. An out-of-the-box experience, the top three finishers had to overcome a string of obstacles to make it to the finish line.
Just A Minute was a platform to showcase how well you can spin the yarn of storytelling. The whole JAM session was a roller coaster ride with moments of frolic and intricate wordplay. RJ Nikky (Neeharika Katre) the vivacious and eloquent host of the morning show, ‘Hi, Pune!’ of Radio Mirchi played the role of Jam Master for the contest.
Footloose, the much awaited dance competition, saw some brilliant moves and tremendous energy on stage. The spirited performance of the winning team, AIT Feet Tappers, was much appreciated by the judges.
The 24-hour film-making competition tried to compress months spent producing a film into just 24 hours. The judge expressed the difficulty of the challenge and said that he would never take up something like this of his own accord. The theme was, ‘In the nick of time’, and students had to conceptualise and develop a script, scour for actors and locations, shoot and edit the film in this short span of time. ‘Pal’ was the name of the film made by the team of SIMC that took home the first prize.
In the era of entrepreneurship and start-ups, only the innovative survive. With decreasing attention spans and increasing entertainment options, Mediatron was a B-plan competition that centered on creating a new product in the media market. NIT, Trichy, emerged victorious, with their unique idea to develop a personalised platform that enables users to explore local events.
‘Howzatt’– box cricket, was the flagship sporting event this year. It had the under 18 cricketing star, Devika Vaidya and reputed Ranji player, Nikit Dhumal inaugurate the event. 13 teams fought it out in 8-over knock-out rounds, putting up some great numbers on the scoreboard.
The festival ended on a resplendent note, with Consonance, the enchanting musical night, which saw an enthralling performance from music marvel Paradigm Shift, the progressive Indian rock band, whose energetic beats had the audience grooving. Singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad also performed his soul-stirring music at the amphitheatre, with a picturesque backdrop of stars.
Fest-O-Comm 2016 culminated on a high note and the students vowed to make it bigger and better than ever, the next year around.
Fest-O-Comm (FOC) is an annual student communication festival hosted by Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), PG.
Currently in its silver jubilee year, Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), is one of the premier pure-play media schools in the country that offers a wide range of courses such as MA (MC) and MBA (CM). To learn more, visit www.simc.edu.
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