"TV is a prime cause for losing much of our members. The membership in our sabha used to be around 1000 in the early nineties. But now we have lost many members due to the advent of cable channels," said Mr.Sundararaman, Founder Secretary of Sri Kapali Fine Arts during an interview conducted by Chennai Online for Music Season'99.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: When did you start the sabha and what was the primary reason?
A: We started the sabha way back in 1969. I still remember the first programme conducted by us. It was Ms.Radha Jayalakshmi's concert. Since then, the sabha has been functioning smoothly. The primary reason for starting the sabha was to promote arts. Initially, we were concentrating on promoting drama. But later on shifted over to other arts like music and dance.

Q: How is the response now?
A: As I said earlier, the response has been declining. The primary reason being the advent of cable channels. When we ask rasikas why they aren't participating in programmes as they used to, they say that incidental expenses like travel, food, etc. have drastically gone up and they prefer to sit before the TV and watch the programmes. I think there is some truth in this view. On the other end, we are not getting good dramas. Good script writers have moved on to greener pastures like TV and cinema which provide them better returns.

Q: What is your view on present day rasikas and sponsors' support for new talents?
A: I am sorry to say but the present day rasikas are not supporting upcoming, new talent as they used to. There is a crowd only for recognised artistes. Otherwise, the halls are half empty. The level of sponsorship has definitely gone down. I think it is partly because of the downtrend in the market.

Q: What are your plans for the next music season?
A: I am less than optimistic about the present trend. If this continues, our sabha will only hold programmes in the evenings and not the entire day as of now. We definitely would continue providing quality programmes for rasikas, but at a lesser volume.

R.Prabhuram