Imperial College London’s Tamil Society staged their annual 'Mega Maalai' entertainment show on January 23 with a blaze of colour, dance and song at the Piccadilly Theatre in the capital’s West End.

The audience at the eleventh in the successful 'Mega Maalai' series had high expectations. ICL’s Tamil Soc did not disappoint.

Tamil students and international colleagues laid on a rollercoaster of entertainment, with acts ranging from the traditional bharathanatyam and Western street dance and ballet performances to dramas, stand up comedy, and martial arts.

Music performances mixed traditional carnatic sounds with popular Western chart music, all performed by students.

There was, as the organizers had promised, something for everyone.

At the peak of the show, a one-minute silence was observed to remember all those lost to Sri Lanka’s genocidal repression and the Tamil struggle to protect their identity.

The theme was explicitly taken up in a dance drama depicting the journey from happiness to suffering and the hope for a just peace for Tamils in the homeland.

With the majority of students having been brought up and educated outside their homeland, 'Mega Maalai' is an iconic celebration of how the Diaspora’s second generation is preserving and advancing Tamil culture forms, whilst embracing Western and other international ones.

All profits from the show are to be donated to Medical Institute of Tamils (MIOT) and North East Central Tripartite Association for Reconstruction (NECTAR), as well as Save the Children, underlining the strength of the bonds between the global Tamil community and their fellow Tamils in the homeland.

Photograph by Ben Ganeshwaran for Thamarai. See the entire gallery here

Also, see Kutti Hari’s stand up act on the night: