A few days ago, Ajitha Talari, a school principal in Hyderabad, walked into a café for a music jamming session and walked out with a new friend. While the evening featured many of her favourite songs, it was Singarala Pairulona and Naa Cheli Rojave from Thalapathi and Roja that sparked a connection between two strangers. “We were both smiling and looking at each other while singing together,” she recalls. Spotting the duo’s energy, the organiser even urged them to dance, and they happily let go of their inhibitions.

Across Hyderabad, jamming sessions that bring strangers together over familiar tunes are steadily building passionate music communities. Hosted mostly at cafés and auditoriums with a no-alcohol policy, these gatherings differ from open mics or karaoke nights, where the spotlight is usually on one singer. Here, groups sing their hearts out in a relaxed, low-pressure atmosphere. “Since no one is judging our singing style, we sing purely for the joy of it, and that reflects on our faces too,” adds Ajitha.

Nostalgic trip

At music lover Prasanna Lakshmiraya’s home in Madhapur, playlists set the tone for a weekend picnic-style singalong at her Patala Shikaaru sessions held every weekend. Having spent 14 years in the IT industry, Prasanna says she understands the growing need for community engagement. “Employees, especially those living alone in a new city, often join groups to find people with similar interests. Singing is a universal hobby that offers instant stress relief. Group singing is infectious — even the shyest person eventually gets pulled into the energy and starts singing along,” says Prasanna, founder of HiVibe Studio. She quit her corporate job to launch Coffee with Kathalu, a strangers’ meet-up group, in 2024.

Lyrics, not just the rhythm of a song lies at the heart of Patala Shikaaru, a multi-city event now held in Vijayawada and Bengaluru as well. The two-and-a-half-hour sessions, attended by anywhere between 20 and 200 people, take music lovers on a nostalgic journey through Telugu film songs across eras. “When we connect to the words in a song, the listening experience becomes immersive, and singing together creates happy memories,” says Prasanna. Each session features two or three Telugu songs from different decades to cater to varied musical tastes.

These free-flowing singalong sessions are also becoming platforms for young artistes to build a career. At SamMELAanam gatherings at cafes, for instance, the audience gets to sing alongside performers with a live mic in hand. Founder Achyuthananda Reddy reshaped the format after facing professional setbacks. “Some artistes didn’t show up for my events as promised, so I decided to give opportunities only to upcoming singers who genuinely need them,” he says.

During the three-hour sessions, members can pick favourites from a 170-song playlist spanning Telugu and Hindi music. “Singing into a microphone gives people a lot of confidence, and depending on how they perform, they could even become an artiste at one of our future shows,” says Achyuthananda, who launched the platform in 2023 and plans to expand to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam this June.

Singing with live orchestra

Singer Ganesh Krovvidi intentionally steps away from the spotlight at Mic Less with Merakee events held at indoor auditoriums, choosing instead to act as a bridge between the audience and the band. “We want music lovers who are not professional singers to enjoy a concert-like experience with a live orchestra on stage,” says Ganesh, founder of the band Merakee. These gatherings held at auditoriums begin with the crowd taking centre stage — Ganesh starts a song, steps back, and lets the audience carry it forward, occasionally stepping in to correct a pitch variation.

A recent event at Shilpakala Vedika, where more than 2,000 people sang Telugu songs alongside him, gave him goosebumps. There is one recurring challenge, though. “Sometimes people remember only the opening lines. They sing the hook loudly but forget the anupallavi and charanam. That’s when I quickly join in to keep the music flowing continuously,” he says.

All jamming events are listed on Bookmyshow and District by 150