I think the point about the performers, the writers and the panels is that they are not generic,” poet, novelist and musician Jeet Thayil tells us about Five Oh, an upcoming day-long music and literature festival that he has co-curated with friend and restaurateur Anil Kably. Thayil observes that “the Indian literature festival has evolved at this point [in a way where] it’s a very dry and predictable enterprise. I think we all know what a literature festival is, and there are so many and they are kind of interchangeable. You could take a panel from one and [replace it] with one from another and nobody would know the difference. It’s become generic.” What will set Five Oh apart, he believes, will be its unusual mix of writers and performers. “There’s a sense of urgency among the musicians and the writers and I think that will bring them together in a way they themselves will not be expecting.”

Borrowing its name from Bandra’s zip code and presented by Short Story, the festival will host panels on writing and filming Mumbai, spoken word sessions featuring the likes of Denzil Smith, Imaad Shah and Thayil himself, and performances by bands including Thayil’s HMT and Honey’s Dead, whose guitarist is Kably’s son Rahsaan. “One of the performers has called this the ‘nepotism edition’ because everybody’s either a friend or family,” laughs Thayil.