Drummer Sivamani entertains waiting passengers at Kochi airport with impromptu performance, video goes viral

Drummer Sivamani at the Kochi airport. Pic/Sheeta Mehta`s X handle

Delays and cancellations of flights and tough times at airports across India have been making headlines every other day in the last couple of weeks. While anguished passengers including film personalities have been expressing their disappointment at the services provided, drummer Sivamani turned a recent airport delay into entertainment for co-passengers. A video of Sivamani playing for co-passengers as they were waiting for their luggage has gone viral.

Passengers at the Kochi airport in Kerala recently were made to wait for over 40 minutes post landing to get their luggage. Drummer Sivamani who was also a passenger on the flight decided to entertain the waiting passengers and quickly lifted their mood with his art. A co-passenger recorded a 17-second clip of Sivamani using the metallic conveyor belt as drums and played the song 'Humma Humma' on it with mallets.

Sivamani was seen dressed in a green kurta and denim pants, a green cloth over his head with a pair of black sunglasses.

Sivamani, commonly known by his stage name Drums Sivamani, is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He gained recognition through his role as A. R. Rahman's lead percussionist. They have been close friends since childhood. In 2019, he was conferred with Padma Shri.

Sivamani has played drums for many film score composers hailing from Tamil Nadu. He has played drums for many Indian films including 'Roja', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Swades', 'Taal', 'Lagaan', 'Dil Se..', 'Guru' , 'Kabul Express' and 'Rockstar'. Some of the songs that he has contributed to include 'Kadhal Rojave', 'Pudhu Vellai Malai' 'Chaiya Chaiya' and 'Nadaan Parinde'.

Meanwhile, in the past week alone film personalities like Richa Chadha, Radhika Apter, Sonu Sood, and Ranvir Shorey shared their experience of delayed flights and overcrowding at airports. While Radhika Apte shared the story of her and her co-passengers getting stuck in an aerobridge, Ranvir Shorey shared the ordeal caused by a 10-hour delay in flight take-off after checking in at the airport.