The Malayalee Club of Chennai organizes cultural programmes coinciding with the festival of Vishu. In summer, the cultural scene goes into hibernation in Chennai. Programmes are few and far between. Braving the oppressive humidity, Urmila looked fresh in a white and gold ensemble. But sadly, due to the late start, she was left with a dwindling audience. She commenced with a Pushpanjali in Bowli ragam, followed by 'Nrithyati nrityati sambho Shiva' on Nataraja in Sankarabarnam ragam, Adi talam.

Coming back to the varnam; it had crisp nritta passages interspersed with long narrative sequences. The vanquishing of the yaksha turned monster, Taataka, by Rama and Lakshmana was detailed. Sita Swayamvaram was handled with élan. The narrative moved on to Rama's coronation and Manthara's evil counsel. Manthara's character as a hunched-back evil woman was portrayed well, but the depiction of Dasaratha's reaction to Kaikeyi's request was, by far the highlight of the varnam. The shock and despair of a doting father was very moving. Bharatha tries unsuccessfully to convince his brother Rama to come out of exile. Soorpanaka's declaration of love to Rama and Lakshmana, and her contempt of Sita, who is in her way, leads to Lakshmana cutting off Soorpanaka's nose in anger. Mareecha as the golden stag, allures Sita and lays the trap for her kidnapping by Ravana. A distraught Rama asks the monkey prince, Sugreeva for help. Hanuman finds Seetha and carries back her 'sikha-mani', her crest jewel, to Rama. Using only the beats of the mridangam, the cymbals and the nattuvangam, the causeway-building episode was made interesting. The tale ended with Seetha's test of purity in the fire, and Rama's Pattabhishekam. A long, heavy item that Urmila was able to sustain with her abhinaya, more 'lokha-dharmic' than warranted, but not any less effective.

Urmila lightened the atmosphere with a thillana in Dhanasri ragam, Adi talam, 'Geeth suni…' She concluded with a piece on Padmanabha in Neelambari ragam, 'Bhujaga nama mantra.' Her orchestra for the recital had Swamimalai S.K.Suresh handling the nattuvangam and the vocal music, Hari Babu, mridangam, Sivaganesh, violin, and Sashidhar, flute.