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Marathi theatre has not lost its sheen, say artistes

The fest began on February 19 and will go on till today at Dadoji Kondev stadium and amongst various events, Saturday morning saw a few artists, along with Dr Uday Nirgudkar, editor-in-chief for dna and Zee 24 Taas.

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The Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Parishad's 16th meet has been staging many Marathi plays and it has also become a platform for various discussions, performances and presentations by many theatre artists. A plethora of plays for varied audience will be staged at the three-day fest at various locations within Thane for the benefit of Marathi theatre lovers.

The fest began on February 19 and will go on till today at Dadoji Kondev stadium and amongst various events, Saturday morning saw a few artists, along with Dr Uday Nirgudkar, editor-in-chief for dna and Zee 24 Taas. Dr Nirgudkar acted as a moderator for the discussion on how Marathi theatre can be turned into an industry. Also, present at the discussion were Marathi theatre aficionados Lata Narvekar, Prasad Kambli, Anand Mhasvekar and Sampada Joglekar.

Dr Nirgudkar opened the discussion saying, "Theatre runs in the dna of every Maharashtrian. Since generations, theatre has been playing an important role in our lives and over the years, many changes have been taking place in the theatre scene." He further asked the panelists, "Are youngsters losing the sheen and love for theatre and will it survive as an industry."

"With inclusion of technology, where movies and entertainment is available even on phones, theatre is not a priority anymore for any modern Indian household. Who would want to spend Rs300 for a play when they can watch a movie for half the price. We need to attract the audience towards theatre and take adequate measures in this direction," said Mhasvekar.

Meanwhile, Narvekar said, "In today's day and age, actors are getting celebrity status and they drive a Mercedes, while producers are struggling to survive on a cycle. Artistes are focusing on status symbol rather than brushing on their talent."

Narvekar was interrupted by Prasad Kambli, who said it is the generation gap and not status symbol and the needs of every generation is different and they all believe that their era was the best.

"We need to change with time and focus on making Marathi theatre more interesting for youngsters and give them more opportunities," Kambli added.

Joglekar nodded in agreement on the issue at hand and said, "Many upcoming plays have young scriptwriters and the need of the hour is to appreciate their talent and give them a boost to survive in the industry. We need to make opportunities for them to showcase their talent as there is no dearth of talent shows or reality shows for the current crop of artists. To make theatre more interesting, we need to take it towards the youngsters through social media and develop their interest towards Marathi theatre."

After taking into consideration the varied opinions of the renowned artistes present as panelists, Dr Nirgudkar drove to a conclusion. He said, "Despite many issues cropping up in the discussion about lack of marketing for theatre, making plays that are more youth-oriented, theatre becoming a lesser priority for the audience and the increase in number of theatres for staging plays, the four panelists unanimously agreed that Marathi theatre will not die even if it isn't as thriving as it used to in its golden days. It has not lost its sheen and we hope that the attempt of such theatre aficionados will soon make it a priority for Maharashtrians."

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