Popular Marathi play, Natasamrat to ride on record wave

The city-based theatre company, Theerthraj Production, will attempt to set a record by staging five shows of the popular Marathi play Natasamrat without a break on February 27 in Pune.

The play, written by poet-dramatist VV Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj, is considered a landmark in the history of Marathi theatre.

Ten eminent actors, including Shreeram Lagoo and Chandrakant Gokhale, have portrayed the main character, Appa Belwalkar, in the past. Actor Girish Deshpande, who is playing the character, is also the director and producer of the play.

Deshpande said, “We will stage five back-to-back shows on February 27. We will start our shows at 6 am and end at 11.45 pm. The who will be on for over 17 hours. By making the record, we will aim at getting an entry into the Limca World Book of Records.”

Earlier, he had done three back-to-back shows of the play. Till date, Theerthraj productions has staged 70 shows of Natasamrat.

Though comparing him with the veteran actors, who have earlier performed the main role, is inevitable, Deshpande said every actor has his own style.

“Since I have already done three non-stop shows, doing two more shows without a break is the real challenge for me,” he said.

Critic Prafulchandra Tawade said, “The main character mouthing 85% of the dialogues in Natasamrat for non-stop 17 hours will be a great achievement.”