Nagpur: Nagpur chapter of Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Parishad celebrated Marathi Theatre Day by honouring upcoming theatre persons of the city and region at a ceremony organized at Baburao Dhanwatey Hall on Sunday. In a bid to also acknowledge the contribution of legendary theatre persons of yore, the awards were named after them.
Eleven male and five female theatre persons received the awards from Sandeep Joshi, leader of ruling part in NMC. In 2015, similar awards were given to eleven persons. Named Shubh Path Chintan Puraskar, the honour came as a surprise to many of awardees too. "I have been doing theatre since last 15 years and have got some prizes too but this one is prestigious," said set designer Sushil Sarode who received the Sapan Mitra award. "The first play directed by me was written by Bhaskar Pande and today I am so proud to receive an award in his name," said director Abhishek Bellarwar. For director Sarang Maste it was an honour to be presented Nagesh Deshmukh award. "We are all struggling for recognition and this award gets it for us," he said. It was the first ever award that Gaurav Khond a lawyer by profession and a theatre director received. "It was unexpected but very welcome. I am proud to get this," he said.
Though the recipients were excited about this honour, but there were many other pressing issues for those who were seated on the dais. Addressing the young breed of theatre persons, VS Jog, writer and critic expressed his concern over the current plight of theatre in the city. "Politics and art should not be mixed. Though an artist can cleanse the politics of a country, a politician can only corrupt art and theatre," he said while goading the young writers and directors to research their projects and pay attention to facts especially while writing on historical issues.
Jog also expressed concerns over the high tariffs for hiring Suresh Bhat auditorium. "It can give a push to theatre in the city but even the fee of Rs 5,000 for amateur artists is not enough as they have to give a security deposit of Rs 50,000," he complained. Assuring him of a reasonable charge of only Rs 15,000 as security deposit, Sandeep Joshi said, "We must fight this mentality of watching cultural shows for free. Auditoriums like this require heavy maintenance and audience especially in musical shows have been known to break the chairs in their excitement," he said.
Terming new generation of theatre persons as fortunate, social activist Girish Gandhi cautioned them to not get complacent after receiving such honours. "It is your responsibility to now get new movements to theatre and take it to the next level. Your generation has got all facilities and encouragement without having to struggle for it."
Eleven male and five female theatre persons received the awards from Sandeep Joshi, leader of ruling part in NMC. In 2015, similar awards were given to eleven persons. Named Shubh Path Chintan Puraskar, the honour came as a surprise to many of awardees too. "I have been doing theatre since last 15 years and have got some prizes too but this one is prestigious," said set designer Sushil Sarode who received the Sapan Mitra award. "The first play directed by me was written by Bhaskar Pande and today I am so proud to receive an award in his name," said director Abhishek Bellarwar. For director Sarang Maste it was an honour to be presented Nagesh Deshmukh award. "We are all struggling for recognition and this award gets it for us," he said. It was the first ever award that Gaurav Khond a lawyer by profession and a theatre director received. "It was unexpected but very welcome. I am proud to get this," he said.
Though the recipients were excited about this honour, but there were many other pressing issues for those who were seated on the dais. Addressing the young breed of theatre persons, VS Jog, writer and critic expressed his concern over the current plight of theatre in the city. "Politics and art should not be mixed. Though an artist can cleanse the politics of a country, a politician can only corrupt art and theatre," he said while goading the young writers and directors to research their projects and pay attention to facts especially while writing on historical issues.
Jog also expressed concerns over the high tariffs for hiring Suresh Bhat auditorium. "It can give a push to theatre in the city but even the fee of Rs 5,000 for amateur artists is not enough as they have to give a security deposit of Rs 50,000," he complained. Assuring him of a reasonable charge of only Rs 15,000 as security deposit, Sandeep Joshi said, "We must fight this mentality of watching cultural shows for free. Auditoriums like this require heavy maintenance and audience especially in musical shows have been known to break the chairs in their excitement," he said.
Terming new generation of theatre persons as fortunate, social activist Girish Gandhi cautioned them to not get complacent after receiving such honours. "It is your responsibility to now get new movements to theatre and take it to the next level. Your generation has got all facilities and encouragement without having to struggle for it."
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