Marathi Actor Criticizes Goa's Art Minister Over Kala Academy Technical Glitch

Panaji: Marathi theatre actor Sharad Ponshke on Friday said Goa’s art and culture minister Govind Gaude should take responsibility for the technical glitch at Kala Academy that brought the Marathi play, ‘Purush’, to a halt on April 13. He condemned Gaude for playing victim instead.
“CM Pramod Sawant is a friend. I gave the media a statement requesting his intervention. It was only when people started mentioning Gaude’s name that I realised he is the art and culture minister. The following day, I learnt that the Kala Academy was recently renovated. Where was the money spent? My experience was that the light flickered, the makeup room was damp, and the ACs in the room were non-functional. Instead of apologising, he is equating me to a ‘suparibaaz’ (a term implying that he had taken money to align with opponents)?”
Gaude had earlier said, “No matter how skilled the sound management is, can we control technical issues? These people have taken a ‘supari’ against me.” Reacting to this, Ponshke said, “People who are involved in corruption have the notion that everyone else also follows such a path. I was there to stage a play and it got disrupted. I apologised to the audience although it was not my fault.” He said Kala Academy needs a sound engineer, light engineer, manager, and other essential staff at all times.