Mark your diary for culture events

NAGPUR: The cultural environment in cities like Mumbai and Pune has been a sore point with many cultural aficionados of the city. That most talented musicians, singers and theatre persons too go away from here to explore opportunities, only adds to the woes. But there are many local organizations who keep the cultural scene alive and throbbing. Taking initiatives to hold the events which feature local artists, now, they have raised the bar and the scale for themselves.
Swarvedh, a local cultural organization which has been organizing musical shows with the best of city talent, is now planning a musical and theatre event on January 10 and 11. “Vasant Utsav is an annual event in Pune. It is dedicated to Vasantrao Deshpande who actually hails from this region. So I decided to bring this festival here in the city,” says Bhanudas Kulkarni founder of Swarvedh.
Kulkarni says he wants to recreate the entire environment and mood that prevails in Pune. “I will have traditionally dressed men and women welcoming the guests with itra and til gud,” he says and adds that it is important to give such experiences to the city otherwise it will be dead and insensitive to art and music. “Events like these promote classical music and give a first hand experience to city audience about what’s trending elsewhere.”
What Kulkarni has done for music another organization Aurum Entertainment has done for theatre scene in the city. Formed just a year back, the company brought ten successful plays to the city. “We had been associated with Saptak for very long. But the organization had its limits,” says Prakash Dixit, the founder of Aurum. “I also observed that plays being staged in the city were not of very high calibre. I have extensive contacts in Marathi theatre and film industry. I utilized those and brought some very successful and acclaimed ones.”
Dixit says that the activity is still not very viable in commercial terms. “The budgets are huge these days as travel cost has increased. The actors are busy with television serials and don’t have much time to spare,” says Dixit pegging the budget of holding one show of such dramas at upwards of Rs 1 lakh. “But we are committed to continue with this activity and will bring in six to seven more plays next year starting from January.”
Dixit says that this helps in promoting a cultural environment in the city. “It gives local talent an exposure to good quality of work and actors and in turn the artists and the play get an audience which they would not be able to reach otherwise,” he said.
Describing the need for salvaging art and culture as urgent, Dr Harshvardhan Mardikar, the force behind cultural festival Anubhuti, which debuted this year, says, “Art is being converted into entertainment. It has various aspects which are not explored properly. The city does not get to see painting or photo exhibitions of national artists and lensmen. Similarly we don’t have high grade English plays being staged here.” Mardikar finds the trend of youth moving away from art as alarming. “It is essential to promote these events otherwise the cultural scene in the city would die.”
Tapping local talent and providing them a stage is what Samir Pandit of Shri Siddhivinayak Publicity and Events does. “Art, culture and music will be wiped out if efforts are not made to retain the local talent,” says Pandit. “I design musical shows and dramas with these artists which are very well received.” In a reverse of sorts, Pandit plans to present these events outside the city. “I did a solo show with local singer Shrinidhi Ghatate which was a big hit. I now plan to hold this in other cities too,” he says and adds that consistency is essential. “Holding high quality cultural events regularly creates an environment of healthy competition. The audience is very choosy and they will pay only for the best of the shows.”
But what has actually given a taste of rich cultural fare to the city are the programmes being organized by SCZCC. “Just as the people here are eager to hear national level artists, the artists too are eager to perform in the city. We are acting as a bridge between the two,” says Piush Kumar the director of the centre. “There is a vast ocean of talent in India. My effort through events like Bramhnaad and music festivals is to bring such artists to the city,” says Kumar.
Lauding the role of local cultural organizations he adds, “What they can achieve we can’t.” Kumar says that there is this rule of not holding big events in capital cities of the states under the aegis of SCZCC.” The centre also has a partnership scheme for NGO wherein a cash help of Rs 1 lakh along with logistic support is provided for organizing cultural events.