Pune Festival ready to enthrall with music, dance, drama and sports

PUNE: The 24th edition of the Pune Festival will kick off amidst much fanfare on September 21, with a bouquet of music, dance, drama and sports events in the offing. The fest this year has been dedicated to late Yashwantrao Chavan, the architect of modern Maharashtra, on the occasion of his birth centenary year.
The inauguration ceremony will be held on September 21 at the Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch, 4.30 pm onwards.Public Works Department (PWD) and state minister for tourism Chhagan Bhujbal and chairman, MTDC, Jagdish Patil will be the chief guests, while deputy leader of the BJP in the Loksabha, Gopinath Munde, will preside over the function.
The inauguration ceremony will also have prominent guests such as minister for forests Patangrao Kadam, minister for revenue Balasaheb Thorat, minister for cooperation Harshavardhan Patil, and minister for EGS Nitin Raut, among others. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, actors Randhir Kapoor, Shekhar Suman, Rajiv Kapoor, Hema Malini and Parineeti Chopra, will also be present at the inaugural function.
The fest, jointly organized by MTDC, the department of tourism and the Pune Festival committee, will be conducted at various venues such as Ganesh Kala Krida Randmanch, Balgandharva Rangmandir, Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagraha and Art Gallery, Pune Golf Club course, Mahesh Vidyalaya, Kothrud and General Vaidya Stadium, among others.
The installation of the Pune Festival Ganpati idol will take place at 10.30 am on September 19 at Hotel Saras, Nehru Stadium, at the hands of silver medalist in shooting at the London Olympics Vijay Kumar, and actor Tejaswini Lonari.
This year the Pune Festival Award will be conferred upon author and playwright Satish Alekar, shooters Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang, who was also the bronze medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, among others.
The inaugural ceremony has to its credit highlights such as the Ganesh Sthapana and 'aarti', a film on Late Yeshwantrao Chavan on the occasion of his birth centenary year, presentation of a 97-year-old original voice clipping of Lokmanya Tilak, 'Ganesh Vandana' by Hema Malini and her daughters, Esha and Ahana, as well as 'Jai Ganesh' - a dance conceptualized by Dhananjay Bahulekar and choreographed by Santosh Sankhad on Hindi and Marathi songs.
The inaugural function will also have a special cultural presentation of traditional 'Bihu dance ' by northeast students studying in Pune, felicitation of Ganesh Seva Mandal in Raviwar Peth for completion of 100 years, topped with the grand finale of 'lavani and mujra fusion', choreographed by Nikita Moghe and presented by Varsha Usgaonkar, Urmila Kanetkar, Bhargavi Chirmule and Tejaswini Lonari.
Malini and her troupe will present the ballet, 'Mahalaxmi' on September 22. This will be followed by 'Musical Nite' by Ashok Mastie on September 23. A musical fusion programme by Niladri Kumar (sitar), Toufiq Qureshi (percussion) and Vijay Ghate (tabla) will be presented on September 24.
One of the most popular programmes of the Pune Festival, Hindi Hasya Kavi Sammelan, will be held on September 25 and will present renowned poets such as Surinder Sharma, Rajendra Malviya, Ghansham Agarwal, and Sanjay Lodha from the popular comedy soap, 'Taarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma'.
Sufi Sangeet by the renowned Warsi Brothers, Haji Mukram Ali Warsi and his group will be held on September 26. A host of Marathi programmes have also been planned. The Marathi play, 'Satyashodhak', based on the life of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, will be held on September 22 at the Bal Gandharva Rangmandir and will be presented by the staff of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
'Ugawate Tare', the talent search contest for children will be held on the same day. 'Kelalotsavam', presented by Pune Malayali Association, featuring the dance, music and culture of Kerala will be held on September 23 at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir.
"The Indian film industry has lost many stalwarts this year -actors Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Joy Mukherji, and ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh. 'Tribute to Legends', a programme dedicated to the memory of these great artists presented by Jitendra Bhuruk and group will be conducted on September 25," said Krishnakant Kudale, the chief coordinator of the festival.
Hasyadaan Foundation will present 'Hasyotsav Ekpatricha' on September 27, featuring Nitin Kulkarni, child artiste Pratik Joshi, Dilip Halyal, Mrudula Moghe, Jaffar Momin and compered by Makarand Tilloo. 'Marathi Hasya Kavi Sammelan will be held on September 28. Well-known poets such as Ramdas Phutane, P M Shinde, Ashok Nandgaokar and Suresh Shinde will be participating.
The Pune Festival Golf Cup will be held at the Poona Golf Club Course, Yerwada, on September 22, while the Inter State Ice Skating Championship will be held for the first time in Pune on September 22 and 23, on a 50X40 ft ice skating rink at Manoranjan Nagari, Kalyaninagar. More than 100 national level ice skaters will take part.
The very popular Vintage Car Rally will be flagged off from Hotel Le-Meridian at 10.30 am on September 23. A cycle rally, spreading awareness on the environment, will take place on September 23.
The rally will be flagged off from Bal Gandharva Rangmandir and will reach Nehru Stadium via Tilak Road and Swargate. The Pune City Boxing Association has organized the West Zone Boxing Tournament at the General Vaidya Stadium on September 24 and 25.