'Rama Shetty' returns to theatre

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">PUNE: Bollywood ''character'' artist Sadashiv Amrapurkar''s return to the stage after 17 long years, seems to have provided Marathi theatre with a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ghashiram</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kotwal</span>-like landmark.<br /><br />Amrapurkar has chosen to stage his comeback with Anant Jategaonkar''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jyacha</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tyacha</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Vithoba</span> (<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">To</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">each</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">his</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">own</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Vithoba</span>), which opened to critical acclaim recently.<br /><br />His comeback is as dramatic as his overnight rise to fame as gangster Rama Shetty in the award-winning Ardh Satya, or his relegation to a Bollywood triumvirate with Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor.<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jyacha</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tyacha</span>...is difficult to slot as either a play, a solo act, a musical programme or plain discourse. It is also tough to say what exactly makes it riveting: Amrapurkar''s amazing soliloquy, which largely fills the two-hour show; Jategaonkar''s script; Jhelum Paranjpe''s choreography; Bhaskar Chandavarkar''s music or Chandrakant Kulkarni''s direction. Not to mention the 17th century poet-saint Tukaram, on whose verses the show is based.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Jategaonkar''s highly topical, modern and lucid interpretation of Sant Tukaram attracted Amrapurkar to the project. Jategaonkar, a reclusive maths teacher from rural Akola, is clearly a man to watch.<br /><br />"Though I have been in Hindi films, I have always been in touch with social reality by taking part in agitations such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the rationalist movement. It took six months for me to internalise Jategaonkar''s script and nine months to commit it to memory," reveals Amrapurkar.<br /><br />That is where director Kulkarni took over, with help from Paranjpe and Chandavarkar. The script also struck a chord with mainstream producer Lata Narvekar.<br /><br />"Once we realised we were all on the same wavelength, it was easy to decide what not to do in this show. The content is rich. So repetition, superfluous illustration, gimmicks and acrobatics are avoided," explains Kulkarni, director of several recent award-winning plays, films and TV serials.<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jyacha</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tyacha</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Vithoba</span> will be staged at the Y B Chavan auditorium at 9.30 pm on December 7.</div> </div>