The unification of Bengali-Marathi culture in Pune

The unification of Bengali-Marathi culture in Pune is on rise and this was witnessed at last evening of Saturday and Sunday. The multi-lingual theatre festival

Upasana

saw enthusiasts from Mumbai and Pune participate in Vachik arts; the art of voice modulation. They gained prominence in the culture scape of Pune with all their participation in their fourth edition.

The day one of the event was held at

Sawai Gandharv

, wherein the Shambhu Mitra and

Pula Deshpande

Awards ceremony drew a full house to witness voice artist Pradip Ghosh and drama stalwart Madhav Abhyankar being honoured. The chief guest of the event was Deputy Director General of All India Radio (AIR) Ashish Bhatnagar who also gave away the prizes. Apart from him Pula Deshpande’s nephew

Rajendra Deshpande

also graced the occasion by his presence.

Voice artists Tapasa Maity and Molly Dutta from Mumbai left no stone unturned to display their talent who collectively performed at Upasana and also experimented with their poetry recitation. The most appreciated play of the show was the ‘Bhairavi’, a Marathi Srutika playwright by Pradeep Pathak which was specially customised for this festival. This beautifully depicted the amalgamation of both Bengali and Marathi cultures.

The steal of the show was a Bengali drama ‘Karna Kunti Samvad’, which was directed by Dolan Sarkar and Paschim Pune Bangiya Parishad. The festival also had a recitation in Marathi which was a translation from

Tagore

’s verses.

Day two of the festival held at

Muktangan

was concluded with Pune-based artists reciting poems which were followed by a spell binding hour with Pradip Ghosh, listening to his life’s rich experiences. He also explained the importance of voice modulation in the poem recitation and theatre arena. Passionate artists, enthusiasts took away memorable experiences with them which brought them closer to each other across different cities.

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--Moumita.Chakraborty@timesgroup.com