Swapnil Rajshekhar on the 109-year-old iconic theatre of Kolhapur that turned into ashes; Says, 'Lovers and admirers of plays are crying today'- Exclusive!

Actor Swapnil Rajshekhar who is well-known for his Marathi television shows, opened up about the 109-year-old theatre of Kolhapur that was gutted.

In an exclusive chat with ETimes, Swapnil shared, "This theatre was built by Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. It was named Palace Theatre after the Royal Palace of Kolhapur. It was renamed Keshavrao Bhosle Natyagruha later on after legendary singer Sangeet Surya Keshavrao Bhosle from Kolhapur who was an equivalent of Bal Gandharva. When he became a renowned name across India, the theatre was renamed in his memory after his death."

"All the big artists from across the country have performed there. The likes of legendary artists such as Bal Gandharv, Keshavrao Bhosle, Ganpatrao Joshi, Ganpatrao Belwalkar, Ganpatrao Bodas, and Nanasaheb Phatak have performed there when plays were the only medium of arts and entertainment" Swapnil added.

Elaborating further about the infrastructure of the theatre, Swapnil added, "It was built in such a way that the person sitting in the last row would also hear everything said on the stage. The acoustics of the architecture were designed in such a way that there was no need to use the mic. It is said that Nanasaheb Phatak would say his first dialogue in his make-up room and then enter the stage. People would clap for five minutes for him. It is because of the vibe of this 109-year-old theatre that lovers and admirers of plays are crying today. Those stones had a life."

The actor recalled, "Many renowned actors such as Om Puri, Sudha Puri, and others have performed here. The local actors performed here and then went to NSD. My father started his career at this theatre. He played a 65-year-old man when he was only 16 years old. He was a big name in Marathi cinema. He was a true blur artist. He has swept the stage floor too. He was an assistant to the big names I mentioned before."

"Great singers such as Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal, Kumar Gandharva, Mogubai Kurdikar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam have performed at this theatre. Efforts were made to maintain this iconic theatre. However, during renovations, artists from outside of Kolhapur were not included. They renovated the theatre but something went wrong. If you look at it, the plastic and plywood used were all burnt. The stone structure is as it is," Swapnil concluded.