Bhaskar Chandavarkar

The inaugural programme of the 19th Pune Festival was everything it had promised to be.

Eminent music director and Sitarist Bhaskar Chandavarkar died of cancer in Pune early this morning. He was 73. Some of his other works include films like "Thodasa Rumali Ho Jai"," Kairi", "Ravsaheb" and Mati Mai".

Noted Marathi music director Anand Modak, who won critical acclaim for his creativity and experimentalist style, died on Friday following a massive heart attack here.He was 63.

PUNE: Bollywood 'character' artist Sadashiv Amrapurkar's return to the stage after 17 long years, seems to have provided Marathi theatre with a Ghashiram Kotwal-like landmark.

The classic Odia film ‘Maya Miriga’ is returning to cinemas after a five-year restoration. The Film Heritage Foundation is premiering the restored movie in Bhubaneswar. Actor Amitabh Bachchan praised the effort. The film, made by Nirad Mohapatra, portrays a joint family's disintegration. Its restoration began after the original negatives were found in poor condition.

Continuing its annual practice, the Pune Festival will, this year too, be full of culture, art, drama, dance, music and sports.

PUNE: A cultural feast befitting the multi-dimensional personality of late Pu La Deshpande has been laid out by Aashay Sanskritik from Dec 25 to remember Pu La - the great humorist.

Iconic Marathi poet and Padma Bhushan recipient Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar passed away here after a brief illness. He was 86.

It was a project fraught with difficulties because the subject of the film, yoga exponent BKS Iyengar, was known to be uncompromising when it came to quality.

An acclaimed music composer, eminent sitarist, well known theatre personality and a learned academician, Bhaskar Chandavarkar breathed his last in Pune on Sunday morning at the age of 73.

At 75, Karnad prefers keeping a low profile and wants to focus only on writing plays and "keep growing as a playwright." He is busy writing a new play.

In which we look at the little things that make for the big picture.

From training in classical vocals to dabbling in the television industry in its salad days, to becoming a renowned thespian, Prasad Gurav has had his fingers in several piesand all of them very successfully.