2018 looking back: The year that was | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

2018 looking back: The year that was | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Written by Alifiya Khan |Published: December 30, 2018 4:41:45 am

2018 looking back: The year that was

It was a rather pleasant year for the connoisseurs of culture. Here are the highlights of 2018

Rahul Sharma performing at the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav

Breaking Tradition

One of the biggest annual events in the cultural calendar of Pune is the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, which takes place in December each year and sees stalwarts of Hindustani music from across the world perform. The audience is equally diverse. Breaking from tradition, this year the organisers of the festival announced, at the last minute, that the venue for the festival — which has been the New English School Ramanbaug grounds for over 30 years — has been changed to a much farther location as the school authorities cancelled the permission. Local civic authorities jumped in to help by announcing more bus routes to the new venue and clearing other approvals.

Balgandharva Rangmandir

Leading Protests

Pune is often referred to as the cultural capital of Maharashtra, with an abundance of theatre, music, literature and film presence in the city. One of its most iconic venues is the Balgandharva Rangmandir. Among the oldest auditoriums in the city, it occupies an important place in the sociocultural fabric of Pune. As the PMC announced plans to redevelop the five-decade-old auditorium, theatre exponents and activists such as filmmaker Amol Palekar led protests questioning the intent behind the move. Currently, the plan has been stalled.

Another incident when Pune theatres made national news was when a few Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers barged into a PVR cinema hall and hit  an assistant manager, over arguments of
high prices of food. The incident led to  nationwide debates.

Revisiting History

This year, one of the important events in theatre in Pune was the revival of the iconic play Mahanirvan, by playwright Satish Alekar. The two-part Marathi play was originally written in 1974, and is considered one of the finest pieces of artistic craftsmanship. It has been translated in over a dozen languages and has inspired several theatre groups and plays across the country. This year, after a gap of nearly ten years, Alekar returned to the stage with the play, albeit with a new cast.