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Reliance – Big entertainment

Anil Ambani Group in association with AMOL PALEKAR presents

5th Annual Theatre Festival

When: 5th, 6th and 7th December 2008
Where: Y. B. Chavan Auditorium, Kothrud
A season ticket for all 3 days of Rs. 150 for the balcony and Rs. 300 for stall will be sold from 28th November at the auditorium. A detailed program of three days is attached herewith.

“THEATRE BEYOND WORDS”

Every time I attended a national or international theatre festival, I used to long for a similar annual theatre festival in a city like Pune wherein theatre is rooted in every household. I have been trying to assemble such an annual gathering for last four years. The concept of a retrospective surrounding a director or a playwright was almost absent in theatre. I am pleased that theatre buffs from Pune and all over India could enjoy the voluminous work of Badal Sarkar, Vijay Tendulkar, Ratan Thiyyam, B. Jayashree. These luminaries have proved that success can be attained without succumbing to the market forces of commercialism. I think the younger generation will be enriched by learning from such off-beat streams.

On the present socio-political background of linguistic divide, I am trying to evolve this year’s theatre festival around the theme of “THEATRE BEYOND WORDS”. Of course, we are not implying theatre ‘without’ words. Indian theatre – especially that of Marathi – is dominated by words and script. Modes of theatrical expression other than dialogues manifested through mime, dance forms, puppetry, etc. are very rarely explored. The verbose productions lacking physical expression or any other visual dimension exploring theatre space are predominant. Can theatre have its own language beyond the spoken words? Can content be conveyed through form and style of other performing arts? Let’s try and find answers to all this.

We are all very fortunate that the legendary mime artiste IRSAHD PANJATAN will perform once again after a decade. He is the disciple of Marcello Mastroine who pioneered pantomime as performing style in 1960s. Seventy-seven years old Irsahd is now settled in Germany . I have also invited various groups from all over – a troupe from Boston, U.S.A. led by a vibrant danseuse Aparna Sindhoor will present a dance-drama titled “A song and a Dance”; eminent director Veenapani Chawla of ‘Adishakti’ from Pondicherry will present “A Hare and a Tortoise” through leather puppets, music and mime; celebrity director Neelam Mansingh of ‘The Company’ from Chandigarh will bring her latest play “The Suit” which will convey the content transcending its language; ‘Cinematograph Production’ consisting of the young Bollywood stars like Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor will present two plays through gibberish – “C for Clown” and its sequel “Hamlet – the crown Prince”. After every performance, the audience will get the opportunity to interact with its director and performers through a Q & A session.

Sunil Shanbhag, a veteran director, will present reading of a one act play “Mad Delight / Chchatriyan” written by legendary playwright Mohan Rakesh. A great contemporary writer-director Ramu Ramnathan will take us along the journey of rich diversity of genres and themes in today’s performing arts through a DVD presentation. We will also project a production called “Odepus” performed by an internationally acclaimed ‘Clipa Theatre’ from Israel . Many noted theatre personalities like Vijaya Mehta, Jabbar Patel, Arundhati Nag, Sunil Shanbhag, Makrand Sathe, Rajiv Naik, Atul Kumar will analyze Indian theatre “Going Beyond the Script…”. As per every year, Amrish Puri Award will be given to a young theatre talent.

This event is supported by Reliance BIG Entertainment and Asha Publicity. I am grateful to Tina Ambani and Amit Khanna of the Reliance BIG Entertainment for their wholehearted and warm support. The press has always appreciated and supported my creative endeavors. Even this year, I am appealing to all of you to join me in this celebration of spot lights.