Winner of countless awards & the love of countless Marathi audiences Amar Photo Studio is one of the milestones in the Marathi Commercial theatre history! It revolutionized the way of marketing & promotion of Marathi plays by using social media efficiently to attract the youth audiences.

It didn’t stop there. It kept a constant touch with the audiences through different social media platforms. Written by young writer Manaswini Lata Ravindra & the young award-winning director Nipun Dharmadhikari, Starring Amey Wagh, Suvrat Joshi, Sakhi Gokhale, Pooja Thombre & Siddhesh Purkar this play also introduced the idea of time travelling in Marathi pop culture for the first time!

Now, these young time travellers are all set to travel to the UK where they are going to perform at many venues! From 16^th June to 24^th June they will be performing at 5 different venues! So if you’re in UK & always wanted to watch this play live this is your chance! The online booking for these shows can be done on charuta.brownpapertickets.com.

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Dr. Anandibai Joshi is one of the forgotten heroes of our nation. The very first female physician of India who lived in the British Rule era. After receiving an overwhelming response from Hindi and Gujarati audiences, a play on the life of Dr Anandibai Joshi will debut in Marathi as part of the prestigious Damu Kenkre Theatre Festival at A. N. Bhalerao Natyagruh Mangalwadi, on 4^th May, 2018. Titled ‘Dr. Anandibai: Like, Comment, Share’, the play first opened in Gujarati at the Centre Stage Festival, NCPA then in Hindi at the International Film Festival Olympiad hosted in New Delhi.

Written by Gita Manek, the play is directed and produced by Manoj Shah and enacted by artist Manasi Joshi who narrates a compelling real-life story of a spirited woman’s life from the 19^th century. 130 years since then, the play tries to identify with the lives of women today, their freedom, their limitations, their choices and their place in a society that is dominated by the opposite sex.

On March 31, 2018, Google honoured Dr Anandibai Joshi with a Google Doodle to mark her 153rd birth anniversary. “Today the play has received standing ovations every time it has been performed and we feel positive that Marathi audiences too will appreciate it, especially knowing that Dr Anandibai Joshi was a Maharashtrian from Pune,” says the writer of the play, Ms Geeta Manek.

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Actress Naina Muke was recently declared as the winner of Best Supporting Actress Award in the Dadasaheb Phalke film festival. She bagged this award for her performance in the Marathi play ‘Final Decision’. Many stalwarts of the Marathi & Hindi entertainment industry were present during the award show.

‘Final Decision’ is a play written & directed by Anil Kakde. It speaks on a very important subject of body donation. Naina played the part of ‘Renuka’ in this play which was loved & appreciated by the audiences too. And now it has also been awarded in Dadasaheb Phalke film festival.

Previously she has been seen in serials like ‘Devyani’, ‘Ganpati Bappa Moraya’. In films like Gajendra Ahire directed ‘Anvat’ & Sanjay Jadhav’s ‘Ye Re Ye Re Paisa’. Her performances in these serials & films too were appreciated & recognised. Soon we will also be seeing her in an upcoming Hindi film!

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Umesh Kamat & Spruha Joshi starrer ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is a hugely popular Marathi play of recent times. It recently completed it’s 275^th Show. After that show both Umesh & Spruha revealed through Facebook Live that Spruha would no longer be a part of the play & Swanandi Tikekar (of Dil Dosti Duniyadari Fame) will be playing her part.

Spruha Joshi revealed that because of her other professional commitments she had to leave this play yet she also said that since the subject of this play is very important & the audiences too are responding well, it won’t be right to stop performing it & hence Swanandi would take the baton from her! She also believes the audiences would willingly accept Swanandi in the play.

Along with Zee Marathi’s Dil Dosti Duniyadari & Dil Dosti Dobara Swanandi Tikekar has also made her mark in Marathi theatre through her play ‘103’ alongside Sumeet Raghavan. ‘Don’t Worry be Happy’ is play that deals with modern day stress & how it affects the lives of married couples.

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For every artist the ultimate moment of happiness is to get a positive reaction from the audience. When the audiences are blown away by a piece of art & communicate their love for the same directly to the artist, the artists too feel satisfied & all their hard work feels to be rewarded. Similar incident has happened with actor Nikhil Raut

He plays the role of ‘Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’ in the new Marathi play ‘Challenge’. One of the audiences was so much moved by his performance that he met Nikhil after the performance & couldn’t stop himself from crying. He even gifted actor Nikhil Raut & director Digpal Lanjekar with an envelope of cash as a token of love & blessings.

Nikhil had a similar experience with another woman from the audiences who also gave him an envelope! Some Savarkar devotees come up & touch Nikhi’s feet after the show. Nikhil says he has been overwhelmed with this response & feels he also a responsibility from now on. ‘Challenge’ also stars actress Deepti Lele & is presented by Mukta Barve!

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The grand premiere of ‘Var Khali Don Pay’ was recently concluded in the presence of countless Marathi & Hindi celebrities. The play is written & directed by acclaimed young playwright Hrishikesh Koli. It is based on the popular play from the 80s ‘Purush’ written by Jaywant Dalvi & starring Nana Patekar, Reema Lagoo.

This play takes the basic plot points & characters from the old play & makes changes according to today’s times. A play that interrogates the mentality behind ‘Rape’ & domestic violence has some jaw dropping moments. Overall the audiences would be shocked in a pleasing & enlightening way throughout the runtime of the play.

The whole boundaries of theatre in Marathi are broken with ease by Hrishikesh Koli & his team. A stellar star cast that includes Nandita Patkar-Dhuri, Sushil Inamdar, Rohan Gujar, Sangram Samel & Pallavi Patil has given truly rocking performances. Previously the play had been performed on the experimental stage, but now with the backing of Digital Detoxx who are now presenting this play, the play will be performed on a larger scale.This play is produced by ‘Rangalay’. The new presenter of this path-breaking play is Chaitanya Akolkar & Vaishali Rahul Bhosale, Sugandha Suhas Kamble are the producers while Pravin Kamble is the co-producer of ‘Var Khali Don Pay’.

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Zee Natya Gaurav, an annual event where excellence of the theatre is honored with prestigious award took place recently. The televised show of this event will be telecasting on Zee Marathi on 9th April at 7 pm.

The highlight of the event was giving lifetime achievement to legendary theatre actor Vikram Gokhale. Vikram has always been a favorite actor and his portrayal of various roles in plays like Barrister, Vahto Hee Durvaanchi Judi, Mahasagar, Jaswandi, Kamla and Makrand Rajadhyaksha. Senior theatre artiste Arun Kakde presented him lifetime achievement award.
The event was rocked by Amar Photo Studio by winning 8 awards in various categories. However, Teen Paayaachee sharyat won Best Actor- Sanjay Narvekar, Best Actress Sharwari Lohkare, and best director – Vijay Kenkre. Best play was given to Magna Talyakathi and special mention was won by Kodamantra. In experimental theatre, Hey Ram won 8 awards in various categories including Best Actor – Nishant Kadam, Best Actress Tejaswi Parab, Best Director Ram Daund and Best Play.

During the event, classical singers Priyanaka Barve and Rahul Deshpande presented an act from Sangeet Manapman. Pushkar Shrotri presetend monoact from Ekach Pyala. Dr. Amol Kolhe presented Raigadala Jevha Jaag yete. Bharat Jadhav and his team presented an act from his record breaking play Sahi Re sahi. Vandana Gupte and Pushkaraj Chirputkar hosted this event.

Don’t forget to watch this event on Zee TV at 7 pm on 9th April.

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Siddharth Jadhav starring Gelas UDat recently completed its 100 shows at Shivaji Mandir, Mumbai. The play is directed by Kedar Shinde and has become immense hit for the audience. The play is jointly produced by Third Bell Productions (Bela Shinde) and Prasad Kambli (Bhadrakali Production)

This is a story of Maruti, a devotee of Lord Hanuman. He believes that he possesses supernatural abilities like his role model. He tries to solve his problems with his so-called powers, where he fails. Due to his nervous breakdown he is admitted in a hospital where a councilor treats him and makes him believe that he does not have any superpower. He returns home with this newfound confidence and sovles his problems. Siddharth’s amazing comic timing and good script are the hjighlights of this play.

Senior actors like Ashok Saraf, Bharat Jadhav, Ankuksh Chaudhari, Amol Kolhe has praised this play. Along with Siddharth, the play also stars Archana Nipankar, Surabhi Phadnis, Ghanshyam Ghorapade, Ganesh Jadhav, Ameer Tadwalkar, Kiran Nevalkar, Gaurav More, Sachin Gawde, Sumit Sawant. The production design is by Pradeep Mulye, Lights are by Shital Talpade. Choreography is by Sonia Parchure and Cedrick D Souza.

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The history of Marathi theatre goes back for almost 100 years now. It is impossible to separate Marathi theatre from the culture of Maharashtra. However, the current scenario is not really that great. The condition of theatres all over Maharashtra is a big concern. Recently actor Sumit Raghvan’s sarcastic video on this scenario went viral & many celebrities came up with comments on the same scenario. Sumit talked about the bad smell in the VIP room of a prominent theatre & other problems.

Comedy star Vaibhav Mangle mentions the lack of cleanliness as the major concern. He thinks people have to realize how important it is. Actress & writer Shilpa Navalkar satirically tells how she has befriended the rats at Kalyan’s Acharya Atre Natyagruha & how only mosquitos rule at Vile Parle’s Dinanath Natyagruha. Popular actor Prasad Oak feels it is essential to fit mobile jammer at all theatres or the audience should be provided with lockers alike shopping malls. Siddharth Jadhav points out the fact that most of these theatres are in good condition when in their earlier days but later the people responsible to maintain start ignoring. While Jitendra Joshi taunts that even the Washroom’s need to be washed!

Prasad Kambli, one of Marathi’s prominent producer & the chairman of ‘Marathi Natya Vyavsayik Nirmata Sangh’ feels these issues have been here for many years. he tells the focus will now be to improve the overall infrastructure. A committee will be formed after a meeting from all sides; which include the producers, theatre owners & artists-technicians. Along with that many important issues & possibilities will be discussed at this meeting. Which include ‘providing free wifi & charging facilities to the audience’, ‘waiting rooms for technicians post late shows’, etc. Prasad Kambli feels it’s absolutely necessary for Marathi theatre to adapt itself with the changing times.

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Goshta Tashi Gamtichi, Perfect Mismatch, Don’t worry be happy: all these popular plays have one thing in common – they have all been produced by Sonal Productions. It has made a name for itself within a short span of time. At a recently held party at a Dadar hall, for celebrating the success of the play Goshta Tashi Gamtichi, an exciting announcement was made – ‘Goshta Tashi Gamtichi’ will soon have a sequel!

The program began with Leena Bhagwat sharing her thoughts and expressing her gratitude and satisfaction on the success of the play. Mangesh Kadam also thanked Sonal productions for backing his screenplay to the hilt. Then, an extraordinary precedent of honoring backstage artists was set at the event. Backstage artist are an important cog in the wheel of a play but their value is hardly acknowledged. Post this ceremony, backstage artist would be respected more, hopefully. Kamal Shedge, Samir Hampi and Satish Khoutode were honored at the event.

Sonal Productions started their journey with an orchestra called ‘Ankhiyon Ke Jharokon Se’ in 2013. The beauty of the orchestra is that all of its members are blind. Then on 3^rd August, 2014 they staged the play ‘Goshta Tashi Gamtichi’. The play starring Leena Bhagwat, Mangesh Kadam and Shashank Ketkar has done 311 shows till now! It has also won 19 awards in all. ‘Perfect Mismatch’ was then staged by them on 20^th December, 2015 and ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ on 25^th December, 2015. Both plays have had numerous shows and awards!

On the eve of the celebration of Goshta Tashi Gamtichi, a short film giving us info about the play was screened. The cast and crew shared interesting anecdotes at the event from their experience of working for Sonal Productions. Shashank Ketkar, Leena Bhagwat, Mangesh Kadam, Amruta Subhash along with veteran actors Ashok Saraf, Prashant Damle and Anant Jog graced the occasion with their presence. All of them wished Sonal Productions even more success!

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