Marathi Play On India’s 1st Female Physician – Dr Anandibai Joshi!

(L-R) Director Manoj Shah, writer Gita Manek and actress Manasi Joshi

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 4th 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 19th 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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