Is Marathi theatre ready to stage a comeback in Mumbai?

Circa October 27 1952 As the sun sets over 800 people gather at a ground next to St Theresa School near Kelewadi in Girgaum Stalwarts like Durga Khote Nanasaheb Phatak Ram Marathe and Bhalchandra Pendharkar step onto stage and enthrall a packed house Bombay Presidencyrsquos Chief Minister Morarji Desai and other dignitaries are seated in the front row as Annasaheb Kirloskarpenned scripts Saubhadra and Lagnachi Bedi play out on stage The day marked the inauguration of an openair auditorium supposedly Indiarsquos first as part of Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh established in 1935 by Dr AN BhaleraoThe cast of Chava performed in front of 30odd patrons last Saturday afternoon at Vashirsquos Vishnudas Bhave auditorium PicSayed Sameer Abedi Fast forward to 2015 On a sleepy Saturday afternoon the same multistoreyed building bears a deserted look A poster of All The Best 2 is pasted at the entrance of the auditorium constructed in 1960 as pedestrians scurry through the lane outside a shortcut heading to Charni Road station E A carpenter is sawing a wooden plank perhaps working on a prop for the evening show ldquoEarlier we would stage daily performances but these days we have only weekend showsrdquo says Subhash Bhagwat head of the theatre wing at the institutionA play performance at Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sanghrsquos openair auditorium in the 1950s Meanwhile DD Patil one of the managers at Parelrsquos Damodar Hall built in 1922 rues that the advance booking of Graceful starring popular Marathi television actress Aditi Sarangdhar has managed an advance booking of 2000 ldquoWe had expected Rs 1020000 We felt that the auditorium was not drawing in crowds due to its old infrastructure However even after renovating it last year things havenrsquot changedrdquo he confessesThe audience steps out of the auditorium during the interval of a play at Dadarrsquos Shivaji Mandir PicsBipin KokateEnter weekend theatreWhile earlier Dadarrsquos 50year old landmark Shivaji Mandir would witness houseful boards for plays like Sahi Re Sahi starring Bharat Jadhav and To Mee Navhech featuring Prabhakar Panshikar these days itrsquos tough to find packed houses on weekends too ldquoWe would host three shows per day 11 am 330 pm and 8 pm now we only have Sunday evening shows On weekdays we host cultural programmesrdquo says president Shashikant BhalekarThe revamped Damodar Hall at ParelA key member of the Marathi theatre industry for 30 years directoractor Vijay Kenkre observes ldquoThe attention span of the audience has reduced It could have happened with the rise of television Todayrsquos audience is also not that well versed with the language They prefer more drama and less dialogue and that too in spoken dialect If you provide good content with a strong social theme viewers will come to watch the play but only on weekends On weekdays they prefer watchingtelevisionrdquo Considering the changing trends Kenkre too is currently developing his popular suspense thriller Double Game for the web in HindiLearning to surviveNot resting on past laurels the auditoriums are trying new means to sustain For instance Prabodhankar Thackeray auditorium leases out its premises for rehearsals and the 18year old Vishnudas Bhave auditorium at Vashi stages Gujarati plays too Similarly Matungarsquos Yashwant Natyamandir that opened its doors to Marathi theatre a decade ago has also incorporated Hindi and Gujarati performancesBhalekar shares ldquoOnce upon a time theatre was a source of income for us not any more We would also earn well from Marathi orchestra performances but that ceased with the advent of musical reality shows Now wersquove leased out parts of the property to different tenants including a bank and a library to earn monthly rentrdquoThe other stageFacing heat from more popular venues like Prithvi Theatre and the National Centre for the Performing Arts NCPA that regularly host Marathi theatre festivals these longstanding institutions have also embraced experimental plays For instance Alibaba Aani Chaalishitle Chor a suspense comedy on 40plus friends has been performed at Thanersquos Gadkari RangayatanFilm and theatre actor Dilip Prabhavalkar who last took to the stage for Kenkrersquos Wah Guru a couple of years ago says ldquoThe lines between experimental and commercial stage have now blurred Due to the onslaught of television the numbers may have dipped but a typical Maharashtrian still loves drama and politicsrdquo