Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre: Garage jugaad

A 230squarefeet garageturnedstudio located on 17th road Khar holds a promise for the cityrsquos Marathi theatre and literature enthusiasts The space moderately used for tutorial classes and sundry photo shoots will now light up with play readings writersrsquo sharing sessions and some laughter over tea The Baithak sitin to begin from August 7 adds an interesting dimension to Mumbairsquos track record of carving performance spaces out of school halls warehouses terraces and public parksThe garage now to be called Kala Studio is a plot owned by artistphotographerarchitect Kunal Vijayakar who has loaned the space free of cost to Kali Billi Theatre Productions on the first Sunday evening of every month Depending on the response and the numbers that gather at the Khar Danda location Vijayakar will see if varied stakeholders and theatre directors can be roped inBhushan Korgaonkar Kunal Vijaykar Manisha Korde and Anupama Joshi at Kala Studio in Khar West PicDatta KumbharVijaykarrsquos preference for Kali Billi has a reason He has been associated as an actor and backstage support in the groups popular production Sangeet Bari While presenting the showcase of lavani performances in the last two years Vijaykar spoke at length about space and its possibilities with director Savitri Medhatul and lavani researcher Bhushan KorgaonkarThe trio felt that while the city has offered special corners for readings discussions and huddles there was no exclusive space for those expressing themselves in Marathi As they visualised the space where authors could face their readers or dancers hold lecture demonstrations or stage performers read out a relevant piece of literature that suffuses their work Vijaykar proposed that the garage of his ancestral house be put to use to assess if the facetoface Baithak concept clicks He had decorated the garage a while ago and named it Kala Studio bearing relevance to the art gallery once mounted by his grandfather in the adjoining flat Incidentally the Vijaykars belong to the Pathare Prabhu community mdash the original settlers of Mumbai mdash and Kunalrsquos grandfather Mukundrao was the former dean of the JJ School of Art The Kala Studio is geographically located near another landmark mdash a school named after the legendary writer of Marathi short stories G A Kulkarni Thus things seem to fall in place some planned some unwittingly that could go into the making of a cozy hub for Marathi writers artists actors and patrons who have experienced similar offerings by the Awishkar group evoking the magic of a live performance with limited means in the famed Chhabildas school and later at a school in MahimThe blueprint for the first twohour baithak is out on a Facebook page and WhatsApp network which will facilitate the firstcome firstserved preregisteted attendance in a hall that can take around 50 patrons squatting on the floor Korgaonkar adds in jest ldquoWe have not factored in a stampede of walkin patrons or an attendance that will be beyond our logistics But we will be only too happy to find an audience of that scale which will also validate our jointly felt need to start somethingrdquo Every session will seek voluntary contributions which will cover the travel cost of guest speakers from outside Mumbai ldquoInstead of brooding over the lack of conversation spaces we thought of the next step We are aware that ours is a tiny space without a green room but it is big enough to thrash out scripts and savour poetryrdquo Vijaykar saysBaithakrsquos opening coincides with the death anniversary of one of the cityrsquos most active theatre directors mdash Chetan Datar passed away in August eight years ago He believed in minimalistic theatre etching an innate human experience without the frills of elaborate sets lights makeup and costumes as manifest in memorable Marathi renderings based on Kaneto Shindorsquos Children of Hiroshima and Miro Gavrans An Actor Dies But Datar was known for tailoring scripts out of other literary forms Baithakrsquos first offering is also an amalgamation of writers conceptualised by Yugandhar Deshpande in which authors they change in every show this one has the wellknown MarathiHindi writer Manisha Korde most known for the funny dialogues of Malamaal Weekly and Billu Barber present their work through readings The content varies from verse to pen portraits to nonfictionThe August 7 Baithak will have four voices spanning 90 minutes followed by an interaction The next will feature Shahu Patole a writer on the Marathwada food culture whose book Anna He Apoorna Bramha chronicles outoftheworld recipesThe writer known for strong views on how upper caste food habits eclipse the amazingly rich lower caste cuisine will be interviewed on the pop culture interpretation of niche culinary cultures The third Baithak October 2 will present dancer Vaibhav Arekarrsquos lecture demoBaithak brings multihued voices to the fore not necessarily the ones with metro mass appeal As director Medhatul adds ldquoIt will not focus on the commonly and easily available mass market stuff because the audience 40 to 50 is select and obviously has the patience for themebased discussions For instance Patoles book mentions recipes some fermented ones which originated from the begging culture of belowpoverty line communities This is definitely not the feelgood cookery stuff that television entertainment is made of Baithak accounts for the amusing and yet intensely human aspectrdquoBaithak promoters feel it is a winwin idea If Kala Studio evokes limited interest they will gain a meeting point to interact intimately with a niche audience If the response is unmanageably positive the gappa goshti will transition into a bigger baithakSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext