``We will have to review the hike because not all plays that come to the board turn professional and even if they do, not all of them run for long. I will make the fees reasonable,'' Navalkar told Express Newsline.

Nandgaonkar, former president of the board, had recommended a hike in the fees to the state government more than two years ago. He had recommended that the fees be hiked to Rs 150 from Rs 30 for plays and from Rs 10 to Rs 100 for orchestras.

``Nothing happened for about a year and a half after I made the recommendations and suddenly we got a letter from the state government informing us about the hike. At this stage we can't do much aboutit but I will request a slash in the amount soon,'' said Nandgaonkar. He has however justified a hike, albeit a reasonable one. ``The rates of the fees are quite old and have not been raised for a long time now. We must take inflation into account,'' he said. Nandgaonkar completed his three-year term recently to make way for the board's new president, noted theatre person, Prabhakar Panshikar. Panshikar when contacted said he agreed with his predecessor.

``The board runs an office with a staff of about 15 to 20 people. One needs money for it. The members of the board are called for meetings and the board has to bear the travel expenses,'' he said.

Panshikar said that the state government should have taken the theatre bodies like the Marathi Natya Parishad into confidence before making a decision. He also said that amateur and experimental theatre should be given a separate thought too. But the committee, of about 25 to 30 people, which will do that is yet to be formed under the new president.