Ghashiram Kotwal evokes drama, all over again

Ghashiram Kotwal evokes drama, all over again
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, MAY 31: A dash of drama has followed the claim made by artistes currently performing the celebrated Marathi classic Ghashiram Kotwal, who said the play was being staged for the thousandth time. Members of the original cast allege the current cast is drawing mileage from their legacy by implying that they had performed the play all along.

Written by Vijay Tendulkar in the early '70s, the play revolves around the degeneration of the Peshwa rule. It was first staged by the Theatre Academy, Pune, which performed over 700 shows and stopped as late as 1990. Later, the play was performed by the Pune-based Trimiti group, which did over 150 shows. Now it is being presented by another group from Pune -- Rangkarmi.

The advertisements of Rangkarmi's Ghashiram Kotwal mentioned recently that the play was ``about to reach the 1,000th mark on May 6''. Moreover, the advertisements paid respects to the original director and the playwright, thereby creating an impression that the play had been put up by the same cast.

Chandrakant Kale, one of the senior artistes from the original team of the play, objected to the advertisement, saying that it gave an impression that Rangkarmi had been involved in all the thousand performances. He further alleged that the Rangkarmi group had taken the Marathi theatre audiences for a ride by harping too much on the 1,000th show while the play had not reached the 1,000 mark even if the earlier Academy performances were taken into account. "The 1,000 mark is just an instrument to attract audience attention,'' Kale said.

Kale also objected to a line in the advertisement which stated: `It is the utmost duty of educated parents to show this play to their young children.' He questioned this, saying: "What locus standi does the theatre group have to exhort parents in this manner?''

However, Srinivas Joshi, spokesperson of Rangkarmi, said the aim was not to take credit away from the original group. "We are doing this due to our love for theatre. We do not want a classic play to die due to lack of performers. Theatre Academy stopped its performances in 1990, and most of the original artistes are not even alive. So what stops us from resurrecting the classic?'' Joshi says.

He also denied that the advertisement was misleading the public. "We are not saying that we have performed a thousand times. But we are stating that we are performing the 1,000th show,'' Joshi said, adding that Tendulkar himself had granted performing rights to the group. "We have not done anything slyly. The people concerned have been kept informed. Our predecessors, the Trimiti group, had even approached director Jabbar Patel, who was not interested in being associated with a commercial production,'' he added.

Tendulkar confirms that Rangkarmi had taken official permission from him while claiming the 1,000th performance. "There is nothing wrong in the claim. Ghashiram Kotwal has been performed over 1,000 times by different groups, in and out of Maharashtra, at different levels, from government-sponsored competitions to commercial shows,'' Tendulkar said.