Located in a quiet forgotten corner of the sprawling portals of the Balgandharva Rang Mandir the Rehearsal hall, which had been in a state of utter disarray and neglect for the last 40 years is all set to come back to life after a conscious decision taken by the Rang Mandir officials to revive it, for the use of theatre artistes and dancers, all alike.

Speaking about the decision to revive the hall, Amar Pardeshi, Manager, Balgandharva Rang Mandir, says, "It was a conscious decision taken by us after Sunil Mahajan, of the theatre Group 'SAnvad" wrote a letter to us asking whether the hall could be reused. The 2400 sq ft hall, which was constructed under the insistence of the late P L Deshpande, had been lying in a mess for the last 40 years. Not only was the area steeped with a lot of waste props and artifacts, but also even the rainwater and leaking ceilings had played their part and ensured that the hall had stagnated. The water logging infact was so severe in some corners that we had to actually install a pump to remove the water out."

Artistes and performers used to hold their rehearsals originally in hall. However after the hall began to be neglected and thrashed the artistes had to scout various other places to hold their rehearsals. Once the hall is ready it will be rented out to the artistes for a nominal sum of Rs. 100-150 for every four hours. This is very less as compared to the other halls in the city which charge a minimum of Rs. 350 for renting it out for three hours, says Pardeshi.

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