An aged gentleman named Sitaram passes away in the Parsul village of Maharashtra, leaving behind a void. After all, he was the last person who knew the art of ‘kalgitura’, a 700-year-old folk art consisting of songs written in local dialects. Would the musical style become extinct, or would someone from the younger generation helps revive it?
The tale of how some young men discover old manuscripts and reinstate the unique sub-genre forms the crux of Kalgitura, the Marathi play written by Datta Patil and directed by Sachin Shinde. Spanning two hours, and peppered with narrative songs sung in rural dialects, the play talks of the importance of being in touch with one’s roots even in days of modernisation.
From the Marathi play Kalgitura, staged at NCPA’s Pratibimb theatre festival, 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Kalgitura was the opening play at the Pratibimb Marathi Natya Utsav, held at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) from May 5 to 7. It was the winner of Darpan, a new initiative aimed at discovering the best writing in Marathi theatre. According to Bruce Guthrie, head of theatre and films at NCPA, five entries were shortlisted among 50 submitted for the project. After an intense selection procedure, Kalgitura was chosen. “With the scripts we went through, we are sure Marathi theatre has a bright future,” he added.
Stories from Puranas
From the Marathi play Kalgitura, staged at NCPA’s Pratibimb theatre festival in May 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The idea to weave a play occurred to writer Patil when he was researching the folk art form for a book. The genre’s name is derived from two words – kalgi (Shakti) and tura (Shiva). The tradition involves intertwining of stories from the Puranas with tales inspired by later events. While the songs have been composed by Rushikesh Shelar, the background music has been scored by Rohit Sarode. There are references to deities Shiva, Ganpati, Saraswati, Nagesh, Ambika and Bhavani, and the instruments include the single-stringed tuntuna, the percussive dafli and dholki, and manjira bells. Most songs are sung at festivals, fairs and religious ceremonies, or attempt to ease the pain and grief of bereaved families in the village. The mood could thus be light, peppy, devotional or sombre. The tune ‘Ji Ji Ji Ra’ is sung as the theme.
The cast, led by Hemant Mahajan, Nilesh Suryavanshi and Vikram Nannaware, consists of debutants, who have essentially been folk artistes. Beginning with competitive interactions between groups of singers, the play introduces a ‘mandali’ (group) to a young lady named Radha who visits the village to study the art form and its revival. The script is laced with doses of humour describing events in the village, till the death of Sitaram brings in the intermission.
Communal harmony
As an art form, kalgitura began to fade away in the early 1990s. But thanks to the ‘mandali’, there is a revival later, as described in the rest of the play. Simultaneously, there are references to politicians, who don’t remember the name of the deceased before starting a funeral speech, and to a Muslim writer who also wrote some of the kalgitura songs, thus indicating communal harmony. As Patil says, the play brings pertinent issues to the fore and addresses complex emotions via the medium of entertainment.
From the Marathi play, Kalgitura, staged at NCPA’s Pratibimb theatre festival, in May 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The director uses a simple, minimalistic stage set-up, focusing more on humour and songs. Though the characters speak in a rustic dialect, the dialogues can be understood by anyone with a fair knowledge of Marathi. For those unfamiliar with the language, there are accompanying sub-titles. However, this is an area that needs to be looked at differently, as at the show on May 5, the words were not clearly visible in the lights and moved too fast, often distracting rather than involving the audience.
This was the 10th edition of Pratibimb, and to create the atmosphere, the Experimental Theatre was colourfully festooned. The experience of Maharashtrian culture was also provided through delicacies provided by Aaswad, with the menu including kothimbir vadi, thalipith, sabudana khichdi, aamras and kairi panhe.
The other plays at Pratibimb were Prasthan Urf Exit, about an octogenarian couple; Uchhaad, where two couples meet to resolve an altercation between their sons; Charchachaughi, the journey of four women seeking individual identity, and Sainik, a monologue written and acted by Makarand Deshpande. There was also a workshop on voice, speech and diction, a generic workshop on Marathi theatre, and ‘Priy Bhai, Ek Kavita Have Aahe’, involving recitation and singing of poetry.
Darpan, the competition won by Kalgitura, was launched in October 2022 when the NCPA invited individual playwrights and groups to submit script options, proposals and pitches. The entries were scrutinised by theatre veterans such as writer-directors Pratima Kulkarni and Shafaat Khan, academic Rekha Inamdar Sane, and actor, singer and producer of children’s plays Leela Hadap.
The NCPA allotted funds to five finalists shortlisted for a workshop to help them choose actors and create the play. With its premiere show, Kalgitura won the hearts of the packed auditorium.
