Frankly, I had not heard about this marathi musical until mom excitedly got the tickets for us. It’s called ‘Marathi Baana’ (Marathi Pride) and is playing to full houses all across the state (yesterday night was no exception). The 3 hour song and dance is a demo of the rich cultural heritage of Maharashtra featuring a live orchestra, singers and about 40-50 dancers from both sexes, all dressed up in the native colorful attire, dancing to the live music. The entire team comprises of 125 members. Ashok Hande, whose a veteran of Marathi stage has produced, written, directed and presented the show and also figures in the 4 male singing choir. The musical focuses on the long rich marathi traditions of festivals, folk songs and dances and discusses its plight under the current generation of the marathi population.
Firstly, the show is colourful and thats the only word that comes to my mind. The dancers are ‘fantabulous’ and the singers are mellifluous in their renditions as well. Its proof enough that they have worked pretty hard to get this show running on its feet what with the singers memorizing entire paras of songs and the dancers remembering their steps on every word of it. That said subtle references to the ‘paraprantiya’ (migrant population) during such shows involving the ‘marathi manoos’ (native maharastrian), is always on the cards and is a big turn off personally. This refers to the apparent displacement of the original marathi populace from their native land in mumbai to far-flung places in the northern suburbs and beyond, which is being attributed to the high influx of migrants from outside the state, their illegal settlement & economic progression in this city. One thought that the wonderful cultural platform that the musical ‘Marathi Baana’ offered should in no way be misused to fan the emotions of the patrons who come to enjoy the show. Art has to be set free of all biases against creed or race. But go and watch it for art’s sake and revel in the cultural celebration.
I like your blog :). You are very articulate besides being creative…
Sorry for bring picky, but there’s a typo…you’ve said- Ashok Hande, ‘whose’ a veteran,..instead of who’s a veteran…It jarrs, b’coz ur language is otherwise so good.
I’m Marathi myself, and I understand your concern. However, you’ll empathize with the Marathi manoos who can see non-Marathis grabbing the relatively unskilled jobs ( like watchmen, drivers, sweepers, etc.) at the cost of the local populace. We don’t grudge honest, tax-paying skilled people their jobs, no matter what their mothertongue is.
I mean sorry for ‘being’ picky…hehe
so much for pointing fingers…
Hi Radhika and thanks for pointing out those typos. And thanks once again for appreciating my writing skills. That’s one thing which makes me write for this website :-)
I have categorically said in my article that the ‘Marathi Manoos’ plank is well said and heard if the selection of the platform is thorough, for instance at a mass public political rally. In a cultural event like ‘Marathi Baana’ , where patrons have really come to enjoy the show, such sloganeering will only provoke a few claps and whistles. If the idea is to motivate the crowd and get them to work, it’s the wrong place to be. In other words, the purpose is defeated. The government can really set the ball rolling by amending or bringing in a law for protecting the jobs of its citizens but that’s another story altogether.
I personally feel that we need to revisit this whole thing of migrations and the displacement of the ‘Marathi manoos’ from their land, especially Mumbai, once again. The truth is that people migrate because of the lack of job opportunities in their relative states and the utter politicization of the administrative machinery. On the other hand the constitution offers them the freedom to seek a better future elsewhere in India which seems entirely logical.
Maybe you are right.
But you can’t really separte politics from all this.
Maybe this musical was conceived by some political party and handed over to Mr. Hande for its execution.
One can never be sure.
Hi,
i jus wanna say some few words for Marathi Bana….its ultimate,colourful,mind blowing…every marathi should see it arleast once…….its WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was in india for a month …on 24th nov i saw marathi bana……and truly i feel that i miss so many occasions being staying abroad…i wish v could have the same culture introduced here too…btw does any one have ashok handes mail id…
I don’t agree with both Bhooshan and Radhika regarding ‘Marathi Bana’ and politics. Also, Radhika’s view that this musical was conceived by some political party and handed over to Mr. Hande is totally baseless. You are disregarding their hard work by saying this. Also by referring him as ‘Mr’ Hande.. you are distancing yourself from this marathi maanus. Why are you so formal and follow queen’s language and mannerism? You can just call him Ashok Hande as everyone knows him. Do you call Sachin as Mr. Tendulkar and Lata as Mrs. Mangeshkar?
Also, one can easily figure out if any program is politically motivated or not. What you are talking about is just a very small part of this program and there is nothing wrong about it. Please note that this is not just a musical. Its name itself suggests that it is all about Marathi pride (BTW it should either be ‘Marathi Bana’ in English or ‘Maraathi Baanaa’ in transliterated form). There is a rendering of Samarth Ramdas Swami in this program.. ‘tujhyaa rakshanaa tuch sajj hoye..’ and so on. It means ‘hey swakiy (marathi maanus) you need to protect yourself.’ In that era it was against cruel muslim emperors. So in today’s world marathi maanus need to protect his culture from ‘paraprantiya’ (culture). It is all about protecting our heritage, which is the aim of this program, so how can it be political????
But thanks to your ‘mom’ for giving you tickets for this program and kudos to you also for writing such a fabulous review. You have really great writing skills and sorry for my vernacular English. Needless to say no hard feelings.
BTW from where you got all these numbers? I was also counting during the show. My total was around 80. May be you have considered background people also.