Health League, as a part of ‘Happening Hyderabad’ organised a Marathi play, Don’t Worry, Be Happy, directed by Advait Dadarkar and written by Mihir Rajda at Ravindra Bharati.
This brought back some old memories of Marathi theatre in the mind of theatre personality Bhaskar Shewalkar of Rangadhara theatre. Says Bhaskar, “Hyderabad has a very rich history of Marathi theatre. In 1944, the hundred years of Marathi theatre was celebrated in Hyderabad by nearly 30 organisations for six days. Today, the commercial theatre has more support and backing as it is more in the form of entertainment. Many young actors are willing to take up traditional Marathi theatre, but the zeal and enthusiasm does not remain for long. It’s not easy to make it a profession without financial and moral support.”
Vinay Patankar remembered his student days in IIT Mumbai, when Naseerudin Shah would come to the campus to take part in a theatre competition. Says Vinay, “Many renowned actors in the Marathi film industry have come from theatre. In a city like Mumbai, there used to be three shows for a play in a day, like films. I have also participated in many Sangeet Natak (musical plays). Twice, we won the first prize at All India Marathi theatre competition, New Delhi for the plays Bhawara and Toh Me Navech. As far as Hyderabad is concerned, many Marathi plays used to be organised at the Jagirdar Wada by Vimal Natya Samaj. Very soon, there are plans to revive theatre.”
This 210th performance of the Marathi play saw a packed audience. Namita Deshpande felt that the play had the much-needed entertainment.
Umesh Kamat and Spruha Joshi in the main lead roles of a couple, acted with tremendous talent and a clear diction of the Marathi language.
The story revolved around the lives of a couple, who could not find time for a honeymoon, even three years after marriage. The wife’s attachment with their pet dog and the husband’s irritation of that, kept bringing funny dialogues. There were moments when the couple had serious discussions on moving forward. Finally, they decide to adopt two children.
The background music was lively along with good lighting arrangements. The cast received a standing ovation from the audience at the end.
— The writer is a musician, creator of ‘Jaywant Guitar’ and a freelance photographer
