Download Marathi Kalasrushtri

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The Great Indian Fashionama
Marathi Kalasrushtri
Shraddha Deshmukh & Ankita Wadekar tell us about Marathi Theatre and its evolution through the years.
They also talk about the entertainment that it offers to its defined set of audiences
Renowned actors, directors, writers and people who
are the pulse of the Marathi Film, Television and
Theatre Industry won’t be available to the masses
from 21st Dec 2011 to 23rd Dec 2011. They all are
diverting towards Bandra. These esteemed
celebrities have taken out their precious time from
their busy schedules to showcase their love towards
the Marathi Boli and Marathi Kalasrushti.
Marathi Drama and theatre is alive from the Middle of
19th century and it is performed even now. Marathi
theatre rose in full swing in Maharashtra with the
inception of dramas by Vishnudas Bhave who tried to
give a new dimension to the Indian theatre. The first
play in Marathi was "Sita Swayamvar".
It was after 1843 that the Marathi theatre began to
progress. Vishnudas Bhave was extremely gifted
scholar – play writer, director and able organiser.
In 1868 Vinayak Kirti entered the Marathi Theater
with his historical drama Madhavrao Peshwa. The
plays by Vishnudas Bhave and later playwrights were
THEATRE
Gujarati theatre has made its presence stronger over
the years. From 1880's to 2011 Gujarati theatre is
growing and reaching to a large number of audiences
which is increasing every year.
Talking about today's scenario people like Kaustubh
Trivedi, Sanjay Goradia, Kamlesh Mota, Rajendra
Butala, Vipul Mehta, Ami Trivedi and many more have
kept the Gujarati stage alive. Even though Gujarati
cinema has seen its downfall, Guajarati Theatre has
made its audience proud over and over again. As
2011 comes to an end it reminds me of the shows that
I have seen in the last two years and still fresh in my
mind.
“Gravthi kaho ame Gujarati che” although is a play
all about singing the pride of Gujarat and Gujarati's,
the only two things which keep me looking back in
this play are the excellent dialogues which gave me
goose bumps and brilliant performance by Smriti
Irani and Darshan Jariwala.
“102 Not Out” has an amazing plot. It talks about
how a 102 year Old Man teaches his 70 year old son to
live his life to the fullest.
“Kanji Viruddh Kanji”, the play in which an atheist
businessman (antique dealer) takes on the might of
God and sues him for damaging his shop during a
storm., ran for 253 shows before actor Sachin
Khedekar decided to step down from the lead role.,
4
distinguished by excessive prominence to songs and
music but Vinayak Kirti's Madhavrao Peshwa had
absolutely no songs or musical recitals; instead the
whole drama was acted with dialogues which were
totally in prose. Here the Marathi drama branches off
in two directions - Prose Plays and Verse Plays.
“Maratha tetuka melvava maharashtra dharam
vadhvava” this was the core vision of initiating
Marathi natak. Entertainment was the outer face of
the theatre. This reflects through choices of the
bolder, challenging, ahead of time subjects that natak
inculcate with sensitivity. This is a way of feeding the
new progressive thoughts in very subtle manner.
Marathi theatre influences audience to respect the
values while spreading the wing to fly high in the sky
to achieve their dreams.
With significant growth in Marathi movies, people
feel that theatre will lose its charm to movies. If you
look deeper you will find that theatre audience is not
ready to leave theatre behind. Theatre still has a
strong hold over its audience.
It’s all because of the contribution of the directors,
play writers, actors. They all sacrificed their life to the
stage. But as we all know ‘tali ek hath se nahi bajti.’
Last year we pledged to reintroduce the Marathi
theatre to a newer audience. We organised an Intercollegiate theatre competition called “Prayog”. The
main goal of all this exercise was to bring in the youth,
the audience to appreciate theatre more.
Prayog will carry forward with this year’s theme and
represent contemporary Maharashtra. Vaibhav
Mangale, Anand Ingale, Pravin Tarde Aruna Joglekar
and many more are taking an initiative to be a part of
our exuberant event.
Sanah Seth does a detailed analysis of how fashion in Bollywood has evolved through the years,
also how period films prioritize costumes.
The history of the changing trends of fashion in the
Bollywood Hindi cinema date back almost to the
decades of the 50s till the current phase of the year
2010. And it was in the earlier time zone of time
spanning the last four decades of the last millennium
that popular star pairs like Dilip Kumar–Madhubala,
Rajendra Kumar–Mala Sinha, Raaj Kumar–Meena
Kumari, Sunil Dutt–Sadhana, and above all Raj
Kapoor–Nargis had played a key role in evolving a
fashion conscious trendy style of their own, which in
the long-run had literally turned out to be a
trendsetter of that particular era.
The establishment of the Indian cinema also proved
to be the strongest influence on the fashion in the
decade. Due to the western influence, the use of
angarkhas, choghas and jamas diminished
considerably by this time, although the ceremonial
pagri,safa and topi were widespread as ever. They
had been replaced by the chapkan, achkan and
sherwani, which are still standard items of formal
dress for Indian men today.
The '60s period was one of the most shock-filled
decades of the century saw sweeping fashion and
lifestyle changes that reflected the mercurial
passions of the times. Tight kurtas and churidars and
high coiffeurs competed with the mini-skirts abroad.
One of the most revisited and retro periods in the
fashion, The 'Dum Maroo Dum' phase, the '70s is
often called the 'me decade'. It saw the beginning of
'anything goes' culture with the result that fashion
became another
form of
sel
Catch live action at
Metamorphosis 2011: Prayog
on 21st December, 9.30 onwards.
Nimit Vora explores the world of Gujarati Theatre
and gives you a sneak peek into
some of the finest Gujarati Plays of all times.
marvelous performance by Sachin Khedekar and his
flawless Gujarati, brilliant script and none the less
very strong recall value. This lead role then was
essayed by Tiku Talsania.
“Dear Father”- You can imagine the magic on stage
when Paresh Rawal returns back on it after 16 long
years that too in a double role. The instant switch
over between the roles leaves the audience amazed.
Swaroop Sampat's script is powerful enough to keep
the audience glued to their seats and even come back
again.
“Zindagi nu X Factor” - Ami Trivedi plays an actress
who is loved a lot by the audience but is disliked by
her own son. Very heart drenching drama leaves you
in a very emotional and philosophical mood.
“Zero Bani Gayo Hero” – The story of a deaf and
dumb boy who unknowingly helps police to arrest a
terrorist and saves the city from a blast. Great
performances by Sanat Vyas , music and the fast
changing sets lend the required mood to the play,
which keeps the audiences glued to their seats. The
monologue on cross-border terrorism, the terrorist
targeting events like Visarjan and Dussehra is almost
a slice of life for the audience.
23 years. Padma Rani is as
wonderful as before. The story is very touching and
humorous at the same time. A must watch drama.
In Mumbai, thetares like Bhaidas Jhaveriben
Auditorium, Dinnanath Mangeshkar auditorium,
Bharati Vidya Bhavan, Tejpal Bharati Vidya Bhavan,
Jhaverben Auditorium have been the “Karmabhoomi”
of Gujarati plays since decades, and fortunately still
continue to be. Go ahead and experience the magic of
Gujarati Theatre, but if you think language is a barrier,
then don't worry, expressions have no language.
“Baa Retire Thai Che” A super hit show which returned to stage again after
Friday | December 2011
5
f-expression and bold colours with flower prints
were adapted in tunics with shirts and bell-bottoms.
As the drug culture became a mass phenomenon,
psychedelic colours became garish, shoes got taller
and hazardous and silhouettes were extreme and the
dressing of the '50s was definitely out.
To begin with the analysis of this trendy obsession we
go back to the era of Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, who
ironically were well-known more for their respective
images of a tragedy king and Venus of beauty rather
than their wardrobe or their hairstyles. In fact, it was
Madhubala's fetching, winsome, and infectious smile
that had a trendsetting impact of its own. Later on, it
was Rajendra Kumar who had given a boost to
executive looks and styles of dressing down while his
co-star Mala Sinha had seemed more than happier by
slipping in and out of her tight churidaars, kurtas and,
of course, hallmarked by her then inventive 'Chidiyon
Ka Ghosla' (Bird's Nest) type of wriggly wigs.
Mughal-e-Azam, which is one of the most popular
costumes dramas in Indian cinema, still inspires the
directors when they are making dramas or period
films. The film took almost 15 years to be made with
one of the largest budgets in Indian cinema. Tailors
were brought from Delhi to stitch the costumes,
Hyderabad goldsmiths made the jewellery, Kolhapur
craftsmen the crowns, Rajasthani ironsmiths
fabricated the shields, swords, spears, dagger and
armor, specialists from Surat-Khambayat were
employed for the exquisite zardosi embroidery on the
costumes while the elaborate footwear was ordered
from Agra.
Much earlier, it was Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Sunil Dutt
and Sadhana who had indeed made a conscious effort
to retain their originality. Let not forget the
trademarked white sarees or the long flowing
umbrella styled gowns of Nargis, Sunil Dutt's
cowboy hats and designer goggles in tandem with
the long strands of hairs covering his entire
forehead and mane (which was earlier noticeable
even in his son Sunjay Dutt) and last but not the
least Sadhana's especially scissored hair in steps
cut covering just the front portion of her forehead.
To continue a further enterprising and alluring
twist in the fashion trend which occurred in the 60s
phase itself was when the actresses of that era had
shed their inhibitions and dared to
wear swimming
costumes on the
celluloid silver
screen. the first
ones to kick off
this dare to
bare trend
was none
other than
Nutan and
Tanuja. Yes,
indeed they
were the first
o n e s t o
evolve the
s t yl e o f o n e
piece designer
style of a swimming
costume. Saira Banu
and Sharmila Tagore had gone
a step ahead in the
Eastman colour
era and wore
a shiny onep i e c e
swimmi
n
g
costu
me for
a film
called
A
n
Evening
In Paris
and then
f i n a l l y
graduating to a
two-piece polka
dotted bikini for a film called Aamne Samne.
To proceed further, the last millennium had also seen
the then contemporary stars like Amitabh Bachchan,
Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty at
al glamorizing the fashion trends further with their
frilly shirts and flannel trousers aptly rounded off
with platform heeled foot wears. While their female
counterparts, actresses like Rekha and Sridevi attired
most of the times in their bell bottoms and puffed
sleeved tops, Jaya Prada in her typical Bhartiya Nari
get up of starched white cotton and sometimes
chiffon and silk sarees, had indeed made a stylish
fashion statement of their own.
Each costume speaks of the painstaking research,
flawless workmanship and admirable physical,
mental and emotional labour that went into its
creation. For the sophisticated and suave foreignreturned Devdas in the initial reels of the film, Abu
Jani and Sandeep Khosla actually sourced vintage
suits, cravats, handkerchiefs and shoes from old
clothing stores in London. For Paro, designer Neeta
Lulla and Bhansali came to the city and brought down
around 600 sarees. At her home, Madhuri was made
to wear fine mulmul and cotton skirts decked with
gota work and ghungroos.
The movie In Once Upon A Time in Mumbai ,is a
throwback to the 70s; the feel, look, costumes and the
setting is of a bygone era, including the music. One
can see Prachi Desai donning a Dimple Kapadia's
outfit straight from the 70s biggest hit, Bobby.
Leading actresses like Aishwarya Rai and Rani
Mukherjee are still hung up on their mania for
favoring and possessing their favorite dress
designers like Neeta Lulla and Manish Malhotra
respectively. Either of whom ended up creating
outfits for them as per the demands of their on-screen
characters and the off-screen parties or events that
they deem fit to grace. But these creatively designed
outfits normally turn out to be like worn today and
discarded tomorrow. For i.e. the Cannes festival attire
created for Aishwarya Rai or the ultra creative
different dresses created and perhaps painstakingly
stitched for the Queen Bee to complement her
outstanding role in Sanjay Leela Bhanshali's film
Black which hardly proves to be a trend setting or
stylish fashion statement.
The late Feroz Khan will always be remembered for
his flamboyant style, with cowboyish swagger and
cigar toting persona which revolutionized the style
quotient of the otherwise conventional Filmi hero, he
is known as the Clint Eastwood of the East and a style
icon in the industry.
So in summation, the history of the fashion scenario
will remain incomplete. Fashion and politics and very
alike. The originals of both concepts are churned and
remixed to appear fresh and different. Fashion spins
on its own axis. Generations later, trunk old vintage
garments become couture and high street fashions
become collectables. The evolution of fashion is
continuous and can never terminate.
The late Feroz Khan will always be remembered for
his flamboyant style, with cowboyish swagger and
cigar toting persona which revolutionized the style
quotient of the otherwise conventional Filmi hero, he
is known as the Clint Eastwood of the East and a style
icon in the industry.
A special mention out here must be made of Jaggu
Dada (Jackie Shroff) who from the beginning of his
career till this date has never worn any shred of
clothing except that designed by his personal friend
cum designer Anna Singh. No wonder that none of
these abovementioned stars too have ever been able
to create a fashionable style statement of their own
unlike some of the yesteryears starry actors or
actresses.
So in summation, the history of the fashion scenario
will remain incomplete. Fashion and politics and very
alike. The originals of both concepts are churned and
remixed to appear fresh and different. Fashion spins
on its own axis. Generations later, trunk old vintage
garments become couture and high street fashions
become collectables. The evolution of fashion is
continuous and can never terminate.
Friday | December 2011