Ajit Pawar to inaugurate 36th Pune festival that will see rare absence of patron Hema Malini

The ceremonial installation of the Ganesh idol for the Pune Festival will be on September 7 at Hotel Saras, Nehru Stadium, by Pune municipal commissioner Rajendra Bhosle and his wife Deepali Bhosale. The programmes will be held from September 8 to 17. Hema Malini, the patron and best known brand ambassador of the festival, will not be present “because the dates did not match”.

This year’s festival, however, will introduce initiatives on tourism. “We want to promote Pune as a global tourist destination. For this, we have organised a seminar ‘Promotion of Pune’s Tourism’, which will feature officials of the state tourism department, Collector’s Office and Mahratta Chamber of Commerce. Fifteen members of Akruti, a national group of women artists, will create a large painting on canvas of tourist attractions of Maharashtra,” said Praveen Walimbe, the media coordinator.

The festival will pay homage to the doyens whose birth centenaries fall this year, such as playback singer Md Rafi, composer Madan Mohan and actor-directors Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt. Other attractions include Gujarati folk dances, a tribal dance of Nagaland by students of the state, and a piece titled ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ on international harmony by 25 students of Symbiosis International University. For the seventh year, there will be a “Kerala Mahotsav” that will feature dances and other cultural events related to religious harmony.

“The Pune Festival has become a symbol of national integration,” said Abeda Inamdar at a press conference organised on Wednesday.

She is the convenor of the All India Mushaira which will have Salman Khurshid as the chief guest and Imran Pratapgarhi, MP and chairmanperson of AICC Minority Department, as the guest of honour.

“Renowned poets from all over India, such as Maroof Raibarelvi and Dr Azm Shakiri, will participate in the mushaira,” she added. On the evening of the next day, there will be Hasyakallol Dhammal of Maharashtra’s comedians, a two-hour programme featuring actors Prasad Khandekar, Namrata Sambherao and Vanita Kharat, among others.