Curtain raiser

The festival,which is part of the Ganeshotsav Festival,completes 22 years this year . Inaugurated on Saturday at Lokmanya Tilak Auditorium,Kesariwada by K G Dharmadhikari,President,Gaanvardhan the stage seemed set for the curtain raiser of this year’s chapter of the Pune Festival. With an aim to provide a platform to upcoming artists in the city,the festival started with Ugavate Taare,a talent show for child artistes in the age group of below 15,in which close to 300 children will be participating. The first two parts of Ugavate Taare was held from 9 am to 12 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm on Saturday and the next part will be from 9 am to 12 pm today. Indradhanu,a show for artists from the age group of 15-25 years will be held in two sessions from 5 pm to 8 pm today and tomorrow.

Talking about the festival’s long history,Krishnakant Kundale,chief coordinator of the Pune festival says,”I have been working for this programme since its inception. One of our aims is to attract tourists from abroad and other states to come and witness Maharashtra’s culture. Apart from the usual performances,we have a range of programmes,right from car rallies to food festivals,that will begin once the festival picks up momentum,around mid-September.”

The talent show for children,that began on Saturday,is in fact a wonderful way to encourage budding artistes. Rajkumar Raut,whose son 10 year old Piyush presented a povada,(a song of dedication) on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for the event says,”My son had performed the same povada in Mauritius for a Marathi conference. But performing here is altogether different. People appreciate you more because they connect,and this medium has encouraged my son a lot.”

This talent search has really become popular in and around the city. Pratiksha Kate,whose daughter Payal has been participating in Ugavate Taare for three years now,shares,”My daughter is really happy to return to this stage every year. It helps her become more confident and inspired. And the kind of children who come truly showcases the potential and talent that the city has.”

Sharing his thoughts about the festival, Ravindra Durve,Coordinator,Pune Festival says,”The first programme,which we have specifically for children,is actually very popular. We start getting entries for this as far back as June. Through this,upcoming artists in the age groups of 7-15 & 15-25 are given a platform and these people go on to achieve national & international fame.”