Curtains go up on Pune Festival

This year’s festival awards were presented to Dr K H Sancheti,director and surgeon, Sancheti Hospital,and Dr S B Mujumdar,founder and president,Symbiosis Institute. Among the special international invitees were Till Reuter and Lawrence Drake,chief executive officer and president,respectively,of Germany-based KUKA Group of Companies. Krishnakant Jagtap,chief coordinator,Pune Festival,Sabina Sanghvi,senior vice-president of the festival,and Gayatridevi Patwardhan,vice-president of the festival,were also present.

The evening began with Sanai Vadan by shehnai player Tukaram Daithankar. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of composer and music director Shrinivas Khale,who passed away on Friday. A commemorative documentary on the late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was showcased before the rendition of his popular abhang,Maze Maher Pandhari,by his disciple,Pandit Upendra Bhat. This edition of the Pune Festival is dedicated to the memory of the iconic Kirana Gharana singer,who passed away in January.

Kathak dancer Sharwari Jemenis and her group performed a Ganesh vandana,which was followed by a performance by actor Subhod Bhave and others to celebrate the centenary of the legendary Marathi stage musical,Sangeet Maan Apmaan. Musician Vijay Chavan and his group staged a rousing display of traditional Marathi percussion instruments and even played with a team of dhol tasha performers. A lavani ‘medley’,performed by actors Sonali Kulkarni,Mansi Naik,Shruti Marathe and others,capped the evening.

Speaking on the occasion,Kudale said a “close cultural nexus” should be forged between Pune and Kolhapur in time for the festival’s 25th edition in 2013. Ghai said he had a “strong personal connection” with the city. “I feel a deep obligation towards Pune. We should all come together and help make the event truly international by 2013,” said Ghai.