Veteran Marathi theatre artist Kirti Shiledar passes away at 70

Kirti herself remained an indefatigable performer for more than 55 years. “She was very dedicated to her art. Few people have done more to preserve Marathi Sangeet Natak in the last 50 years than she has,” said Rajiv Paranjape, who had accompanied her on the organ for more than 35 years.

Kirti acted in a various traditional Marathi musicals, such as Sangeet Saubhadra, Yayati and Devyani. The play that she was most known for was Swarsamradhini, which was based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and her role of Naina was based on Eliza Doolittle.

“The play revolved around a girl who performs Lavani and then is made to transform into a classical singer. The writer, Vidyadhar Gokhale, had sketched the character of Naina based on me. It is one of the best roles that I have enacted, as it is still difficult for me to specify where the character ended and the real me began,” Kirti had recalled.