Citygritty — Pune

City lights
On the heels of the Ganeshotsav comes the Navratri Mahotsav, organised by the Shivdarshan Mitra Mandal which was inaugurated on Monday, September 21, at the Laxmi Mata Mandir, Sahakar Nagar. The celebration had its share of chaos of confusion – the chief guest, Suresh Kalmadi, came more than an hour late, accompanied by a large entourage, who all created some disorder near the stage. The agitated audience also wanted a better look at the stars who graced the occasion – actors Rohini Hattangady, Bhakti Barve-Inamdar, Sudhir Dalvi, Manorama Wagle, Utkarsha Naik, Ajay Wadavkar, singers Bela Shende and Swapna Awasthi (of Chainya Chainya fame). However, once the well-organised programme got underway, it was a sure-fire hit, which was a relief to chief organiser, Aba Bagul.

The festival was inaugurated by Bhakti Barve-Inamdar, who lit nine lamps, representing the nine faces of the devi. Danseuse Shama Bhate’s troupe, Naadrup, began the proceedings with an elegant Kathak performance, once again based on the devi-avtaars, depicting both the soft and the unyielding sides of her persona – Bhavani Dayani Shivani, Saraswati and Sati were three beautifully rendered pieces. Late evening saw renowned compere, Sudhir Gadgil, presenting a programme of songs from famous Marathi films. The nine days promise to be entertaining ones, with a galaxy of artistes to watch out for – Uttara Kelkar, Ravindra Sathe, Guddi Maruti, Anup Jalota, Anuradha Paudwal, Shama Bhate, Sulochana Chavan and Suresh Wadkar amongst others.

Big deal!
Long lines, milling crowds and anxious people waiting outside a cloth shop. This was the scene that confronted shoppers on Laxmi Road on Monday. The reason for this sudden interest in cloth? Shirt and pant pieces were being sold at the incredible price of Rs 5 and Rs 25 per piece respectively at Pushkar Collection, a cloth shop located in the area. Is this yet another marketing gimmick? According to the owner of the shop, R.S. Bhandari, it is the Hyderabad based mill which can afford to sell it at that price. With the high onion prices reducing consumers to tears, it does seem like we may soon have to exchange the more affordable shirts for onions!

An Actor’s life
An autobiographic one-act play? That is just what actor Shrikant Moghe’s Majhi Anandyatra to be staged on September 24 is all about. The show will feature his humble beginnings in a village to the various characters he has portrayed on stage, the small screen and in films. Some of them include his characters in Varyavarchi Varat, Seemavarun parat ja, Lekure uddand zali. The show is interspersed with humorous narration by Moghe who will combine it with different folk forms like the bhoopali, powada. The show organised by Cultural Art Creations will be held at Bharat Natya Mandir at 5 pm.