Janasthan’ Puraskar for Mahesh Elkunchwar.
Well known Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar will be honoured with the prestigious ‘Janasthan’ Puraskar. The award comprising of Rs. 1 lakh along with the memento will be presented to him on 10th March 2011 in Nashik. Mr. Elkunchwar, known for his literary works for dramas like ‘Yuganta, Garbo, Vasanakand, Rakthapurush, Wada Chirebandi, Aatmakatha, Holi, Pratibimb, Rudravarsha and Party deserved the award. This award is being given in memory of well known poet Kusumagraj and in 1993, when it was instituted, Mr. Vijay Tendulkar was the first recipient.
Two films were made in Bollywood based on his original plays ‘Holi’ and ‘Party’ by Ketan Mehta and Govind Nihalani respectively, with the same name. Mr. Mahesh Elkunchwar has already been conferred with other prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Academy Award and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in the past, in appreciation of his contribution to theatre world.
Maharashtra Bhushan – Prabhakar Panshikar passes away
Well-known Stage actor and Maharashtra Bhushan- Prabhakar Panshikar passed away in a Pune Hospital today. He was 80 years old. Mr. Panshikar , who began his acting career in Mumbai and shot into limelight through a lead role of Lakhoba Lokhande played by him in M.G Rangnekar’s sensational play ‘To Mee Navehch’ written by Acharya Atre. So effective was his performance that the play went on to create a record of stage shows those days. It was for the first time in Marathi dramas , a revolving stage was used for the presentation of this play.
Besides ‘To Mee Navehch’ he also performed in some of the popular plays like ‘Asrunchi Jhali Phule’, ‘Ithe Oshalala Mrityu’,’Bhatala Dilee Osari’, ‘Ithe Gavtat Bhale Phuttat’, ‘Thank you Mr. Glad’. He had also formed his own drama company ‘Natyasampada’ which produced many plays like ‘Katyar Kaljaat Ghusli’ ‘Andhaar Majha Sobti’ besides some music based plays. In all, he had appeared in 8001 shows on stage, which showed his dedication to stage. His autobiography ‘Toch Mee’ was well received among his well wishers.
Mr. Prabhakar Panshikar was blessed with a grand persona and a rich voice. He was conferred with many prestigious awards, including the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, the Sangeet Natak Academy award and the Maharashtra Bhushan award for his contribution to the theatre. Marathi Movie world pays sincere tributes to his departed soul.
Makarand’s Makar Sankranti with ‘Guldasta’
Makarand Anaspure is all excited and is eagerly waiting for the ‘Makar Sankranti’ day, i.e. 14th January 2011. On this auspicious day, Makarand is a all set to present the ‘Guldasta’ first to his would be in his new film and then to his well wishers. “Please watch this new film of mine, released by Zee Talkies; by visiting the nearest theatre and don’t watch the same on pirated DVD, as it will only affect the business of Marathi cinema,” he has earnestly appealed to all the Marathi film lovers.
Talking about the film which is directed by Hemant Deodhar , Makarand says that he and Jitendra Joshi play childhood friends, but when they grow up, they fall in love with the same girl (Tejaswini Lonari) . “And, to know who finally gets the tilgul, please come and watch this film, which to be released on Sankranti day,’ says Makarand. He was all praise for Jitendra Joshi and said that he has performed very well. “You will all enjoy this light comedy with 100% entertainment and a message,” he adds. Incidentally, in the recent past, Makarand has given all three hit films for Zee Talkies, namely ‘De Dhakka’, ‘Sade Made Teen’ and ‘Gallit Gondhal ani Dillit Mujara’
Asha Kale conferred with Kala Gaurav award
Popular Marathi film actress of yesteryears – Asha Kale, was conferred with the prestigious Kala Gaurav award by the Pimpri-Chinchwad based Kalarang Sanskrutik Kala Sanstha at the Ramkrishna More Auditorium recently.
The chief guest Mr. Lakshmanrao Dhobale, hailed the contribution of all the artistes for winning the awards. The other awardees were Atul Parchure, Smita Tambe, Kishori Shahane-Vij and Swapnil Joshi. The best director award was given to Ravi Jadhav while Phulwa Khamkar received the best choreographer award. Music director Ajit Parab, was also felicitated with late Shrikant Thackeray music award , while Shahir Umap award went to singer Anand Shinde.
Tarayanche Beit’ to be premiered at PIFF
On Monday the 10th January 2011, the Pune International film festival will have an added attraction in the form of a World premiere of new Marathi film ‘Tarayanche Beit’. The film will be premiered at City Pride Kothrud at 6 pm on this day. Produced jointly by Shobha kapoor, Ektaa Kapoor, Niraj Pandey and Shital Bhandari, the film is directed by debutant Kiran Yadnopavit.
The film has tried to show how the so called Globalisation affects a helpless family living in the remote place in Konkan region. Shot at the actual Konkan locations like Dapoli, Anjurle and Kelshi, this one hour 45 minutes long film has captured reality besides the scenic beauty of the picturesque region. Saurabh Bhave has scripted the story of this film, while award winning photographer Sudhir Palsane has done the cinematography. The film’s star cast comprises of Sachin Khedekar, Ashwini Giri, Kishore Kadam, Vinay Apte, Shubhangi Joshi, Milind phatak, Jaywant wadkar, Sunil Deo, Shashank Shende, Ishaan Tambe & Asmita Joglekar.
Bajaa Gajaa Music fest in Pune
The popular music festival ‘Baajaa Gaajaa’ 2011 will be held at Ishanya, Yeravada, Pune between 4th February and 6th February 2011. Music lovers be able to enjoy concerts by a wide range of artistes performing diverse forms of Indian music on multiple stages.
Performances will be scheduled at the following venues in Ishanya:
• Open Stage 1at Aangan: from approximately 11 am to 6 pm every day from Feb 4 to 6, 2011, with a break for lunch between 1 and 3 pm.
• Open Stage 2 at Jalsaghar: from approximately 11 am to 6 pm every day from Feb 4 to 6, 2011, with a break for lunch between 1 and 3 pm.
Entry to these concerts is free.
• There will also be special concerts every evening from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm at the Amphitheatre. You will need to pick up invitation cards for these concerts from locations which will be announced shortly.
For latest details, visit website: http://baajaagaajaa.com/
PIFF to begin from 6th January 2011
The most popular Pune International Film Festival will begin from 6th January 2011 in different sections. In the competition section, the first section will be for international films, where 14 selected films will be shown. In the second section for Marathi films, 7 films have been selected for screening and in the third section of short films made by students, 38 entries have been short listed. In all, there will be about 200 films to be shown from 40 counties. The interested film lovers can register themselves to watch these films at different venues in Pune, such as E-square, City Pride, Inox, Fame , R-Deccan and Ganesh Kala Krida Manch.
Maharashtra Government will present the following awards: The ‘Prabhat’ Best International film, The best director for international film and Sant Tukaram award for best Marathi film.
Kedar Shinde to appear on small screen
For a long time there were news floating in about Kedar Shinde entering small screen and that too as an actor. But, now the news is true. Kedar has confirmed this to MMW. He will soon be seen in a very special role in Star Pravah‘s popular serial ‘Mann Udhaan Varyache’, produced by Mahesh Kothare and his son Adinath Kothare. After the release of his much talked about film ‘On Duty 24 Taas’, he seems to have taken a break from direction, by switching over to acting.
Known for his perfect timing of comedy through stage and films, as a director; Kedar has already displayed his acting talents on stage. Popular Bollywood director N. Chandra once said that a good director has to be a good actor, but he himself never came on the screen. But, Kedar has decided to perform as an actor and that too under the direction of other director, to prove his mettle.
Now, it’s ‘Ekapeksha Ek – Apsara Ali’
Zee Marathi’s popular dance reality show ‘Ekapeksha Ek‘ will be back soon with a new name ‘Ekapeksha Ek – Apsara Ali‘ , offering more glamour, fierce competition among dancers. For the upcoming fresh season, 9 beautiful, talented & famous celebrities will compete with each other.
The contestants for this season are well known celebrities from Marathi Film and Television industry which includes Neha Pendse, Girija Oak, Mrinmayee Deshpande, Urmila Kanetkar, Neha Joshi, Smita Tambe, Aarti Solanki and Sonali Khare. But to add more spice in this severe competition, they have also included Surekha Punekar – highly popular ‘Lavni’ performer from Maharashtra who is also known as Queen of Lavani.
To ensure better grooming of these contestants and bring out the best in them, the organizers have Mayur Vaidya, Fulva Khamkar and Dipali Vichare, the most prominent choreographers from the industry, who will guide the participants and prepare them for competition. Finally, to judge these talented individuals, they will have their popular Mahaguru, Sachin Pilgaonkar. The host of the show will be Pushkar Shrotri.
‘Ekapeksha Ek – Apsara Ali’ will begin from 29th December @ 9.30 pm Every Wednesday & Thursday at 9:30 pm on Zee Marathi.
Aadesh Bandekar’s new family show on E TV
Popular programme host Aadesh Bandekar will continue to entertain the viewers on E TV, every Monday and Tuesday at 9.30 pm. The only change is that he will be presenting a new programme titled ‘DNA Ekamatra family Show’ which also offers maximum cash prize of Rs.5 Lakhs to the participants. This new show will replace the ongoing reality show ‘Wow!‘ from 27th December 2010.
To announce the launching of their new show, E-TV Marathi had organized a Press show, where clippings of the first two episodes were shown. In this unique show, besides the participant and host; there will be 8 families comprising of either Mother or father on one side and their children on the other side. The participant has to guess and identify the correct pair. Every participant will have to progress towards next round while winning Rs. 50,000/- for every correct answer. In the final round, he or she gets a chance to play jackpot or walk home with the amount won till that round.
In the initial episodes which have been shot, celebrities like Sonali Kulkarni, Vinod kambli, Jitendra Joshi, Rahul Mahajan and Sachin Pilgaonkar have taken part. While speaking on the occasion, E-TV’s Sr. Branch Manager Mr. Dilip Mondkar made it very clear that the show was open to all and to participate in the show, viewers should send their SMS as follows: DNA<Space>Your Name<Space>Name of the City and post the same to 562635. Mr. Aadesh Bandekar the Programme Host, also spoke on the occasion and said that he was enjoying his new role with the new set of participants. “This new programme is a total fun and I am sure, all the viewers sitting at home would also enjoy the show,” he added. When asked what DNA exactly meant, he gave the meaning as, ‘Disata, Nasata Asata’.
Harish Tiwari of Cell 18, who has presented this show for E-TV, and Sanjeev Jangam, the writer were also present for the function.