Mohan Tondwalkar is no more
Mohan Tondwalkar who headed the most popular Marathi Drama company Kalavaibhav, passed away today after a brief illness. He was 77. Mr. Tondwalkar had produced 80 Marathi plays, including popular plays like ‘Purush’, ‘Gela Madhav Kunikade’, ‘Nati Goti’, ‘Vaadaa Chirebandi’, ‘Premasathi Vattel te’ and the latest- ‘Shambhuraje’.
Having given scope to several top Marathi artistes of today through ‘Kalavaibhav’, he remained dedicated to his profession and believed in creating something new. He had the knowledge of Marathi literature very well. Mr. Tondwalkar was the first Marathi Drama producer to present the stories of Jaywant Dalvi on Marathi stage. Many well known artistes were associated with his drama group. Veteran Vijaya Mehta had also directed some plays for his group.
Many personalities have offered their tributes recalling his valuable contribution to the Marathi stage. Some of whom who quickly expressed their gratitude to him were Sudhir Bhatt, Lata Narvekar, Atul Parchure & Prashant Damle.
At 75, Mohan Tondwalkar gets due recognition
01 May 10 | © MMW News
The seventy fifth birthday celebrations of eminent producer of Marathi plays -Mohan Tondwalkar, was held at the Shivaji Mandir on Friday.
Tondwalkar is the founder of the iconic drama troupe Kala Vaibhav which is responsible for producing hit plays like ‘Jaswandi’, ‘Purush’, ‘Gela Madhav Kunakade’, ‘Nati Goti’, ‘Premasathi Vattel te’, etc. He has gifted the Marathi entertainment industry great talents like Nana Patekar, Neena Kulkarni, Vikram Gokhale, Reema Lagoo, Dr.Vijaya Mehta and many others.
Present on the occasion were chief guest – eminent astrologer Jayant Salgaonkar, Dr.Ravi Bapat, actors- Prabhakar Panshikar, Nana Patekar, playwrights- Gangaram Gawankar & Arun Ghadigaonkar,.
Mr. Tondwalkar and his wife were presented with Shawls and bouquets by various luminaries including Uday Gharat of Maharashtra Natya Mandal, Reema Lagoo, and other staff members of Kala Vaibhav. A plaque was presented to him by Nana Patekar on behalf of the Mohan Tondwalkar Pratishtahan.
A book written on Tondwalkar called ‘Mohansheth’ was released by the veteran actor Prabhakar Panshikar. Among those who spoke on the occasion were Prabhakar Panshikar, Dr. Ravi Bapat and Dr. Vijaya Mehta. They all recollected the old memories and praised his work.
Finally, it was Nana Patekar who took on the stage in his inimitable style and narrated his experiences with Mohansheth (as he addressed him right from his early days as an actor) when it was difficult to make ends meet. He stated that he saw a real mentor in Tondwalkar. Eminent actor Leeladhar Kambli was the programme host. The programme concluded with the special show of Kala Vaibhav’s latest play ‘Shambhu Raje’ starring Dr.Amol Kolhe.