By Uday Mankikar
Mumbai, May 28: Konkani theatre has a rich tradition of over hundred years. As per the records available, the first Konkani drama was staged in 1912, at Bantwal, a small village in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. It was a musical play titled 'Chandrahas' written, produced and directed by Balantur Krishna Prabhu.
Bhanap Theatre has not lagged behind, having staged various musical and prose plays, under the banner of Saraswati Amateurs, Konkani Sahitya Samiti, Kanara Saraswat Association etc, on a regular basis. Saraswati Amateurs and other small groups came together and formed the Konkani Sahitya Samiti. Subsequently, Kanara Saraswat Association took over Konkani Sahitya Samiti along with its activities and objectives of propagation of mother tongue Konkani in any form and continued with staging of Konkani dramas. 'Chitrapur Vaibhav', 'Kalaya Tasmaih Namah', 'Kav Kav Yethe Yethe Bais Re Mora' 'Kanchanmrig' are some of the outstanding memorable musical Konkani dramas, apart from other prose dramas, staged by Konkani Sahitya Samiti / Kanara Saraswat Association. 'Naad Ninaad' presented by Canara Union (arts section), Bengaluru is a superb addition to these distinguished musical plays.
The knowledgeable audience of Mumbai had heard a lot about 'Naad Ninaad', and were eager to watch this play. Luckily N Jayavanth Rao talked to Praveen Kadle, (president, Kanara Saraswat Association) recommending the staging of 'Naad Ninaad' in Mumbai. Praveen being a connoisseur of performing arts, immediately accepted the recommendations of Jayavanthmam and decided to organize two shows of 'Naad Ninaad' in Mumbai. Saraswat Mahila Samaj, Gamdevi, another prestigious Bhanap institution, which is celebrating its centenary year joined hands with Kanara Saraswat Association in this mega event and expressed its desire to have one show of 'Naad Ninaad' as part of its centenary celebrations programme.
Sunil Ullal, the energetic joint honorary secretary (sports and cultural events) of the Kanara Saraswat Association who is well known for his organizing skills, accepted the herculean task of organizing two shows of 'Naad Ninaad' in Mumbai. Accordingly, 'Yashwant Natya Mandir' Matunga,(West) was booked for May 13 and 14 in February this year and Sunil formed a group of selfless dedicated workers viz, Jairam Khambadkone, Anand Nadkarni, Dilip Sashital, Mahesh Kalawar, Shivanand Hemmady, Deepak Hemmady, Shobhana Rao and the managing committee members of Saraswat Mahila Samaj, Gamdevi to assist him. All modalities were worked out, right from advertising, printing and sale of tickets, booking of accommodation for the drama group, getting sponsors for the shows etc. The drama group was given a warm welcome on their arrival in Mumbai on May 12 and the knowledgeable Mumbai Bhanap audience had the privilege of witnessing a splendid drama. The artists too had the privilege of performing in front of the very responsive Mumbai audience.
'Naad Ninaad' is the Konkani adaption of the timeless classic 'Sound of Music' (1964). Though 52 years have passed, people have not forgotten its music which is still lingering in their minds. The was charmed with the finesse with which the songs had been adapted taking care to retain the tunes.
The story and music of the film 'Sound of Music' is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. So very little change has been made while presenting it on the stage. The captain has been converted into an army colonel, a princess instead of baroness and the Nazi episode has been removed making it a pure romantic musical. It is creditable to see a cast of 70 people, including on-stage performance of 41 experienced and upcoming talented artists together. A rare phenomenon indeed! Secondly, the director (Shashank Sanade) and veteran Anand Nagarkar have given the opportunity to youngsters, a good gesture with vision, on their part.
The entire team of 'Naad Ninaad' deserves appreciation for their outstanding, commendable performance. Excellent teamwork, brilliant stage and visual conceptualization, unforgettable songs, adapted in Konkani have contributed to the undoubted success of the play and the group, consisting of Shashank Sanade (director), Uday Bhatkal (lyricist and story script translator/ adaptor), veteran stage artistes Gautam Ubhaykar (song lyricist and stage craft/visual concepts) and Anand Nagarkar (assisted the group in various aspects) Ramchandra and Ashwini Kodange (song lyrics), Aditya Hosangadi, Aishwarya Bhatkal, Sharang Karkal, Ananth Nagarkar and Nishtha Naimpally (live music/some playback singing), Bhavani Nayel and Anvita Kodange (choreographers).
Drama being a teamwork, each and every artiste has to perform well, to make the play outstanding and memorable. Here also, the audience witnessed the same. Uttara Nadkarni, as Maria, was simply superb. Anuja Mudur as Mother Superior gave a dignified performance. Abhishek Nagarkar and Amrita Savur were graceful as Colonel and Princess, respectively. Konkani stage has got a talented comedian, after a long time in Shyam Hattangady, who played Uncle Max with effortless ease – an 'ati adbhut' performance. Colonel’s seven children and other children who performed as puppets were lovable, having a good understanding of their respective roles, so also the 19 nuns. Special mention has to be made about the romantic dance number 'You are sixteen, going on seventeen' by Devyani Padubidri (Sangeeta) and Sharang Karkal (Rolf) (choreographed by themselves). It will be remembered for a long time.
All in all it was a 'Naad Ninaad' par excellence. It was also encouraging to note that the younger generation of talented artistes will certainly take the Konkani Theatre to greater heights. All the best and Hats off to 'Naad Ninaad' team. We look forward to many more shows from you!
Shashank Sanade, the talented director of the play, after the performance on May 14, shared the secret story of the success of Naad Ninaad with Mahesh Kalawar, one of the Naad Ninaad, Mumbai committe members. He said, "I selected a batch of 14 children after the audition to make 2 batches of 7 children each. The lead roles of Colonel played by Abhishek Nagarkar and Maria as Governess played by Uttara Nadkarni got the children to gel easily with them. Seven children alternatively took part in the rehearsals for 6 to 7 months. The mothers who accompanied the 14 children every time at the rehearsals were given an opportunity to take part as Nuns in the play. Later the husbands who used to come to fetch their wives/children back home joined the NN team to help and coordinate the props/tables/chairs etc which was handled so meticulously during the play without a single flaw. The audience at large were spellbound with the precision, timing, coordination displayed by these 'Men in Black'. The lighting and changing of the scenes on the backdrop was so very apt, for each scene of NN, the creativity by none other than Gautam Ubhaykar who tirelessly worked for getting the best over the past 9 months. Anupama Chandavarkar not only ensured that everyone was informed about the rehearsal schedules but also looked after the costumes procurement, design, and management while coordinating the events during the three stage presentations in the preceding months." As rightly said by Jairam Khambadkone, "It was the fantastic planning and use of ‘principle of convergence’ of each family for an outstanding result which we have seen on May 13 and 14."
Special mention has to be made about the dedicated selfless and tireless work done by Shobhana Rao – the ever-smiling manager, and human computer of KSA, in this mega-event. Her dedication to the KSA cannot be expressed in words. It is to be observed and felt. She not only coordinated with the members of the Naad Ninaad committee, Mumbai efficiently but also maintained the accounts meticulously, without neglecting her day-to-day work at KSA. Such people are assets for any institutions.