NT NETWORK
PANAJI: “Any good song must necessarily be an excellent poem,” said the celebrated octogenarian Marathi poet, Manguesh Padgaonkar, just as well-known Bhavgeet singer, Arun Date acknowledged that his success as a singer was primarily due to the songs written by Padgaonkar.
The poet-singer duo who will be performing at the open air auditorium of Kala Academy on April 30, at the ‘Shukratara Mandawara’ programme, interacted with the media on the eve of the event. The programme produced by Atul Theatres is being organised by the Samraat Club.
Speaking on the occasion, Padgaonkar said that song, just like sonnet is a type of poem. “However, when a song is set to tune and sung with the accompaniment of music it is less of a work of literature and more of an entertainment,” he observed, adding that there are many examples wherein ordinary songs were made popular with the introduction of attractive rhythms and powerful rendition.
The legendary poet, who took poetry to the nook and corner of Maharashtra in the 1960s and 1970s along with two other poets, Vinda Karandikar and Vasant Bapat, said that today even the rural population is inclined towards sending their children to English medium schools, arguing that the parents in urban areas are doing the same thing. “Under such circumstances, one cannot expect the new generation boys and girls to read Marathi literature and further critically appreciate poetry in the language,” he noted.
“However, ‘Shukratara Mandawara’ programme in which Arun sings my songs and I recite some of my poems as well as narrate some interesting incidents, mostly run houseful,” maintained Mr Padgaonkar, stating that the programme recently attracted a strong crowd of 5,500 audiences in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Stating that giving the right response to such programme is also an art that should be learned by everyone, the celebrated poet quipped that the best part of ‘Shukratara Mandawara’ is that he does not sing in the programme.
Arun Date told the media that 25 per cent of his audiences are youth, while the rest are adults, most of who are repeat audiences. Date further recalled that ‘Shukratara Mandawara’ a popular duet written by Padgaonkar, which is also the name of the musical programme, was sung by him for the first time some 50 years ago with Sudha Malhotra. “Since then some 150 singers including Anuradha Paudwal and Sadhana Sargam have accompanied me,” he recalled, stating that when he toured USA and gave some 65 performances, equal number of singers – one from each part of that country where the programme was held - sang with him.
Presently, Pradnya Deshpande and Mahesh Mutalik also perform in the ‘Shukratara Mandawara’ programme, while Milind Kulkarni is the compere.
