MARATHI SANGEET NATAKA

Sangeet in hindi as we all are aware of means “music” and “nataka” means drama in kannada and many other
Indian languages. A very important point to note is that this kind of sangeet nataka is very much enjoyed by the
people belonging to the state of Maharashtra because it was like a major boost to the Marathi film industry and
not only that it has contributed its share ti the Indian Film industry as well. Sangeet Natak start with praise of
Lord Natraja (Lord of dance) which is called as the Naandi or Mangalaacharan or Suchakpad usually the
famous one "Panchatunda Nararundamaldhar" from Sangeet Shakuntal. There is rich use of Indian classical
music in such natakas. The dramatic music is also called “natya sangeet” where natya is their own state
song. Another interesting feature of this sangeet nataka is its striking similarity to the British Opera.The style of
singing especially those high pitch tones are similar in sound to the high pitch tones we hear in operas. The most
important feature of this Marathi sangeet nataka is that it contains stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana.

During the 1960s, another important term came in natya sangeet with the emergence of Jithendra Abhisheki
who was credited with applying the simplicity to the complex composition of natya sangeet.

The recent play Katyar Kalijat Ghusli by Zee studios opened up a new era of musical cinemas.

Notable contributions

 Annasaheb Kirloskar who founded the Sangeet Natakas also offered other famous plays like Sangeet
Saubhadra and Ramrajyaviyog.
Bal Gandharva's Gandharva Natak Mandali; Vasudeorao Dongre's Dongre Mandali; Pandoba Gurav
Yavateshwarkar's Waikar Sangeet Mandali; Janubhau Nimkar and Keshavrao Bhosale's Swadesh-Hita-Chintak
Mandali, which evolved into Lalit-Kaladarsha Mandali; and Master Dinanath's Balwant Natak Mandali were the
other main performing companies which were formed in Maharashtra.

 Jaymala Shiledar (1926-2013) - Jaymala, her husband Jayaram and daughters Kirti and Lata kept Sangeet natak
alive during the lean period of 1960s to 1990s.They stageded 25 new musicals, including 'Ekhadyacha Nashib',
Mumbaichi Manasa', 'Anantphandi', and Abhogi through their company,Marathi Rangabhoomi. She was a
protege of Bal Gandharva.[3]
The List of famous sangeet nataks include:

 Sita Swayamvar
 Shaakuntal
 Sangeet Saubhadra
 Sangeet Maanaapmaan
 Matsyagandha

Now we describe the each of them briefly.

1. Sita Syamvar
An important person to note is Vishnudas Bhave who was born is Sangli and was the leading dramatist in
Maharashtra and the pioneer of the Marathi theatre and staged his first Marathi play Sita Syamvar

This play was extremely successful and went on to play vital roles in potraying the various scenes of
Mahabharata. For the most part, Bhave's plays were one-man shows, with other cast playing strictly supporting
and secondary roles only when their presence was needed. The tradition of full-fledged drama was revived
much later in 1880 by Annasaheb Kirloskar, who is credited more often than Bhave as the pioneer of Marathi
theatre. The plays by Vishnudas Bhave and later playwrights were distinguished by excessive prominence to
songs and music but Vinayak Kirti's Madhavrao Peshwa had absolutely no songs or musical recitals; instead the
whole drama was acted with dialogues which were totally in prose. Here the Marathi drama branches off in two
directions - Prose Plays and Verse Plays. Now the Marathi Theater was on its un-interrupted march.

2. Shaakuntal

Music Shakuntala is the first music play in Marathi language . This play started the tradition of musical plays on the
Marathi stage.
This is a Marathi adaptation of Kalidasa's Sanskrit film ' AbhiyanShakuntalamam ' .
Author: Balwant Pandurang and Balwant Pandurang Kirloskar
Year: 1880
characters:

 King Dushyant
 Shakuntala
 Anusuya
 Piyanvada
 Gautami
 Sharangrao
 Sharadat
 Kanva Muni
 Dance
 Formulas
 Clown
 Matlee
 Servant
 Thief
 Peeper
3. Sangeet Maanapman

Sangeet Maanapman is a three and a half hour drama directed by Nipun. The Main story of the
sangeet nataka goes like this

Dhairyadhar, a trusted lieutenant of King Prithvidhar is set to marry Bhamini, the daughter of the
affulent Babasaheb. A brave and highly principled Dhairyadhar does not believe in materiality. He
gives his assent for marriage purely out of respect to Babasaheb. A day before the marriage,
Bhamini walks out of the marriage even without meeting Dhairyadhar just because he is poor.

Later, on Babasaheb's insistence Bhamini starts living in disguise as a poor girl under the name of
Vanamala, just to observe Dhairyadhar closely. Vanamala realizes that all along she had given
money too much importance and falls in love with Dhairyadhar. Dhairyadhar too falls for her, but is
unaware of her true identity. How this conflict is resolved forms the crux of this play.