PAINTING EXHIBITION : Painted sceneries of the Marathi Natya Sangeet by Nissar Allana at Lalit Kala Academy - 4th to 14th Jan 08

  • Audio interview of Mr. Nissar Allana :
  1. About the exhibition : Painted Sceneries
  2. About Himself


  • Time : 11:00 am - 7:00 pm, Opening on 4th January at 6:00 pm
  • Event Info : The theatre of the 19th century in Maharashtra was called the Marathi Sangeet Natak., which consisted of dialogues combined with songs. These plays were performed on the stage and the stage scenery was hand painted by well know artists, who created a whole range of locations, depending on the demands of a play. There were many theatre companies at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, among which the most famous were, The Kirloskar Natak Mandali, The Maharashtra Natak Mandali, Lalitkaladarsha and Gandharva Natak Mandali.
nissar allana exhibition marathi natya sangeet 19th century prints
  • Each of these companies had many painted sceneries, which were used for different scenes, and consisted of street scenes, palace scenes, jungle scenes, fort scenes etc. the plays for which theses painted scenes were used, included Saubhadra, Sharda, Manapmaan, Swayamwar, Shakuntala etc. When, for example an actor performed in front of a street scene, it looked as though he was on that street, because of the manner in which the scene was painted. The paintings gave a sense of great perspective or depth, which gave the illusion that the actor was actually standing in the street.
  • The well known painters of the late 19th and early 20th century were Anandrao and Baburao Mestry, Fatehlal, Damle, and later came a painter from Goa called Vasudev Divkar, and P. S. Kale from Hyderabad. These painters were very skilled and developed the art of scene painting to a great degree of refinement.
  • Male actors during that time used to do female roles, because women did not commonly act on the stage, and the great actors who did women’s role included Balgandharva, Bapurao Pendarkar, Keshavrao Bhonsle, among others.
  • The exhibition is in 6 sections. The first part, called ‘Antecedents’, is about the beginnings of modern Marathi theatre with the first production of Vishnudas Bhave’s :Seeta Swayamwar”, in Sangli, under the patronage of the ruler, Chintamanrao Patwardhan. Bhave drew inspiration from the Kannada traveling players, and his early productions resembled Yakshagana, in appearance. In 1880, Balwant Pandurang Kirloskar’s production of “Shakuntala”, was revolutionary and marks the birth of the Marathi Sangeet Natak.
  • The second section of the exhibition is an overview of 4 important theatre companies; the third section represents the work of important scene painters, including Anandrao and baburao Mestry, Fatehlal, Damkle, Divkar, P. S. Kale, Junnarkar and Mohan Rahul. The fourth section is about photography of theatre scenes in photographic studios; the fifth section, deals with political and social issues that Marathi theatre took up in playwriting and performance. The final section of the exhibition is about the innovations in scenegraphy in Marathi theatre.
PAINTING EXHIBITION : Painted sceneries of the Marathi Natya Sangeet by Nissar Allana at Lalit Kala Academy - 4th to 14th Jan 08 PAINTING EXHIBITION : Painted sceneries of the Marathi Natya Sangeet by Nissar Allana at Lalit Kala Academy - 4th to 14th Jan 08 Reviewed by rohit malik on Monday, January 14, 2008 Rating: 5

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