Gammat Jammat Events Dolls conference in Pune

- May 16, 2017

When asked to name the Puppeteers or puppet practitioners from Maharashtra, you get to hear only the present-day well-known practitioners like Meena Naik- an Indian actress, director, writer, and puppeteer from Mumbai or Ramdas Padhye- an Indian ventriloquist, puppeteer, and puppet-maker who has 40 plus years of experience.

Little when further interrogated then about Shri Vishnu Das Bhave -and Ganpat Sakhram Masge (Sangeet Natak Academy Awardee 2005)-the traditional puppeteers (can also refer to my previous blog post on “Kalasutri Bahuliya and Chamdyacha Bahuliya-traditional puppet forms of Maharashtra”

Shri Vishnu Das Bhave well known as the father of Marathi Theatre is a multi-facet personality-Engineer, poet, puppeteer, and scrupulous crafts man. Got to know in one of the theatre conferences that the 150 years old puppets of Vishnu Das Bhave traveled to Mr. Ramdas Padhye through a known source for the revival of the traditional Maharashtra Kalasutri Bahulya-String Puppets. Source: (http://www.vpuppets.com/traditionalpupptyshow.php).

I congratulate Shri Ramdas Padhye and his whole family for taking initiating and restoring the traditional puppet art of Maharashtra.

In 2012, I conducted a Puppetry workshop for Lalit Kala Kendra-Theatre department students of Pune University. During my conversation with Prof. Praveen Bhole, I encountered that Puppetry is lost in Maharashtra excepting two persons who are still continuing some activities in the name of Puppets in Maharashtra.

A couple of years back when I received a telephone call from the Times of India, Pune office inquiring me about the contact details of Puppeteers in Pune. I could refer to two names: Ranjana Kelkar and Mridula Kelkar. (http://www.sphoorthitheatre.com/docs/2014/Times-of-india-Pune-Nov-30-2014.pdf )

Well, now you can ask me how did I know these two names?? It’s was during a cultural meet I encountered these names.

Then, I do frequently receive phone calls from Pune and other regions of Maharashtra state enquiring about the Puppetry course.

This also made me wonder, are they only four contemporary people doing puppetry or puppetry-related stuff in Maharashtra.

I was fortunate enough to participate in the first of its kind in Maharashtra State, India- "Gammat Jammat Events Pahaliya Bahulya Natyamahostav -Gammat Jammat Events Dolls conference held in Pune on May 9, 2017.

This dolls festival was more of a ventriloquist kind and less of a true puppets play. An open platform of puppeteers, ventriloquists, mime, magicians, theatre practitioners, and event managers.

Surprised to see a gathering of 40-50 performers-mostly ventriloquists and magicians with their respective talking dolls mostly made by Mr. Krishnaji Gode who is an expert in building various kinds of talking dolls.

The hall lined up on both sides with various kinds of stick and glove puppets majority of them made out of paper mache heads.

Smt. Sandhya Sabane of Pune is into Puppetry for the last 30 years. She uses Puppetry to teach government school Marathi medium students and also works with two NGOs who in turn work with Slum children. Hardly anyone knows her.

It was nice to see Sandhya Ma’am with a Ganesha string puppet that she carried along and presented a Ganesh Vandana as a mark of the inaugural.

A school teacher Ms. Deepali Babhulkar from Amaravati, Maharashtra who received her basic training in puppetry course from the Centre for Cultural Resource and Training CCRT, New Delhi has taken up puppetry to her heart and conducts workshops and training sessions regularly. She also gives performances. More effectively, she uses puppets in her own school as a teaching aid.

Then there was another school teacher Mr. Dinesh Salunke who is a drawing and art teacher. He had mastered the Katputli style of Puppets of Rajasthan and gives performances. 2016 he participated and represented India in International Puppet Festival held in Poland.

On the whole, there is no dearth of artists in Maharashtra. Maharashtra state is well known for rich folk arts, theatre performances, and plays. In spite of being very close to Mumbai city and the influence of Bollywood on one side and various TV channels hub on the other, still people of Maharashtra respect and like to watch live play performances.

Maybe Puppetry in its true form may not be visible, but it’s still alive along with other folk arts and theatre arts. A group of women who are quite active in theatre and mono-acting has taken up puppetry. They engage in storytelling with puppets and puppet shows for children. They also collaborate with event managers and do puppet shows for birthday parties and stuff. Hence, Puppetry is visible under events more than as an art.