Waah Re Shahir!

Sambhaji Bhagat awarded the MIFTA award 2012 for SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA

Namrata Bhingarde


	SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA

The play's title SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA attracted the attention of people when it first appeared in the newspapers in May 2012. The audience that was drawn to watch the production owing to its interesting title were amazed by the uniqueness of the play. After a long time a play based on the declining Shahiri tradition of Maharashtra had appeared on the Marathi stage. It mesmerised the audience. What was also interesting was that the play echoed the idea that Shivaji Maharaj belonged not only to the Marathas but also to the Dalits and to the Muslims. With the use of musical instruments like the tuntani and the daf, shahiri re-established itself on the Marathi stage. The play has received the MIFTA (Marathi International Film & Theatre Awards) 2012 award for its music and consequently Sambhaji Bhagat, its songwriter, has strengthened his position in professional Marathi Theatre.

Sambhaji Bhagat is known as a contemporary folk singer who grew up under the influence of the cultural traditions and folk music practiced in the Panchgani hills of the Sahayadri range. The caste system in these areas was very rigid. However, these out casted sections of the society were culturally very rich. Sambhaji, early in his childhood, learnt that music for the outcastes was a way to vent their grief. This association with music and poetry which was formed at an early age was pursued by Sambhaji in his adult life. He gained more from the music he learnt than the lessons taught in school. Though he wasn't interested in academics, the art and cultural team assembled by his teacher, who he refers to as Devghare Master, was a major attraction. Furthermore, Devghare Master did not believe in caste distinction and therefore Sambhaji had immense faith in him. Devghare Master and his team would be present at every function and festival in the village. It is with this team of artists that Sambhaji trained his voice and gradually became popular as Shahir Sambhaji Bhagat. He later started performing at several places.


	SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA

His firm belief that his writings should reach wherever there is injustice, exploitation and misery, sharpened his poetry. Poetry gatherings for Sambhaji took on new meaning beyond the recitals of the old compositions by the well-known composers. Sambhaji began to compose new poetry which was a critique of life as he saw around him. When he came to Mumbai to study at Ambedkar college, he got introduced to the politics of caste for the first time. His writing against caste differences and social injustice shone even more with the new ideas he was exposed to. He met people with similar beliefs and was introduced to the leftist ideologies.

Having understood that culture could be the most important tool to expose injustice, Sambhaji started performing street plays for the very first time in Marathi. He closely studied the street play movement that took place in Bengal and gave rise to a similar movement in Maharashtra. He modernised the traditional Jalsas (cultural programmes) through the medium of the new Ambedkari Jalsas. But he was also quick to notice the fading attention spans in the age of the television. Since three hour long programmes could get boring, he organised shorter musical performances. He tried to reach out to the maximum number of people he could with these performances and used the language of the youth.


	Sambhaji Bhagat (Second from right) at the MIFTA Awards

He re-arranged the words traditionally used by the Shahirs to create an altogether new form. He also went to prison several times in keeping with the tradition of the movement. However, in spite of being closely associated with the cultural movement in Maharashtra, Sambhaji had never written or composed songs for plays as yet. He had never felt the need to do plays in order to represent the problems of the common man since his voice alone could reach his audience even in an open playground. He truly had the people's support.

The constant misrepresentation of Shivaji's history however disturbed Sambhaji Bhagat greatly. Shivaji Maharaj, according to his reading of history, had never believed in caste and yet some historians had manipulated facts to claim Shivaji as per their politics. To bring forth this unexplored aspect of history, Sambhaji wrote the 'Shivjalsa'. He wrote and composed songs and planned to perform them in villages. Then writer Rajkumar Tangde suggested the idea of transforming 'Shivjalsa' into a play. Nandu Madhav took over the direction and the play SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA based on Sambhaji Bhagat's songs was produced. Farmers from Jalna act in the play. They are not professional actors in the traditional sense but yet they do a great job. With the MIFTA award, the people's poet Sambhaji has elevated folk music to a high pedestal.

Click here to find out if there are any upcoming shows of the play

Namrata Bhingarde is a reporter with Dainik Divya Marathi. She has been writing a column on tribal culture and folk art for the Rasik supplement of the newspaper. This article was first published in Dainik Divya Marathi on October 28, 2012. It has been edited and published here with a new title. The article has been translated by Sudeep Modak from the original Marathi.

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Waah Re Shahir! Sambhaji Bhagat awarded the MIFTA award 2012 for SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA

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Waah Re Shahir!

Sambhaji Bhagat awarded the MIFTA award 2012 for SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR MOHALLA