Seven back-to-back shows of 'Albatya Galbatya 2.0' in one day in Pune enter record book

The children's play 'Albatya Galbatya 2.0' created history in Marathi theatre. At Balgandharva Rangmandir in Pune on Thursday (the 15th), the same team of artistes performed seven consecutive shows in a single day. The shows began at 7 am and ran until 11.15 pm. The World Record Book of India has recorded it as a 'Shikhar World Record'.

The event gave about 6,500 students of Pune Municipal Corporation schools the chance to watch the play free of cost. Many of the children entered a theatre for the first time. According to the organisers, the initiative was meant to bring the joy of children's theatre to children from ordinary families. Giving children such an experience of theatre was a resolve of Vidyadhar Anaskar, which the event fulfilled.

The play is a production of Advait Theatre. It was written by Ratnakar Matkari and directed by Chinmay Mandlekar. The event was held under the joint auspices of Vidyadhar Anaskar, administrator of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, Rahul Bhandare, producer at Advait Theatre, and Shraddha Hande, producer at Sarvasva Production. Pune Municipal Corporation also supported it.

The record-setting show began with an aarti of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It was inaugurated by Vidyadhar Anaskar and Leena Anaskar, vice-chairperson of Udyam Vikas Bank. Seven shows were held through the day. The last show began at 8.45 pm and ended at 11.15 pm. The World Record Book of India then honoured the whole team before the audience.

Those present at the ceremony included Mayor Manjusha Nagpure, Deputy Mayor Parshuram Wadekar, Dr Santosh Tengle, deputy commissioner for the corporation's cultural and sports department, Neela Shirke, president of the Bal Rangbhoomi Parishad, and social workers Avinash Kamble, Suvarna Thite, Sandeep Vichare, Dr Jayant Shevtekar and Krishna Arane. Particularly notable was the presence of Pratibha Matkari, who played a role in the play about 50 years ago, and her daughter Supriya Vinod.

The artistes kept up their enthusiasm and energy from the first show to the last. Writer-director Pravin Tarade praised the whole team. He said that performing seven consecutive shows with the same energy as the first was a matter of pride for all theatre artistes.

Vidya Bank distributed food items to the children. They were also given the book 'Raju and the Money Tree' so that they would learn about the working of a bank and financial transactions.

For the world record occasion, Balgandharva Rangmandir was decorated with attractive electric lighting. Rangoli at the entrance, balloon decorations, the sound of shehnai and pictures from the play's journey created a festive atmosphere. The children responded to the fun of the play, its jokes and the artistes' acting with applause, whistles and laughter.

In the play, Nilesh Gopnarayan played the witch, Sanibhushan Mungekar played Albatya Galbatya and Shraddha Hande played the princess. A team of ten artistes entertained audiences across the seven shows. Many artistes, including Sachin Goswami, Sanjay Narvekar, Vijay Patkar, Sonali Kulkarni, Prasad Oak, Sankarshan Karhade, Spruha Joshi, Makarand Anaspure and Namrata Sambherao, sent their good wishes. The organisers said the initiative succeeded with the support of various institutions, organisations and individuals.

With this world record of seven consecutive shows, another important milestone has been added to the journey of Marathi children's theatre. Attention now turns to the 1,000th show of 'Albatya Galbatya'.