Shruti Marathe responds to Vidyadhar Joshi's questions on Kalavant pathak's dhol-tasha playing

The Ganeshotsav festival has just ended on a note of enthusiasm. On Anant Chaturdashi, big immersion processions were taken out at many places across the state as devotees bade farewell to Bappa. Ganeshotsav brings the sound of dhol-tasha and young people dancing to its beat. Dhol-tasha pathaks are in great demand, whether for the arrival of Ganaraya or for the immersion, and the players practise for many days beforehand.

The Kalavant dhol-tasha pathak is among Pune's well-known dhol-tasha pathaks. Many artistes from the Marathi entertainment world are seen taking part in it. During Ganeshotsav, photos and videos of several artistes, including actors Shruti Marathe, Siddharth Jadhav, Tejaswini Pandit and Saurabh Gokhale, playing the dhol-tasha are widely discussed on social media. Videos of the Kalavant pathak playing in Pune's Ganesh immersion procession have surfaced in earlier years too.

Actor Vidyadhar Joshi raised some questions on social media about this pathak. After his post, actor Shruti Marathe, who is part of the pathak, replied to him directly in a comment. The exchange between the two artistes drew wide attention.

In a Facebook post, Joshi asked two questions about the playing of the Kalavant pathak's artistes. He asked how long they actually play in the immersion procession. He also asked whether they play continuously with the same energy they show in social media reels.

In her comment on the post, Marathe answered his questions. She said the pathak's artistes practise for about a month and a half. During the 11 days of Ganeshotsav they perform 14 times, while the immersion procession on the last day lasts about seven and a half hours.

Saying "We love playing from the heart", Marathe added that if he had doubts about the playing, he should come and see for himself next year. She also remarked that "answers to questions are not found by posting on Facebook from the comfort of home".

After Marathe's comment, Joshi replied to her. He said the first three lines of her comment had already answered his question. Saying "I have complete faith in you", he made clear there was no need to come and see for himself. He shared his own experience that the listener or viewer can suffer more than the player.

Joshi also clarified that his questions arose only from watching the reels and that he had not seen the actual playing. He thanked Marathe for answering the question he had asked on Facebook. In his comment he also wrote, "If you are angry with me, that is fair enough".

The exchange between Marathe and Joshi has become a talking point on social media. Marathe answered Joshi, who had raised the questions, with full details of her pathak's practice and playing. Joshi then clarified his position and thanked her for the reply.