Musical dedicated to prominent 'tamasha' artist

In a fitting tribute to her prominence as tamasha and lavani performer, the late Vithabai Bahu Mang Narayangaonkar’s life will now be presented on stage through song and dance.

Producer Abhay Kulkarni of Panchami wants to highlight the struggles that marked Vithabai’s career. “We have selected important landmarks in Vithabai’s career. Like the time she went to NEFA province to entertain the Indian troops in the Indo-China war,” Kulkarni told DNA. “Then-defence minister YB Chavan had requested artistes from Maharashtra to go and perform for Indian troops. Vithabai went along with Vasant Bapat and PL Deshpande, keeping her three-month daughter with a relative,” Kulkarni added.

Vithabai was born in 1935 in the temple town of Pandharpur and hence the name Vitha, after the popular deity Vithoba. She was born into a tamasha family where her father and uncle together ran a tamasha troupe called Bhau-Bapu Mang Narayangaonkar Tamasha group. Kulkarni said Vithabai’s songs will be added to the musical, and traditional folk dance and instruments will be used to communicate the pathos of her life.

Documented work on Vitha’s life reveals that her relationship with her husband was so bad that when she was nine months pregnant, he forced her to give a tamasha performance. “In the middle of the performance, she experienced labour pains. She went backstage, gave birth to her daughter and returned to perform. Such was her life,” said Kulkarni.

Vithabai passed away on January 15, 2002. Kulkarni said the musical will open on Annabhau Sathe’s birth anniversary on August 1 at the PL Deshpande Kala Academy mini-theatre
in Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi.