Doha: KSQ's Kannada Play 'Ondu Aata Bhattaradu' Captivates Theatre Lovers
Report: Gladson D'Almeida
Pics: Alexis Castelino
Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Doha, Sep 30: The Kannada theatre lovers had grand entry into the weekend as much-awaited Kannada play 'Ondu Aata Bhattaradu' was staged at the Doha Cinema on Thursday September 29 evening. Though the play had to be staged one day in advance owing to certain inevitable technical reasons at the eleventh hour, there was no dearth of audience as theatre buffs thronged in huge numbers.
The well-known comedy play by popular actor, playwright-director Yeshwant Sirdeshpande's troupe 'Guru Samsthe' kept the audience glued to their seats with superb plot, coupled with amazing acting skills of the troupe members who were flown in all the way from Karnataka. The comedy had the audience in splits as the play picked up the tempo right from the beginning.
The director of the play Yeshwant Sirdeshpande is a popular film actor as well. However, it is his love for the Kannada theatre which has brought him name and fame. A popular theatre personality, most of Sirdeshpande's plays have run for over 500 shows, and include the Kannada plays All The Best,Rashichakra, Olave jeevana Shakshatkara, Neenaanaadre Naaneenena, Sahi Ri Sahi, Hingadre etc.
Having had the privilege of watching Sirdeshpande's another hit Kannada play 'Sahi-re-Sahi' a couple of years ago, the Doha Kannada theatre lovers turned out in big numbers on Thursday evening. The play was staged by Karnataka Sangha Qatar, a premier organization uniting all the Kannadigas settled in Qatar.
The troupe comprised of Sunetra Pandit, Chidanand Kulkarni, Dharmendra Kadur, Nagaraj M J, Poornima V D, Bhagya E, Gururaj Chaparada and Jeevan Fernandes.
Chidanand Kulkarni has been integral part of Yeshwant Sirdeshpande's Guru Samsthe, the Kannada repertory that was founded in 1984 in Hubli, and has carved a niche for himself in Kannada theatre.
Sunetra is a well-acclaimed Kannada actress and voice-over artiste. Shea has come a long way from playing the lead role in her maiden play Hucchha Munseefa. Since then she has worked with directors like Uma Shankar, K V Nagaraj Murthy, Suresh Anagalli, Walter D'Souza, Yeshwant Sirdeshpande etc. But she has acquired more fame as an accomplished voice-over artiste. She holds the distinction of winning the best Voice of Year award for her maiden voice-over to one of Kannada's finest actors Prema in blockbuster movie Om. Since then she has lent her voice to almost all leading actresses such as Charulatha, Silpa, Rambha, Ramya Krishna etc. Along with this she has continued acting in television serials and her role in Sihi Kahi Chandru's Silly Lally is still fresh in the minds of the audience.
Earlier the chief guest of the evening M R Khureshi, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy, Doha and guest of honour Dr Ramanand Shetty, renowned surgeon and Ex-Vice-chancellor of Rajeev Gandhi University of Health Sciences were escorted to the dais by KSQ president V S Mannangi and vice-president Dr Sanjay Kudari. The KSQ executive committee members welcomed the guests with bouquets. The Guru Samsthe artistes were also felicitated on the occasion. The short stage programme came to an end with the vote of thanks proposed by KSW General secretary Deepak Shetty. KSQ PR and children's coordinator Manjunath compered the programme.
The main sponsors of the evening were Al Mufta Contracting Company, Jas Group of companies, Qatar Design & Consortium ALMA Aluminum & Steels, Al Mayyad International Group and Structural Qatar WLL while JAFCO, SVMK, Doha Marble Centre and Proscape were the co-sponsors of the show. Veenus Electricals and Apollo Enterprises were the associate sponsors of the play.