An award-winning author tries to revive the traditional art form of Marathi poetry with her upcoming experimental show today
Dhanashree Lele at a performance
A faint memory of this writer’s great-grandmother churning out some never-heard-before songs while casually sitting on the balcony on a lazy afternoon comes to mind as we speak to Dhanashree Lele. “These poems are called ovi. They were composed and sung on the spot by women during their daily routine consisting of household chores,” the orator, author, scriptwriter and a multilingual compère says.
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Although this poetry form has long been buried by generations, Lele is making an honest effort to bring it back through her shows that celebrate this form of poetry. With Marathi Language Day coming up on February 27, Lele will be performing Ovi Ovi Gumphali: Celebrating Marathi Language Day, an experimental theatre performance at the NCPA today.
“These apparently uneducated women would convey their heart’s emotions through these ovis, laden with excellent lingual and grammatical structure. And because these are oral poems that were not written down, they got washed away with time. Several language scholars like Tara Bhavalkar and Sarojini Babar have preserved ovis through their writing. The show will explore this art form and how it helps bring back a vocabulary that is dying with time,” Lele explains. The evening will see performances by Lele, supported by singers Preeti Joshi and Aditi Prabhudesai. Some of these ovis have also been beautifully converted into songs by composers, Vikram Muzumdar and Ram Dixit.
“I hope this show brings a newfound appreciation for ovis among the younger generations who are completely unfamiliar with this form of poetry,” Lele says, concluding that she hopes this performance ignites a passion for writing ovis among the audience.
On: Today; 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm
At: Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
Entry: First come, first serve
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