by Suman Gupta
The inaugural function of renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Dr Vasantrao Deshpande’s birth centenary celebration has been organised by the Chief Trustee of the Vasantrao Deshpande Sangeet Sabha Pandit Chandrakant Limaye and South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur, Ministry at culture, Government of India at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi, Mumbai between 5 PM and 10 PM on 5 May.
As part of the function, a special program titled “Vasant Bahar”, throwing light on Vasantrao’s singing, will be staged. On the occasion his disciple Pandit Limaye will perform with his troupe. He will present, memorable compositions of Vasantrao, including “Bandish” and “Thumri” and will also perform “Natya Sangeet” and film music. In an audio visual program, the audience will also get an opportunity to enjoy the songs by Nupur Kashid-Gadgil (Gwalior gharana) and Padmbhushan Pandita Prabha Atre. The program is free for the audience.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, Pandit Shankar Abhyankar, Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande, Faiyyaz, Achyut Godbole, former Police Commissioner Arvind Inamdar and others will be present. They are expected to revive the memories of Vasantrao on the occasion.
The programs will be organised by VDSS also in Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nashik, Solapur, Belgaon and Goa on the occasion of the birth centenary through out the year. Besides, workshops will also be organised. Deshpande who has left indelible mark of his musical prowess, had command over “surs”, purity in singing and had capacity to captivate listeners with his mercurial and dramatic style of singing. To commemorate Deshpande a souvenir titled “Nakshtra Vasant” will also be released.
