Sangli is a metropolitan town and the headquarters of Sangli District in Maharashtra, in south-western India. It has earned the nickname "Turmeric City of India" for being the hub of the Asia's largest production and trade of this spice. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and houses many sugar factories. A significant city in South-Western India, it lies 376 km from Mumbai, 230 km from Pune and 638 km from Bangalore. The city has a significant healthcare hub, including its twin City Miraj. Sangli-Miraj combined has more than 1000+ Hospitals and Clinics. Sangli is known as Turmeric city for its global turmeric trade as well grapes, raisins, jaggery and the most significant number of sugar factories in India, with district area having has more than 30 sugar factories.The Sangli region boasts the largest raisin market in Asia. Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad municipal corporation (SMKMC) along with its Urban Agglomeration consisting satellite towns of Madhavnagar & Budhgaon is 93rd biggest in India.
The Chitpavan Brahmin or the Kokanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Karnataka-Maharashtra region.
Narayan Shripad Rajhans, popularly known as Bal Gandharva, was a famous Marathi singer and stage actor. He was known for his roles as female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on stage during his time.
Sangli district is a district of Maharashtra state in India. Sangli city is the district headquarters. It is bordered by Satara district, Solapur district to the North, Karnataka state to the South-East, by Kolhapur district to South-West and by narrow portion on the East side to Ratnagiri district. It is present on the southern tip of Maharashtra.
Mohan Agashe is an Indian psychiatrist and actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 in theatre.
Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NMV) is one of the oldest schools in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The school was founded by the Shikshan Prasarak Mandali, an educational charity, on 1 January 1883. The school has a secondary school section for students in grade five to ten and a junior college for students in grade eleven and twelve.
Prabhakar Panshikar also known as Pant was an actor on Marathi Stage. His character as Lakhoba Lokhande in the drama To Mi Navhech, written by Prahlad Keshav Atre is considered to be one of the immortal roles presented so far on the Marathi theatre. Five unique characters played in this drama To Mee Navhech made him famous in Marathi theatre and Maharashtra. He also performed Aurangzeb's role in a play Ithe Oshalala Mrutyu based on the death of Sambhaji Raje Bhosale. He was the owner of Natyasampada, a Marathi drama production organization.
Bhakti Barve was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), where she acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Ravi Baswani.
Balwant Pandurang Kirloskar, popularly known as Annasaheb Kirloskar, was a Marathi playwright from the Bombay Presidency in British India.
Govind Ballal Deval (1855–1916) was a Marathi playwright from Bombay Presidency, British India.
Satish Vasant Alekar is a Marathi playwright, actor, and theatre director. A founder member of the Theatre Academy of Pune, and most known for his plays Mahanirvan (1974), Mahapoor (1975), Atirekee (1990), Pidhijat (2003), Mickey ani Memsahib (1973), and Begum Barve (1979), all of which he also directed for the Academy. ‘’ Ek Divas Mathakade एकदिवस मठाकडे ‘’ (2012) and ‘’ ठकीशी संवाद Thakishi Samvad’’ (2024) these two recent plays were directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari and Anupam Barve respectively. Along with Mahesh Elkunchwar and Vijay Tendulkar he is considered among the most influential and progressive playwrights in modern Marathi and Indian theatre.
Sangeet Natak is a form of drama which combines prose and poetry in the form of songs to convey the story, similar to musicals. They have played a vital role in the development of Marathi theater and cinema, as well as the Indian film industry. Sangeet Nataks start with the praise of Lord Natraja, which is called Naandi, Mangalaacharan or Suchakpad – usually the famous "Panchatunda Nararundamaldhar" from Sangeet Shakuntal. They are popular for the use of Indian classical music. The "Dramatic Music" is called Natya Sangeet, one of the two popular forms of vocal arts in Maharashtra and surrounding states. The other is Bhavageet.
Marathi theatre is theatre in the Marathi language, mostly originating or based in the state of Maharashtra in India, and elsewhere with Marathi diaspora. Starting in the middle of the 19th century, it flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, it continues to have a marked presence in the State of Maharashtra with a loyal audience base, when most theatre in other parts of India have had tough time facing the onslaught of cinema and television. Its repertoire ranges from musicals, humorous social plays, farces, historical plays like 'Vedat Marathe Veer Daudale Saat' by Bashir Momin Kavathekar, to experimental plays and serious drama of the 1970s onwards, by Vijay Tendulkar, P. L. Deshpande, Mahesh Elkunchwar and Satish Alekar, which have influenced theatre throughout India. In the post-independence era, Bengali theatre, and Marathi theatre have been at the forefront of innovations and significant dramaturgy in Indian theatre.
Suhasini Joshi, popularly known by her screen name Suhas Joshi, is a Marathi theater, film and television actress. She is also seen in many Bollywood films. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 for Acting.
Bhalchandra Pendharkar was a Marathi stage actor, singer and drama producer.
Ramdas Shantaram Kamat was an Indian musician who worked in Sangeet Natak, Marathi theatre.
Krishnaji Ganesh Phulambrikar (1898–1974), popularly known as Master Krishnarao, was a musical genius - an Indian vocalist, classical musician and composer of Hindustani music. He was credited with the creation of three Hindustani ragas and several bandishes. Phulambrikar, a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, was also the music composer of several movies, including Dharmatma, a 1935 Hindi film starring Bal Gandharva, a renowned Marathi singer and Padosi, a 1941 directorial venture of V. Shantaram. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1971, for his contributions to music.
Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar were an Indian filmmaker duo working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. Bhave and Sukthankar had made seventeen feature films, more than fifty short films, and four TV serials; all of which had been written by Bhave. Sunil Sukthankar, a Film and Television Institute of India graduate (1989) is also an actor and a lyricist. He has written more than 90 songs for their own films as well as various other Marathi and Hindi films. The duo had won various national and international accolades for the films Doghi (1995), Dahavi Fa (2002), Vastupurush (2002), Devrai (2004), Astu (2016) and Kaasav (2017). At the 64th National Film Awards, their feature film Kaasav won the prestigious President Golden Lotus National Award.
