Alleging that the system is impractical and detrimental to local artists, a collective of theatre professionals has formally demanded scrapping of the app. There are 15 auditoriums in the city, and among them, four theatres in the city area experience tremendous booking pressure
Marathi theatre artistes protest on Sunday at the Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir premises in Pune
Theatre groups, producers, artists, and event managers staged a strong protest on Sunday at the Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir premises in Pune against the local civic body's newly launched booking app. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) launched the ‘Rangyatra’ mobile application for online booking of municipal theatres on its 75th anniversary on March 15.
ADVERTISEMENT
Alleging that the system is impractical and detrimental to local artists, a collective of theatre professionals has formally demanded scrapping of the app. There are 15 auditoriums in the city, and among them, four theatres in the city area experience tremendous booking pressure.
Babasaheb Patil, Maharashtra state president of the Nationalist Congress Party's movie, art, and culture wings, told mid-day, “Since it is an online system, anyone can book the theatre from anywhere. Large event companies may dominate the booking system, leaving small and local theatre groups at a disadvantage. Instead of this, the civic administration should focus on providing proper basic amenities like clean washrooms and drinking water in the auditoriums.”
Marathi actor Prashant Damle said, “The distribution of dates for plays is very close to the heart of any artist. Theatre artists overcome all sorts of hurdles to perform. PMC has been cooperative in the past. But this time, they made a decision without understanding our difficulties. Though they have launched the app, they should not implement it immediately. The authorities should organise a meeting with us, make necessary changes, and then relaunch the app.”
Sunil Mahajan, president of the Kothrud branch of Natyaparishad, said, “The PMC's culture department did not take anyone into confidence before launching this app. PMC usually discusses new initiatives with us, but this time, they did not inform us. We met the authorities and requested them to refrain from launching the app, but they hurriedly did so on the PMC anniversary.”
Additionally, veteran actors and producers such as Sharad Ponkshe, Bhagyashree Desai, Ashok Hande, and Meghraj Raje Bhosale (president of Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir), have also expressed their disapproval. The theatre community stated that online reservations are inconvenient for theatre managers, producers, artists, and folk performers, making it difficult to plan performances efficiently. They argued that PMC lacks the infrastructure to handle a high volume of online booking requests, raising concerns about mismanagement and technical issues. The requirement for advance payments is also a financial burden for many Marathi theatre producers.
Until now, bookings for PMC-run theatres and cultural centres were made through physical visits to the cultural department. In an effort to modernise the process, PMC launched the ‘Rangyatra’ app on March 12, allowing for digital reservations. However, 15 major theatre organisations have opposed the move, stating that the new system is flawed and may lead to unfair advantages for larger event management companies. A delegation representing these organisations met with PMC’s cultural department head, Sunil Ballal, and submitted a memorandum expressing their concerns.
The statement was endorsed by several key figures in the industry, including Sunil Mahajan (Sambad), Pravin Barve (Parag Publicity), Sameer Hampi (S H Enterprises), Satyajit Dhandekar (Rajeshwari), Mohan Kulkarni (Manoranjan), Baba Patil (Marathi Film Association), Vijay Patwardhan (Vijay Patwardhan Foundation), Shirish Kulkarni (Rangyatra), and Yogesh Supekar (All Artist Foundation).
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
