Nagpur: Vidarbha’s vibrant Zhadipatti theatre will soon step beyond Maharashtra, with the state govt planning to take the region’s distinctive folk plays to audiences across India, cultural affairs minister Ashish Shelar said during a daylong visit to Nagpur on Wednesday.Giving the traditional theatre form a financial boost, Shelar announced artists and organisers staging Zhadipatti plays would now be eligible for a govt grant of 50,000 per performance. He said Zhadipatti had been included in the state’s folk-art grant scheme after the govt realised that the earlier list did not adequately represent Maharashtra’s diverse traditional art forms.Speaking to media at Nagpur airport, Shelar said the state had initially extended capital and performance grants to five folk-art forms. “The scheme required changes based on the needs of artists. On the directions of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, other important folk arts were added, including Zhadipatti, which represents Vidarbha’s cultural heritage,” he said.Shelar interacted with Zhadipatti producers, directors, writers and actors at Shrimant Baburao Dhanwate Hall. He urged theatre groups to use the scheme to stage more performances. Shelar also visited the National Cancer Institute and the Professor Rajendra Singh Science Exploratory.Shelar described folk performers as custodians of the state’s cultural heritage who kept traditions alive despite scarce resources and financial difficulties. “Zhadipatti is integral to Vidarbha’s identity. Its plays should be staged in other states so that people across the country can experience this unique theatre tradition,” he said.The minister also visited the 156-year-old Neel City School, now known as DD Nagar Vidyalaya in Mahal, where RSS founder and first Sarsanghchalak Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar studied.Shelar held discussions with the institution’s management over proposal to transform historic ‘Keshav Kaksha’ into a memorial. He visited Smruti Mandir, Reshimbagh and paid floral tributes to Hedgewar and RSS’s second Sarsanghchalak MS Golwalkar, also known as ‘Guruji’.
