Great orators vanish

Great orators vanish

CAMIL PARKHE
Sunday, July 11, 2010 AT 12:00 AM (IST)
Tags: Shivajirao Bhosale, Orator
Newspapers in Maharashtra prominently carried last week the news of Shivajirao Bhosale's death. Bhosale was a former vice-chancellor, writer and college principal for several years. But it was the orator in him that was the highlight of all the news stories, obits and editorials. Professionals like teachers, lawyers and preachers have to constantly put their oratorical skills to test and only some of them stand out as good orators. As a reporter in Aurangabad, I had covered Bhosale's week-long lecture series on
"Dnyaneshwari." The innumerable members of the audience were left spellbound each day with his oratorical skills.
Acharya Atre was undoubtedly the greatest orator among the towering personalities who led the Samyutka Maharashtra movement in the 1950s. After Atre, humorist P.L. Deshpande mesmerised the Marathi-speaking audience. I had attended a three-day lecture series delivered by this popular writer in Goa. On the first day, I had managed to secure a seat reserved for journalists in the packed hall and experienced his power of oratory. The next day, I had to hear him standing in the crowded passage that led to the rows of seats in the hall. On the last day, the hall was packed half an hour before the speech. I could only hear P.L., not see him.
Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare is among the veteran orators Maharashtra has produced. There were many other personalities whose lectures drew thousands of people in various cities. Keertankar Govindswami Aphale, editor Madhav Gadkari, writers Ram Shewalkar and Y.D. Phadke are some of persons whose oratory skill impressed masses.
As I went through the obits on Shivajirao Bhosale, I wondered who are the gen-next orators who can step into his shoes. There are scores of orators from various fields. But none can draw people in as large numbers as Atre, P.L., Bhosale or Purandare did. Of course, this is no reflection on their oratorical skills but an outcome of the changing era. In the present age of 24-hour news channels, live and reality shows, and entertainment, how many people would visit a hall and listen to a speaker for over two hours? And how can an orator hone his oratory skill without a constant feedback from the audiences? The future may bring in many popular orators but they are unlikely to reach the stature of Purandare, Bhosale, P.L. Deshapande and Atre. Titans in the field of oratory with a large following may well be a thing of the past.

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FROM SHYAMCHI AAI TO 3 IDIOTS, VAZE COMES A LONG WAY

Sakaal Times

FROM SHYAMCHI AAI TO 3 IDIOTS, VAZE COMES A LONG WAY

CAMIL PARKHE
Thursday, January 07, 2010 AT 01:43 AM (IST)
Tags: Actor, Bollywood, 3 Idiots, film
City-based actor Madhav Vaze has played a small role in Bollywood’s latest sensation ‘3 Idiots’ and “this experience of working with Aamir Khan was most enriching and satisfying,” says the child hero of the Acharya Atre-directed Marathi film ‘Shyamchi Aai,’ which had won the President’s Award in 1950s.
In ‘3 Idiots,’ Vaze has played the role of father of Joy Lobo, a student companion of Aamir Khan who commits suicide due to his failure to complete a project within the deadline.
Speaking to Sakaal Times, Vaze said, “My role in the film lasts hardly a few minutes but the day-long shooting conducted for the scene offered me an insight into the personality of Aamir Khan as a talented and hard working actor.”
In the film, Vaze acts in two scenes, one receiving the news of Joy’s suicide and the second one at his son’s funeral on a rainy day where Aamir is also present. During the final rites, Aamir Khan sarcastically tells the college principal (Boman Irani) that he is lucky that the police have registered the death as suicide and not as a murder.
“Before giving the shot, Aamir wanted to know from director Rajkumar Hirani as to whether he delivers the dialogue soon after entering the cemetery or whether he says the sentence after being present at the site for some time,” said Vaze.
“The director did not understand why Aamir asked this question but having the theatre background, I immediately knew the reason behind the question. Aamir wanted to be in that mood and appearance depending on the answer to the question. When Hirani said that he is at the cemetery for a long time, Aamir asked for a bucket filled with water and poured four to five mugs of water on his face to make him totally drenched. This was despite the fact that all of us actors present there were already soaked with artificial showers,” said Vaze.
Aamir repeated this act three to four times for each take of the shooting of the dialogue and this only revealed his passion to be perfectionist, said Vaze. “After the shooting, Aamir sat with me along with Boman Irani and director Hirani.
THESPIAN’S STINT IN BOLLYWOODNoted stage artiste Madhav Vaze, the child hero of the Acharya Atre-directed Marathi film ‘Shyamchi Aai,’ which had won the President’s Award in 1950s, has played the role of father of Joy Lobo in ‘3 Idiots.’ During a brief conversation, Aamir Khan expressed his wish to Vaze to work sometime in a stage play