Sangeet Natak veteran Nirmala Gogte wins Balgandharva Award for 2020

PUNE Nirmala Gogte, a veteran actor/singer of the Sangeet Natak form of drama has been awarded the Balgandharva Award for the year 2020

PUNE Nirmala Gogte, a veteran actor/singer of the Sangeet Natak form of drama has been awarded the Balgandharva Award for the year 2020.

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The 2021 awards were also announced on Wednesday, with singer Reva Natu, violinist Rama Chobhe, Sameer Hampi, playwright Prasad Vanarase, producer- director Pravin Vaidya, and Ganesh Malvadkar, being named as recipients.

This annual award, given by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has been delayed due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Mayor Murlidhar Mohol, on the eve of Bal Gandharva’s birth anniversary on June 26, made the announcement on Wednesday.

Besides Gogte, awards will be given to Kiran Yadnopavit for writing for cinema and theatre; to Praveen Barve for theatre/play management; to Sandeep Deshmukh for backstage artistes; to senior musician Ravindra Kulkarni; and to Anuradha Rajhans for preservation of Balgandharva’s plays through drama conventions.

Kiran Yadnopavit was elated. “The association with name of this award gives me a high. I believe in his ideology of encompassing the commoner as the central idea of any play. I am glad that people in my city found me worthy of this award.”