Maharashtra Govt`s `Saptarang 2014` musical extravaganza from Jan 3

Mumbai: The Cultural Affairs Department of Maharashtra Government will be ushering in the new year with `Saptrang 2014`, a musical and cultural festival, to be held from January 3-9. The festival would be inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at the Gateway of India here on January 3, Ashutosh Ghorpade, Director of Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra, said. A host of programmes would be organised at the Gateway between January 3 and 5. The show will then move to the Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium in Navi Mumbai on January 6 and 7 and will culminate at the Kashinath Ghanekar Natyagriha in Thane on January 8 and 9, Ghorpade said. The very first day of the festival, where entry would be free, will witness noted singer Shankar Mahadevan and percussionists A Selvaganesh, Vikku Vinayakram and A Shivamani performing `Southern Express`. January 4 will see an early morning recital by singer Roopkumar Rathod who would be featuring in `Sufiana`, a musical fest of Sufi music. The same evening will see Reeva and Group presenting youth music. Maestros Bhupinder and Mitali Singh will follow with an enthralling ghazal rendition. On January 5, lovers of classical music will experience spiritual music in the form of various ragas rendered by Kishori Amonkar at 6 am. Leading Bollywood composers Salim-Suleman would get the audience tapping their feet to the rhythm of popular Hindi film tunes in Bollywood Bite in evening. On January, 6 the festival will feature a lifetime achievement award ceremony. The award, named after noted tamasha artiste Vithabai Narayangaonkar, will be presented to Prabha Shivanekar after which various artistes will feature in the tamasha programme, Ghorpade said.  On January 7, `My Marathi`, a cultural programme, will depict the spectrum of Maharashtrian culture. Wednesday evening will see a presentation of the Prabhakar Panashikar Lifetime Achievement awards for theatre personalities at Thane`s Kashinath Ghanekar Auditorium. Aroon Kakade will be given this award and Ramdas Kamat will be honoured with the Sangitacharya Balvant Pandurang alias Annasaheb Kirloskar Musical Theatre award. This function will be followed by the Naman Natawara cultural programme. `Tu Sur Ka Sagar Hai`, a tribute to the multi-faceted late Manna Dey, will be held on January 9, showcasing the most popular songs sung by Dey in his glittering career, Ghorpade said. The entire cultural festival is open to all, he said and appealed to Mumbaikars to attend the programmes in large numbers and enjoy this unique musical and cultural extravaganza. Free entry passes for `Saptarang 2014` will be available at Rhythm House, Fort; Maharashtra Watch Company, Dadar; Ravindra Natya Mandir; Prabhadevi, Gadkari Rangayatan, Thane; and Vishnudas Bhave Natyagriha Vashi.