Patankar shares that the music covers many forms of Hindustani classical tradition, like the lesser performed tarana and jhoola.

“It doesn’t demonise Ravana, but looks at him with a balanced eye, as a warrior, learned man, patron of the arts especially music, and his remorse on falling from grace,” explains Patankar, who trained under Bhide-Deshpande. For instance, the bandish on Sita in raag Shri (madhya taal) is composed by Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. The music too aligns with the feminist theme of the show. “I reached out to my batch mates from primary school, Patankar and Bhongale and a format of live mixed arts was conceived,” says Apte. The idea of a concert like this was woven together by Apte, who runs a Kathak school called Nrityavedh. The show will portray women from Hindu mythology including Saraswati, Sita, Rukmini (Rakhumai in Marathi), Radha, Ahilya and Draupadi through bandishes in Hindustani classical music, a Kathak recital and painting. Hindustani vocalist Saniya Patankar and artist Mrunal Bhongale will also share the stage with Mahabaleshwarkar and Apte for the two-hour show titled Kala Sanyunk, which translates to mean a confluence of art.

We want to cover all their education costs from the school fee to the stationery, commute and other allied expenses,” says Hindustani classical vocalist Nitin Mahabaleshwarkar, who has been working on similar causes associated with the school for a little over two decades and will collaborate with Apte this week. Through this event, we aim to raise funds for the new session (2019-20), which starts in June. After some effort, we got the students admitted to BSM and have been sponsoring their education. “Their teacher wanted a wider avenue for them and reached out to us. At the alumni meet, a teacher informed Apte that a group of 15 students from the slums of Yerawada slums who were taught informally by an individual from their locality. Last year, Kathak danseuse Madhuri Apte gathered together with the alumni of Bal Shikshan Mandir (BSM) to come up with a show that would do her teachers proud. Attend a classical dance, music and art show aimed at raising funds for the education of underprivileged children

Saraswati vandana kathak dance