Ambarish Mishra (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 19, 2019)

Mumbai: It was eighty summers ago that Lata Mangeshkar, then all of nine, presented her first musical show on a sultry evening in 1939. The GenNext of the Mangeshkar clan is rejoicing over the 80th anniversary of the diva’s Solapur concert, and a do at her Pedder Road residence is on the cards. “It’s unbelievable. How time flies. I think it happened only last month,” Mangeshkar told TOI over the telephone on Saturday.

Having begun her riyaaz at age five under her father, legendary actor-singer Master Dinanath Mangeshkar, she was keen on performing on stage in keeping with the popular jalsa (public concert) tradition of yore. Opportunity came her way when her father, who presided over a repertory theatre company, pitched his tent in Solapur in 1939.

“Several music aficionados once came home with a proposal for a jalsa. I overheard the conversation and promptly told Baba (father) that I too would share the honours with him. Baba laughed off my suggestion saying, ‘You can’t sing. You have long years of training before you. You are too young for a public concert’,” reminisced Mangeshkar, the 2002 recipient of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, for her sterling contribution to popular music.

The sponsors grabbed the idea with both hands though. They told Dinanathraoji that it would be a unique concert featuring two generations of the Mangeshkar family. Baba asked her to consult Maiee, her mother. The matriarch tried to dissuade her daughter but to no avail. “No one could have moved me from my Himalayan resolve,” she added.

Having finally got a nod from her father, Mangeshkar rushed to a nearby studio and finalized a photo shoot the following day. “I wore a nice frock, did my hair and rushed to the photo studio. I told the photographer, who was armed with an ancient camera, that the photograph would be used for the ad campaign of my first concert. The man was impressed,” laughed Mangeshkar who at 89 remembers every little detail of the incident with remarkable clarity.

Bhagwat Chitra Mandir auditorium was packed to capacity. She sang a composition in Raag Khambawati followed by a song from one of her father’s popular Marathi plays.

Was she nervous? “No. My father had told me before the concert not to sing under duress. ‘Think that all those present in the auditorium, including myself, are listeners and that you have to entertain them with best music’,” she said.

Having earned a prolonged applause from a select gathering of music buffs, and a couple of admiring glances from Master Dinanath, Mangeshkar subsequently sat next to her father who was all set to enthral the audience. Soon, Master Dinanath began to deliver his trademark dazzling taan while his daughter, her head rested on her father’s lap, went off to sleep. “I was a tad tired,” she said.

Four years later, Mangeshkar sang for a Marathi film produced by noted actor-director Master Vinayak Karnataki following her father’s sudden death in 1942. In 1947, she joined Hindi cinema as playback singer and within a year the melody queen was belting out hit songs in ‘Mahal’, ‘Majboor’, ‘Andaz’, ‘Badi Bahen’ and Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’, all in a row. The rest, as they say, is history. “In later years I performed in major cities of the world. I have lost count of my public shows. However, the Solapur jalsa is close to my heart,” she signed off. 

Three movie theatres in Solapur cater primarily to the Telugu migrants who have lived in Maharashtra for generations

Priyanka Kakodkar (THE TIMES OF INDIA; April 14, 2019)

Solapur: Padma Chitra Mandir in the heart of Solapur city has just finished screening NTR’s biopic. More than 70 years old — its stunning art deco facade still intact — the theatre shows mainly Telugu films.

Its among the three theatres that cater to the large population of Telugu migrants in Maharashtra city, which is close to both Telangana and Karnataka. Though fewer in numbers than Kannada speakers, Telugu migrants account for 2-3 lakh people. Nearly 70% belong to the weaving community of Padmashalis.

“When there is a big release of our favourite heroes like Pawan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi or Junior NTR, we garland their posters with marigold flowers and lemons,” says Naresh Konda, who works in a garment factory.

In the past, for big-ticket releases, the police were called in for crowd control and fans would set up large cardboard cutouts of their heroes. Today, a large section watches Telugu films on TV though there is a dedicated theatre audience.

“Telugu speakers form a sizeable voter base. Solapur has had three Telugus peaking MPs,” says Ashok Indapure, former general secretary of the Padmashali jati sanstha.

Earlier, the Padmashalis voted mainly Congress but now they have shifted towards BJP, says Indapure. CPM has a following among the beedi workers, with its leader Narsayya Adam winning assembly polls thrice from here.

The Telangana migrants made their way to the state more than 175 years ago, escaping a fierce drought. They settled mainly in Solapur, Icchalkaranji, Nanded, Jalna, Pune and Bhiwandi.

Since Solapur was historically a textile town, Telugu migrants worked mainly in its mills and handloom enterprises. Later, they moved to powerlooms, ready-made garments and beedi trade.

In the beedi-workers colony in Shastri Nagar, locals retain much of Telangana culture including food and customs. Many even arrange marriages in Telangana or find partners for their children from there. “I got my daughter married in Telangana because of its Re 1 rice scheme,” says Laxmibai Vashi, whose family has been in Solapur for generations.

“We eat traditional Telangana food. The only difference is we started eating chapatis in Solapur. Earlier it was only rice,” says Vithalbai Enganti.

The religious jatras in Telangana draw many from Solapur. “At least 10,000 people from Solapur travel each year for the jatra at the Edupayala Durgamma temple in Telangana,” says Srinivas Dasari, reporter with a local paper.

While the migrants speak Telugu, most cannot read or write it. “Since there were no Telugu schools here, they find it difficult to read and write,” says Dasari.

Now, the community is undergoing reverse migration. The educated younger generations no longer wants to work in beedi or garment trade. “They’re migrating to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad,” says Indapure. “The need to work and fill their stomachs brought them to Solapur. Now, it’s taking them away.”

MID-DAY (March 8, 2017)

Rinku Rajguru, who became an overnight star following her turn in Nagraj Manjule's Marathi blockbuster, Sairat, appeared for her class 10 exams yesterday. "I covered the syllabus in just over a month of study," she said while arriving at the exam centre in Solapur.

Talking about taking to her books while filming for her next projects, Rinku said, "The transition from lights, camera, action to physics, chemistry, math was not difficult. The one-and-a-half months I got for studies was enough."

The National Award-winning actress, and ex-student of Jijamata Kanya Prashala girls' school in Solapur, pulled out of school last year, after securing an 81 per cent in class 9 exams. While her parents attributed it to her "hectic schedule", reports suggested crowds that regularly gathered near the premises to catch a glimpse of the young icon put other student to inconvenience.

Sairat earned over Rs 100 crore and became the highest grossing film in the history of Marathi films.