Media exposure triggers historic agitation
The sale of Lata Mangeshkar's"Jayprabha Studio" has been prevented by the film fraternity and the citizens of Kolhapur, after the Maharashtra Times broke the story.
The city corporation is all set to retain the studio as a heritage structure, says PRABHAKAR KULKARNI.
The “Jayprabha Studio” at Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra is owned by noted playback singer Lata Mangeshkar. While the surrounding area of the historical studio is already sold, Lata wanted to sell the studio also as she has stressed that being the owner of the studio she has the legal right to sell it. But when the news of the sale deed was flashed in the first issue of the Kolhapur edition of the Mumbai-based Maharashtra Times of the Times Group, the public and various constituents of the film industry were so enraged that they took out a procession demanding that the studio be preserved as it is a heritage site and a historical monument of the film industry.
As a heritage or a building of historical importance the Jayprabha Studio, which is a monument of Marathi and other regional languages film production and television series, should be preserved as per norms and legal provisions. When the news about the deal came out, citizens and the various constituents of the film industry reacted against the deal with demonstrations and demanded that the studio be acquired by the Maharashtra Government and preserved for film production. An all-party action committee has been formed to prevent the sale of the studio, and the government has been requested to take possession of the studio in public interest.
The procession taken out by the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM), a State-wide representative body of the film industry, with banners depicting the studio owner Lata Mangeshkar and playback singer Suresh Wadkar, who is a middleman in the sale, was halted at the gate of the studio. A statement demanding that the studio be preserved was handed over to the studio manager Subhash Patil. The statement was signed and presented by Prasad Surve, chief of the ABMCM, as also by vice chairman Milind Ashtekar, secretary Subhash Bhurke, and other office-bearers.
Demand
The statement demanded that the state government pay the agreed price of Rs.11 crore to the owner, Lata Mangeshkar, and preserve the studio with additional facilities for film production. This was more so because the studio space was offered by former ruler of Kolhapur, Chattrapati Rajaram Maharaja, in 1934 and its significance as a heritage structure has been endorsed as not merely Marathi, but also Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu films and TV serials have been produced at this studio in the past 78 years.
According to Shrikant Digrajkar, a long-time personal secretary of the original owner and doyen of Marathi film industry Bhalji Pendharkar, the Kolhapur Maharaja had sold the studio space and the surrounding area to him on the specific condition that the studio and the surrounding space be preserved for production of films and not for any other purpose. It was later purchased in an auction by Lata Mangeshkar when Bhalji had taken a loan on it and as it was not repaid the studio was auctioned by the then Bank of Kolhapur. A number of proposals were made when Bhalji was alive for purchase of the studio but the condition was that it should be used only for film production. It was only when the State government waived this condition that the move to sell the studio was initiated. The studio is said to have been purchased by Popat Gundesha with an offer of provisional agreement amount of Rs.3 crore.
The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation had passed a resolution for the preservation of the studio and the area around it, and it was duly published in newspapers inviting suggestions or objections if any. But even before the expiry of the period of one month, in response to a letter by Lata Mangeshkar to the then chief minister, the Urban Development Department issued an order annulling the corporation’s resolution saying that while the studio should be reserved as a monument of the film industry, the area around it should be allowed to be developed as a residential and commercial complex as desired by Lata Mangeshkar.
The state government’s action caused distress among the socio-political and cultural constituents in this region. The government’s quick action on the basis of a letter by Lata Mangeshkar was criticised as a discriminatory response to a celebrity’s request while common people’s demands are not considered so quickly, and that too in her favour without any consideration for the other side.
Vehement reaction
After the demonstrations against the proposed sale were held, both Lata Mangeshkar and Suresh Wadkar, who confirmed that he was the middleman in the sale, reacted vehemently through their media statements saying that the studio was personal property and its sale could not be prevented by any objection or agitation. Suresh Wadkar, who originally belongs to Kolhapur as does Lata, went to the extent of declaring that he felt ashamed of calling himself a Kolhapurian, as an agitation had been launched against the sale of the studio legally owned by Lata Mangeshkar.
In response to the agitation, the sale deed of “Jayprabha Studio” is likely to be cancelled. Vilas Gundesha, brother of the studio purchaser, Popat Gundesha, has declared in a meeting that the sale deed will be cancelled as it needs to be preserved as a monument of the film industry. As Popat Gundesha was on a foreign tour, his brother was present at the meeting and declared the decision.
The meeting was also held in Bal Gopal Talim institution (a wrestling institute) and its chief Nivasrao Salokhe presided over the meeting. Mr. Salokhe stressed that the studio be preserved and said that if the deal was imposed, all Talim institutes in the city would participate in the resistance movement. ABMCM’s office-bearers Subhash Bhruke, film director Yeshwant Bhalkar, Kolhapur Municipal Corporation member Adil Pharas, former councilor Subhash Vora, and other dignitaries participated in the discussion. The meeting decided that the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation would be approached with a demand that the studio be declared a heritage site and cannot be sold in future. It also urged that the studio be taken over by paying its price to Lata Mangeshkar and then be handed over to the ABMCM for further management for film production.
Later the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation’s standing committee passed a resolution to preserve the “Jayprabha Studio” as heritage site and not to allow any construction on the studio or its sale. The standing committee’s resolution will soon be passed in the corporation’s general body meeting as promised by Mayor Kadambari Kavale.
The ABMCM has also filed a civil suit against Lata Mangeshkar, and in response to the suit the local court has issued a notice to Lata Mangeshkar to submit her say in the matter. The suit has prayed for restraining the studio owner from selling it as it is under the statutory condition to preserve it for film production only.
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