Latest news with #Mayuri
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Mayuri Upadhya brings her Broadway experience to the Bengaluru stage
History shows that Indian classical music and spirituality go hand-in-hand. While Purandaradasa, Jayadeva and Tulsidas are known for the Bhakti Movement, classical dancers and singers too connect more to their art spiritually. In fact, bhakti is the dominant rasa of most concerts and dance performances. . Classical-contemporary dancer-choreographer Mayuri Upadhya's new work is no exception. Titled 'Bhakti - A Shared Longing', it will feature verses by Purandaradasa, Akkamahadevi, Kabir, Lal Ded, Tukaram, Andal, Tulsidas, Meerabai, Namdev, Sadasiva Brahmendral, Guru Nanak, Basavanna and Rabindranath Tagore. To be presented by her institution Nritarutya, which she founded in 2000 with her sister Madhrui Upadhya, 'Bhakti...' will be premiered in Bengaluru on June 13. Mayuri describes the production as 'a multilingual, multidisciplinary immersive dance-theatre presentation that weaves together the soulful legacies of 13 Indian saints and mystics from across India. The production includes texts, dialogues and different Indian languages.' She also says that dance, for her, 'is more than just movement — it is a language, a way of communicating with the world that transcends the limitations of words.' One of her most notable works is the broadway musical Mughal-E-Azam, inspired by the film of the same name, which has had 300 shows across the world. Mayuri, a recipient of the Best Original Choreographer Award (2018) by Broadway World for Mughal-e-Azam, returns to the Bengaluru stage with Bhakti... after a 14-year hiatus. She has also worked as the lead choreographer for The Great Indian Musical: Civilization to Nation. This show, now into its third season, will soon premiere at Lincoln Center, New York, shares Mayuri. 'My last show in Bengaluru was in 2014, which is why I was craving to stage Bhakti… here. ' It is an exploration of the term 'Bhakti' and the spiritual quest of human beings. It is the anchor in today's time, irrespective of age, gender, and religion,' says Mayuri. About the works of poets and mystics she has used for her production, Mayuri says: 'They are more saints to me than mere poets as I believe they discovered a deeper inner truth that they revealed/shared with humanity. The more I read about them and their works, the more I found similarities in their concepts.' Each piece in Bhakti is centered around one evocative work by each mystic, interpreted by different dancers. The production features 10 dancers belonging to different styles, from across the country. Explaining the process of bringing the production to life, Mayuri says, 'The researchers (Pooja Kaushik and Nandana Gopal) brought different aspects to the table, each with their own versions of stories that correlated well. Post this, was the process of song selection. Next was to add movements to the texts, prose and music'. Talking about the creative process, Mayuri, who was joined by Madhuri in choreographing the dance, shares: 'The poetry dictated what the movement language should be. For instance, for poetry from Bengal, we drew inspiration from Uday Shankar's dance style, for Amir Khusro, we brought in Sufi-Kathak and so on. The dancers coming from different parts of the country lent their own cultural diversity to the production.' The production has a contemporary and minimalist approach in every aspect. This is my simple but powerful response to whatever is happening around us', says Mayuri. 'Bhakti - A Shared Longing' will premiere at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bengaluru, on June 13, 7.30 p.m. Tickets on BookMyShow.
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dowry death in Pune: Women's commission failed to act on earlier complaint of abuse: Activist
MUMBAI/ PUNE: While on Friday morning the Pimpri Chinchwad police arrested suspended Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rajendra Hagawane, and his son and former party worker, Sushil, for their alleged role in harassing Vaishnavi, Rajendra's daughter-in-law, for dowry which led her to die by suicide on May 16, in Mumbai, activist Anjali Damania presented evidence of the family perpetrating similar violence on their other daughter-in-law, Mayuri Jagtap (Sushil's wife), which was reported by her family to the state women's commission on November 6, 2024. The commission, headed by NCP leader Rupali Chakankar, paid no heed to the complaint, alleged Damania. Damania posted a copy of Jagtaps' complaint addressed to Chakankar, on X on Friday afternoon. The Jagtaps were seeking the commission's intervention against the Hagawanes' growing violent acts. They said the family was putting pressure on them for an SUV -- Toyota Fortuner – and had dared them against approaching police saying they were politically connected and knew officers in the law enforcing agency. Making the letter public, Damania said, 'Had the commission taken serious cognisance of complaint by Mayuri's parents, Vaishnavi would not have died by suicide.' Chakankar however called the allegations baseless, saying after receiving the complaint she had alerted the local police within 24 hours, who had followed up the case. The letter drafted by Mayuri's brother Meghraj and their mother Lata, was accompanied by pictures of injury marks on Mayuri's body. 'The Hagawane family was asking for a Toyota Fortuner SUV and money. They assaulted Mayuri and tore her clothes in the absence of her husband, Sushil, on November 6, 2024. They were putting pressure on Sushil to leave Mayuri. They also said a senior officer in the police force was her mother-in-law's (also called Lata) brother,' states the letter, which HT has seen. Meanwhile, when Chakankar met Vaishnavi's parents in Pune on Friday afternoon, people gathered around her to question the functioning of the women's commission. 'The commission failed to give justice to both Mayuri and Vaishnavi, and many such sisters across the state,' said activists from a Maratha outfit Chhava. Chakankar tried to clarify her stand but as verbal arguments scaled up, she left the premises. She told HT later, 'The commission received the complaint on November 6, 2024, from the Jagtap family, followed by a cross-complaint by Karishma (Mayuri's sister-in-law, and Sushil's sister). The commission acted within 24 hours and directed the police to look into the matter. Police called both families and counselled them, as it was a family dispute.' Damania however termed Chakankar's move 'merely procedural'. 'I do not blame Chakankar, as she was following process. We need to improve the very process going forward and be more pro-active. Chakankar should have called police to review the matter; if she intervenes pro-actively, the system will improve,' she said. Nabbing the Hagawanes Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane were arrested at around 4:30 am on Friday from Swargate, Pune. People in the know told HT that the two had travelled across 11 different locations changing vehicles along the way over the last seven days to evade arrest. With these two, the total number of arrests in the case of Vaishnavi's suicide has risen to five. Vaishnavi's husband Shashnak, mother-in-law Lata and sister-in-law Karishma were arrested earlier this week. The father and son tried to escape the police net by travelling to Aundh, Pavana Dam, Vadgaon Maval, Alandi, Pusegaon, Pasarani (Satara) and Sangli, said an investigating officer from Pimpri Chinchwad police station. 'We deployed six teams to track them down till they finally landed in our net,' said a police officer, adding probe was on to seek out names of people who helped them evade arrest. The CCTV footage from the places the two visited shows them dining at a dhaba in Vadgaon Maval – the clip was widely circulated on social media on Friday. Anil Kaspate, the deceased Vaishnavi's father, told HT: 'All of this looks suspicious – how can they roam about freely when they are on police radar?' Addressing a press meet, DCP of Pimpri Chinchwad, Vishal Gaikwad, said: 'Five people are now under arrest. All evidence in the case has also been collected; we will soon reach the root cause of the case.' Police invoked sections 118(1) of BNS for voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons in this case. Physical assault prior to death? The accused were produced in court on Friday. During the remand hearing, police informed the court that injury marks were found on Vaishnavi's body, raising strong suspicion of physical assault prior to her death. Investigators believe multiple weapons may have been used to beat her, one of which — a plastic pipe — was recovered based on information provided by her husband, Shashank, who confessed to physically abusing her. Police suspect Rajendra and Sushil may have assaulted her as well. Police also said Vaishnavi's father was compelled to pay for interior design work in Rajendra Hagawane's office. This was revealed by the contractor employed by Rajendra, Mahesh Parade. They also found that 51 tolas of gold, gifted to Vaishnavi by her parents, was mortgaged by Rajendra in a bank in exchange of a loan. Investigators are now trying to probe of she had consented to the transaction. Defense lawyer Shivam Nimbalkar said, 'Investigators need to find out the role of many others. Police must seize all the items the deceased received in dowry and weapons used in the crime.' Warje police also booked Nilesh Ramchandra Chavan, a resident of Karvenagar, who is known to the Hagawanes, for allegedly threatening members of the Kaspate family when they arrived to take custody of Vaishnavi's child on May 19.
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Pune dowry death: Women's commission failed to act on earlier complaint of abuse: Activist
While on Friday morning the Pimpri Chinchwad police arrested suspended Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rajendra Hagawane, and his son and former party worker, Sushil, for their alleged role in harassing Vaishnavi, Rajendra's daughter-in-law, for dowry which led her to die by suicide on May 16, in Mumbai, activist Anjali Damania presented evidence of the family perpetrating similar violence on their other daughter-in-law, Mayuri Jagtap (Sushil's wife), which was reported by her family to the state women's commission on November 6, 2024. The commission, headed by NCP leader Rupali Chakankar, paid no heed to the complaint, alleged Damania. Damania posted a copy of Jagtaps' complaint addressed to Chakankar, on X on Friday afternoon. The Jagtaps were seeking the commission's intervention against the Hagawanes' growing violent acts. They said the family was putting pressure on them for an SUV -- Toyota Fortuner – and had dared them against approaching police saying they were politically connected and knew officers in the law enforcing agency. Making the letter public, Damania said, 'Had the commission taken serious cognisance of complaint by Mayuri's parents, Vaishnavi would not have died by suicide.' Chakankar however called the allegations baseless, saying after receiving the complaint she had alerted the local police within 24 hours, who had followed up the case. The letter drafted by Mayuri's brother Meghraj and their mother Lata, was accompanied by pictures of injury marks on Mayuri's body. 'The Hagawane family was asking for a Toyota Fortuner SUV and money. They assaulted Mayuri and tore her clothes in the absence of her husband, Sushil, on November 6, 2024. They were putting pressure on Sushil to leave Mayuri. They also said a senior officer in the police force was her mother-in-law's (also called Lata) brother,' states the letter, which HT has seen. Meanwhile, when Chakankar met Vaishnavi's parents in Pune on Friday afternoon, people gathered around her to question the functioning of the women's commission. 'The commission failed to give justice to both Mayuri and Vaishnavi, and many such sisters across the state,' said activists from a Maratha outfit Chhava. Chakankar tried to clarify her stand but as verbal arguments scaled up, she left the premises. She told HT later, 'The commission received the complaint on November 6, 2024, from the Jagtap family, followed by a cross-complaint by Karishma (Mayuri's sister-in-law, and Sushil's sister). The commission acted within 24 hours and directed the police to look into the matter. Police called both families and counselled them, as it was a family dispute.' Damania however termed Chakankar's move 'merely procedural'. 'I do not blame Chakankar, as she was following process. We need to improve the very process going forward and be more pro-active. Chakankar should have called police to review the matter; if she intervenes pro-actively, the system will improve,' she said. Nabbing the Hagawanes Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane were arrested at around 4:30 am on Friday from Swargate, Pune. People in the know told HT that the two had travelled across 11 different locations changing vehicles along the way over the last seven days to evade arrest. With these two, the total number of arrests in the case of Vaishnavi's suicide has risen to five. Vaishnavi's husband Shashnak, mother-in-law Lata and sister-in-law Karishma were arrested earlier this week. The father and son tried to escape the police net by travelling to Aundh, Pavana Dam, Vadgaon Maval, Alandi, Pusegaon, Pasarani (Satara) and Sangli, said an investigating officer from Pimpri Chinchwad police station. 'We deployed six teams to track them down till they finally landed in our net,' said a police officer, adding probe was on to seek out names of people who helped them evade arrest. The CCTV footage from the places the two visited shows them dining at a dhaba in Vadgaon Maval – the clip was widely circulated on social media on Friday. Anil Kaspate, the deceased Vaishnavi's father, told HT: 'All of this looks suspicious – how can they roam about freely when they are on police radar?' Addressing a press meet, DCP of Pimpri Chinchwad, Vishal Gaikwad, said: 'Five people are now under arrest. All evidence in the case has also been collected; we will soon reach the root cause of the case.' Police invoked sections 118(1) of BNS for voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons in this case. Physical assault prior to death? The accused were produced in court on Friday. During the remand hearing, police informed the court that injury marks were found on Vaishnavi's body, raising strong suspicion of physical assault prior to her death. Investigators believe multiple weapons may have been used to beat her, one of which — a plastic pipe — was recovered based on information provided by her husband, Shashank, who confessed to physically abusing her. Police suspect Rajendra and Sushil may have assaulted her as well. Police also said Vaishnavi's father was compelled to pay for interior design work in Rajendra Hagawane's office. This was revealed by the contractor employed by Rajendra, Mahesh Parade. They also found that 51 tolas of gold, gifted to Vaishnavi by her parents, was mortgaged by Rajendra in a bank in exchange of a loan. Investigators are now trying to probe of she had consented to the transaction. Defense lawyer Shivam Nimbalkar said, 'Investigators need to find out the role of many others. Police must seize all the items the deceased received in dowry and weapons used in the crime.' Warje police also booked Nilesh Ramchandra Chavan, a resident of Karvenagar, who is known to the Hagawanes, for allegedly threatening members of the Kaspate family when they arrived to take custody of Vaishnavi's child on May 19.
