The rise of social media platforms has witnessed the birth of many YouTube channels for multiple forms of performing arts. Poetry has been one of them with various digital platforms dedicated to Spoken Word and Storytelling for English and Hindi poetry. However, marathi poetry has still remained unexplored in the urban and digital milieu. But not any more.
Fans of Marathi Poetry are soon going to witness poems by renowned Marathi poets on a specially created Youtube channel titled ‘Kavita Cafe’. The idea is the brainchild of contemporary Marathi poet Sanket Mhatre who has turned director for the first time with this project. The project has been produced by Pranav Pathak, a rising entrepreneur and an ardent poetry connoisseur. Kavita Cafe has already featured almost 50 poems by contemporary Marathi poets in its first season and will be featuring legendary poets such as Arun Mhatre, Ashok Naigaonkar, Balladeer Sambhaji Bhagat, Tukaram Dhande and Chandrashekhar Sanekar in its second season.
Sanket Mhatre, who has been directing and curating these poems can’t keep his excitement. “We want Marathi poetry to be relevant for our audience. We want them to not just listen to them but witness them visually, in a never before way. So we shot these poems in natural locations using the latest techniques. The film making experience was breath taking with the use of drones, turning these poems into a truly cinematic experience while retaining the essence of poetry,” says Sanket Mhatre. “We wanted to go beyond what was traditionally done on digital platforms. We realized that there is a huge audience for Marathi Poetry and no qualitative channel that serves quality content. Hence we came up with an idea that integrates the best of poetry and technology.
The result and response has been overwhelming!” says Pranav Pathak. The inauguration ceremony of the second season will be held at Ravindra Natya Mandir’s mini theatre on 2nd March from 4 pm onwards. Renowned music director Kaushal Inamdar will be unveiling the second season followed by poetry recitation of these poets. The entry is free. Viewers can also watch these poems
