yesterday two television channels called me to get my reacrtion to the shivaji memorial to be built in the sea .
i told them that , like every marathee child , i have been weaned on the stories of valour and conquests of the great warrior king . it was a staple diet fed by my aai . years later the great shivshahir babasaheb purandare and the government asked me do , in english , his magnum opus JANATA RAJAA with a three storied set , 350 actors , live horses and elephants i wrote the entire three and a half hour play and recorded it with some of the biggest actors / voices in marathi and hindi . during the making of the play , i had a chance of interacting with the legendary babasaheb and heard so many stories of new aspects of shivaji maharaj as a king , warrior , social reformer , that i became an even bigger admirer .
AND YET , I DONT AGREE THAT A MEMORIAL NEEDS TO BE BUILT IN THE SEA.
i am not saying that 3600 crores should be spent on schools and hospitals or farmers , because in reality that never happens .
but A -if you want to honour shivaji as the greatest historical figure of maharashtra ,then that money can be spent on repairing and authentically restoring all the forts that are in a neglected and decrepit condition . have audio visuals and light and sound shows of what happened at those forts . live tableaus of his battles , his childhood , his coronation , his adventures can be created to showcase his greatness . small models to show his invention of the guerrilla warfare . to show the daring adventure of hirkani to reach her child , pawan khind and baji prabhu etc , where these things actually happened .
i shot for a film , mee shivaji raje bhosle boltoy, at pratap gad , and saw how badly the fort was maintained . and i thought , what we have done for the film to show afzal khans arrogance and his destruction by maharaj and jiva mahala can be recreated with permanent life size moving statues at the very spot , and it will be so inspirational . ( i had seen in singapore , a place called Dang dynasty village , which had recreated the chinese history and tourists used to throng there . and they didn't have 10 % of what we can show . )
and B - the world has messed with the nature for long enough . why disturb the sea and the marine life to create a picnic spot round the corner .
lets put shivaji maharaj in the hearts and imagination of the children , who may not have grandparents or mothers , the way we had , to tell them the awe inspiring stories . lets take them to the depth of maharashtra and heights of the forts to show them history on its very soil . statues don't do that .
this is my honest opinion .
