 The Bhangwadi tradition is like a bottle of wine. The older it gets the better it tastes. I did a one-man show on Narmad, the poet. He was born in 1833 and died in 1886. How much older can you get? Audiences in Mumbai, Gujarat, USA, UK and also in Paris loved this character even if they had not heard much about him. I did one show in English for American audience and they adored him. The point is there is no need for Bhangwadi or any tradition to be fresh in the minds of the audiences. These memories are so strong, and dear and near to theatre lovers that it bounces back like a jumping jack just with the refernce of the word - 'Bhangwadi'.
Moreover, the refernces in the play are not limited to Bhangwadi which in a sense was a theatre house. In fact the kind of plays which were performed in it gave rise to the phrase 'Bhangwadi Style'. Master Fulmani also examines the period of the early nineteen hundred; it covers the entire tradition of old 'Gujarati Theatre' where Jayshankar Sundari, a Gujarati Legend (like Bal Gandharva) started participating. The play also includes a theatre tradition called Khada Nu Natak which literally means the theatre of the 'Dug Out'. I wanted this play to be absorbing, exciting, moving and fun to watch so that one would like to watch it again. The exercise of writing Master Fulmani has been very intense.
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