DESI DIARY
SAWITRI SHORTS FESTIVAL OVER FOUR WEEKENDS IN APRIL
A new nostalgia series titled Aap Ka Khayal Aaya pays tribute to Sahir Ludhianvi and Dev Anand.
Sawitri Theatre Group presents the Sawitri Shorts Theatre Festival SSTF 2025 with performances every weekend starting from April 5.
This year, the focus is to bring Indian folk-theatre style to stage, bhavai in Gujarati and vag in Marathi. New for this year is also a Bollywood nostalgia series.
Bhavai is a popular folk theatre form that is said to have originated in Gujarat, India, about 700 years ago. It derives its meaning from a combination of words the dominant part of which is bhav meaning emotions. Originally, only the male members of the Bhavaiyya community performed it in open spaces outside a temple, where people generally gathered.
Bhavai’s original aim was to create awareness of those who were marginalized and this was done through over-the-top acting, absurdity and vernacular humour. It was presented as entertainment that was enjoyed and understood by all and yet carried the responsibility of social critique with the hope of influencing change.
Vag (rhymes with bug) is a form of tamasha or Marathi folk theatre along with gan and guvlan. It is one of the first forms of theatre and is said to have originated in Maharashtra, India, about 900 years ago. The vag starts with gan which is a Ganapati Prayer and then generally a farcical play based on a current topic with two or three Lavani nritya (Lavani dance) are performed.
“I am delighted to present the SSTF 2025!,” says Shruti Shah, SSTF Festival Director. “It remains a platform for local talent, a stage to experiment, innovate and take risks. To inspire and be inspired and continue collaborating with local theatre artistes and build our theatre community. I am especially delighted to bring a new nostalgia series titled Aap Ka Khayal Aaya... (Thinking of you...) conceptualized by writer-producer-director Sundeep Pahwa. This series pays tribute to two legendary artistes who ruled the silver screens in India during the 50s, 60s and 70s – poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, and actor-director-writer-producer Dev Anand. It celebrates their contribution to the world of Hindi Cinema (known as Bollywood since the 80s).”
Founded in 2003 by Artistic Co-Directors Jasmine Sawant and Shruti Shah, Sawitri Theatre Group is an award-winning, incorporated not-for-profit organization presenting original works featuring established professionals as well as emerging artistes. Sawitri’s mandate is to educate, inform, entertain, and heal through South Asian theatre arts that foreground women and the new generation, and to highlight issues of sociopolitical importance with works in some of India’s many languages including English. Winner of the 2016 Martys Award for excellence in theatre, Sawitri Theatre is also the producer and presenter of the Mississauga Multilingual Fringe Festival (MMFF), the only multilingual fringe festival in North America. Operationally, Sawitri Theatre Group is partly funded by the City of Mississauga and the Ontario Arts Council, as well as by The Open Space, Nitin Sawant, and the unstinting support of family, friends and volunteers. The SSTF is partly funded by Canadian Heritage.
When and where:
16 performances in 7 languages: Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati Marathi, Urdu, English, Hinglish! Indian folk theatre, Bollywood nostalgia, local artistes serving newcomers to Canada. Maja Prentice Theatre, 3650 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L4Y 3V9.
April 5: Hindi
April 6: Punjabi
April 12: Gujarati
April 13: Aap Ka Khayal Aya
April 19: Marathi
April 20: Urdu
April 26: English
April 27: Seniors’ Shorts.
Matinee, 2 pm; Evening, 7 pm
Tickets: https://linktr.ee/sawitritheatregroup. More info at www.sawitri.ca.