Annasaheb Kirloskar

'Annasaheb' Balwant Pandurang Kirloskar was born in Dharwad in 1843. He came to Pune to study, developed a interest in theatre and in working out of mythologicals.. but he gave up that interest and returned to Dharwad. He failed his law exam, but took up other jobs.. before he returned to theatre.

He wrote one complete play- based on Shankracharya's conquests, before he began adapting Kalidas's Shakuntala, into the kind of spectacle he admired in Parsee theatre. The Kirloskar Natak Mandali formed by him in Belgaum, performed the first four acts to resounding success and then shifted to Pune where they performed the whole play in 1880.This performance is marked as the beginning to the Sangeet Natak tradition in Marathi theatre. The Kirloskar Company is also blessed by the contribution of Anandrao Painter who is making masterly backdrops for the plays.

Two years later, he wrote Sangit Saubhadra - a musical about Subhadra, Krishna's sister. And how Krishna helps her to marry the man she wants to marry- Arjun, rather than her other suitor- Duryodhana.

He started the convention where the actors themselves, not the sutradhar, sang. He intergrated music and theatre, and brought in traditions of music from Persian and traditions of plot and atmosphere from English theatre.

He dies young in 1885, but his theatre company, especially with the plays of Deval and Kolhatkar, had great success for the next thirty years or so. Bal Gandharva, 'Master' Krishnarao, Govindrao Tembe, Ganesh Bodas, Dinanath Mangeshkar, all toured with it.