The popular Bollywood playbacksinger Lata Mangeshkar is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The decisionto sell her Jayaprabha Studio in Kolhapur to a private builder has raised awave of protests in the city.
The District & SessionsCourt, Kolhapur has issued notices to the melody queen asking her the reasonfor selling of the famous Jayaprabha Studio. The Court issued the notice againstpetitions filed by Kolhapur Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal that had moved Courtagainst sale of the historic studio.
The studio which is owned byMangeshkar is spread over 11 acres of land. Now defunct, the studio was once a keycenter for Marathi film makers.
Members of the AkhilBharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM) also took out a protest marchagainst Mangeshkar, who has allegedly inked the deal with a prominent city builder.
Led by the ABMCM chief PrasadSurve the morcha wound its way through Kolhapur's main thoroughfare andculminated at the Jayaprabha studio where protestors assembled for an hour andraised slogans against Mangeshkar and Suresh Wadkar, the noted play-back singerwho is believed to have played a key role in finalising the deal on behalf ofthe melody queen.
Many artistes and members ofthe Kolhapur film industry, including producers Subhash Bhurke, YashwantBhalkar and Bhalchandra Kulkarni, among others, participated in the protestmarch.
Film technicians, artistes,workers of the Jayaprabha studio, senior citizens, students and politicalactivists of all hues too took part in the morcha.
Later an ABMCM delegationcalled on the functionaries of the Jayaprabha studio and submitted a memorandumto them voicing their concern about the sale of the studio.
Cine artist Chaya Salgaonkarfrom Kolhapur announced that if Lata Mangeshkar did not change her decision ofselling the studio then she would set herself on fire inside the studio.
Prasad Surve also appealed toall the artists and musicians to boycott popular singer Suresh Wadkar who wasinstrumental to ink the deal.
