pune he was an actor and vocalist who personified dedication when it came to marathi sangeet natak musical drama be it a houseful show or an auditorium with barely 25 spectators jayaram shiledar ensured that the audience got what they had come for a feast of natya sangeet with no short cuts as shiledars birth centenary starts from sunday his daughters have planned a yearlong nostalgic trip down memory lane this will include a performance of the classic musical sangeet saubhadra by marathi rangabhoomi pune a troupe established by shiledar in 1949 at balgandharva rangmandir on sunday shiledars contribution to marathi musicals is immense especially because he nurtured the tradition with steadfast devotion even when sangeet natak fell on bad days when theatres were closing down or being converted into cinema halls he bought a tent and converted it into a shamiyana theatre for his troupe they continued staging musicals such as sangeet saubhadra manapmaan sanshaykallol swayamvar draupadi and ekach pyala he was not bothered about money and was among the rare actors who never ever checked the box office collection before stepping on the stage his love for sangeet natak was so unshakable that he never staged a play that had only prose he encouraged youngsters like bal kolhatkar to write sangeet nataks on different subjects and never got disappointed or felt like giving it all up when the new plays did not click says daughter deepti bhogle who herself has acted in several of his plays with sister keerti shiledar who was fortunate to have a likeminded partner in wife jayamala did not confine himself to staging the 17 to 18 tried and tested musicals he had the adventurous spirit to bring in around 25 new musicals including ekhadyacha nashib mumbaichi manasa anantphandi and even c t khanolkars abhogi it was an unwritten rule that our troupe had to have a new musical every six months irrespective of the success or failure of the previous one says deepti needless to say debts were a constant companion in life during such times nana jayaram and aai used to sing in individual concerts and the fee they received was used to repay the debt my father also enjoyed unstinted love and support of the audience there was one fan called vitthalpant thombre who once gave nana rs 1200 to repay a debt when he saw the moneylender present at every show to recover money collected from the sale of tickets then there was a fan who sent rs 4000 from nagpur when our shamiyana theatre was gutted in fire recalls deepti the world of cinema never lured shiledar though he gave box office hits like ramjoshi and jeevacha sakha there was a time when he could have commanded any price and named any director with whom he wanted to work but nana missed the connect with a live audience in film that he so enjoyed on stage she added shiledars biggest inspiration was the legendary balgandharva with whom he