Navratri fest to feature film musicians

pune: the navratri festival at laxmimata temple in sahakarnagar is growing with every passing year. this year, it is set to host several top artists from the world of cinema and classical arts. among those scheduled to perform at the nine-day festival, which begins on october 17 are kathak exponent pandit birju maharaj, film playback singers sadhana sargam, sapna mukherjee, amit kumar, preeti uttam, shridhar phadke, music directors anandji, ravi, sonik omi and film lyricist gulshan bawara.the laximata arts and culture awards will also be presented at the inaugural ceremony. those nominated for the awards this year are: veteran vocalist of the kirana gharana pandit firoz dastur; comedian vasant awsarikar and dancer rohini bhate. special awards will also be given to folk artist shakuntala nagarkar and former director of aryan talkies anand pathak, aba bagul, the organiser of the festival said.