Bansi Kaul was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Some of his notable plays included Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir, and Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka. He was a designer and associate show director for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987 Khajuraho Festival.
National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school in 1975. In 2005, it was granted deemed university status, but in 2011 it was revoked. Paresh Rawal is the current Chairperson & Chittaranjan Tripathy currently serves as Director of National School of Drama (NSD).
Narendra Kohli was an Indian author. Writing in Hindi-language, he is credited with reinventing the ancient form of epic writing in modern prose. He is also regarded as a trendsetter in the sense that he pioneered the creation of literary works based on the Puranas. Because of the large impact of his body of work on Hindi literature, not only is this era of contemporary modern Hindi literature, since about 1975, sometimes referred to as the Kohli Era, his birth anniversary of January 6th is celebrated as Litterateurs' Day or Writers' Day in the Hindi literature world. He died on 17 April due to complications of COVID-19 after he was on a ventilator.
Saru Bhakta is the pen name of Bhakta Raj Shrestha, a celebrated Nepalese playwright, novelist, songwriter and poet and a winner of Madan Puraskar, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Nepal.
Ratan Thiyam is an Indian playwright and theatre director, and the winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, one of leading figures of the "theatre of roots" movement in Indian theatre, which started in the 1970s. Also known as Thiyam Nemai, Ratan Thiyam is known for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indian theatre traditions and forms in a contemporary context. A former painter, and proficient in direction, design, script and music, Thiyam is often considered one of leading contemporary theatre gurus.
Hrishikesh Sulabh is a Hindi writer. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He is best known for writing short stories and plays in Bideshiya Shaili. He worked with the All India Radio between 1980 and 2015. He is now retired and focuses on writing and interacting with young writers / poets / theater workers and activists. He divides his time between his home at Patna and various cities where his children and grandchildren live.
Shyamanand Jalan was a Kolkata-based Indian theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s. He was the first to perform modernist Mohan Rakesh, starting with Ashadh Ka Ek Din in 1960 and in the coming years bridged the gap between Hindi theatre and Bengali theatre, by mounting Hindi productions of works by Bengali playwrights, like Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit (1968) and Pagla Ghora (1971), which in turn introduced Sircar to rest of the country. In 2005, he directed his first and only film Eashwar Mime Co., which was an adaptation of Dibyendu Palit's story, Mukhabhinoy, by Vijay Tendulkar.
Dr. Arjun Deo Charan is a Rajasthani poet, critic, playwright, theatre director and translator. A prominent figure in Indian theatre, he is among the country's top 10 theatre personalities.
Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and Bhopal. Hindi theatre has its roots in the traditional folk theatre of North India, like Ram lila and Raslila, and also influenced by distant Sanskrit drama. Starting with Bhartendu Harishchandra in the late 19th century and subsequent playwrights like Jaishankar Prasad, Mohan Rakesh, Hindi theatre came of age in the 1940s and 50s, when IPTA movement created a new brand of theatre practitioners in Hindi speaking areas, especially with IPTA Mumbai, Prithvi Theatres of thespian Prithviraj Kapoor, and theatre artiste Habib Tanvir, paving way for next generation of artists who came out once National School of Drama, Delhi started functioning in 1959.
Khaled Choudhury was a theatre personality and artist of Bengal. He worked for various directors of both Bengali and Hindi plays, including Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, and Shyamanand Jalan in various capacities — creating the Stage, sets and costumes and later as music director. He was a bachelor. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to theatre in India's Republic Day Honours List on 26 January 2012. He died on 30 April 2014 in Kolkata.
Tapas Sen was a noted Indian stage lighting designer, who was an important figure in 20th-century Indian theatre. He started working with Bengali theatre movement in Kolkata in the late 1940s, along with noted directors, Utpal Dutt and Shambhu Mitra. Later he became a founding member of the Indian People's Theatre Association's (IPTA), Delhi chapter, and worked closely with Hindi theatre. Through his career stretching five decades he worked theatre directors, Ebrahim Alkazi, Vijay Tendulkar, and also dancers Sadhana Bose, Chandralekha, Birju Maharaj and Kelucharan Mahapatra. He was known not only for his creative stage lighting, but also had a significant impact on the work of leading theatre director of the time.
Kashinath Singh is an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language and known for writing novels and short stories in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu University. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011 for his novel Rehan Par Ragghu, and is considered one of the best chroniclers of the city of Varanasi. He has recently received 'Bharat Bharti Award', the state's highest literary award given by U.P. government.
Balwant Thakur is an Indian theatre personality and scholar, known for bringing Dogri theatre to international notice. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of theatre.
Raj Bisaria is an Indian director, producer, actor and educationalist, described by the Press Trust of India as "the father of the modern theatre in North India". He founded Theatre Arts Workshop in 1966, and Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1975 and the repertory company of Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1980. He has blended artistic concepts of the East and the West, and the traditional and the modern.
Suryakumar Pandey is an Indian poet, humorist, satirist and writer. During his literary career, Pandey has contributed to various genres of Hindi literature including Hasya Kavita, Vyangya (satire) and Bal Kavita etc... He is most recognized as a Hasya kavi and for his distinctive style and language of hasya kavita Popularly known as Pandeyji, he is also well known for his Hāsya kavita recitations at Hindi kavi sammelans both in India and globally.
Meeta Pandit is a Hindustani Classical vocalist and a leading exponent of the Gwalior Gharana. She is the granddaughter and disciple of Krishnarao Shankar Pandit and daughter of Laxman Krishnarao Pandit. She is the sixth in the unbroken lineage and the first woman in the family to have taken up music as a profession.
Bharti Sharma, M.A. (Hindi) from Delhi University, National School of Drama Graduate (1987), is an Indian theater director, actor, and teacher. Her plays cover a variety of topics such as historical, realistic, experimental, plays based on man woman relationship, Indian mythological and philosophical themes.
Pawan Karan is an Indian poet, columnist, editor, social and political analyst and “one of the major poets of early 21st century”.He is highly regarded for his realistic depiction of women's life in Indian society. Apart that his poems written against subjects like imperialism, capitalism, religion fanatics, social beliefs of caste based society and orthodox customs are highly appreciated as well, because of them he constantly becomes a target of religious fanatics, orthodox social view and politics and long-established norms of Indian society.
Chandan Tiwari is an Indian folk singer from Bihar. She is known as folk singer and sings in Bhojpuri, Nagpuri, Awadhi and Hindi. She was awarded Sangeet Natak Academy-Bismillah Khan Samman. She was honoured by Bhojpuri Kokila in Kolkata. BAG Films-News 24 awarded her best traditional folk singer. She appeared in India Today Magazine in cover story for her contributions to Indian folk music. She has been singing in various forms of folks like Purabi Sohar, Pachra Gandhi song, River Song, Chhath Song Kajri and Thumri.
Sonroopa Vishal is Indian writer, poet and author, who writes in the Hindi language. The State Government of Uttar Pradesh awarded her with the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Navodit Geetkaar Award in 2015 and Jagadish Gupta Sarjana Award in 2019. Sonroopa Vishal has published three books, including Likhna Zaruri Hai (2014) and America Aur 45 Din (2018), and co-authored several books.
