Pratibha Agrawal | |
---|---|
Born | Varanasi, British India | 10 August 1930
Occupation | theatre archivist, theatre actress, scriptwriter, director, writer and translator |
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Shantiniketan |
Notable awards | Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her overall contributions Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Ratna Sadasya by Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Award |
Website | |
www |
Pratibha Agrawal is a theatre archivist, theatre actress, scriptwriter, director, writer and translator from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. She is the founder of Natya Shodh Sansthan, a theatre archive and research institute in Kolkata. She received many awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her overall contributions, Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize, and awards from Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, and the Bharatiya Anuvad Parishad.
Pratibha Agrawal was born on 10 August 1930 in Bharatendu Bhawan, Banaras. [1] While studying in the fifth grade, her mother became bedridden due to tuberculosis, and when she was only ten years old, her mother died. [1] After her mother's death, she was brought up by her grandmother.
Pratibha started dancing and singing while studying in Varanasi. [2] Pratibha, who started reading at a young age, had memorized one hundred and fifty poems at an early age. [2] Her father who was a drama artist, used to go to perform a play somewhere every day. [2] Sometimes he would take his daughter to watch a play with him. After watching the play, she was inspired by drama and started participating in plays at the school's annual function. [2] Then, at the age of thirteen, she made her stage debut by acting in her grandfather Radha Krishna Das's play 'Maharana Pratap' at the annual festival of the Mahila Mandalam in Kashi. [2] [3] She secured first position in the matriculation examination. [1]
While she was in theatre field, Madan Mohan Agrawal met Pratibha. [2] Impressed by her beauty, he proposed to her. On 15 February 1945, he married her without taking any dowry. [2] At that time, Pratibha was 15 years old and Madan Mohan was 25 years old. [2] Fifteen days after the wedding, Pratibha reached Kolkata with her husband. [2] A year after her marriage, Pratibha was sent to Shantiniketan for intermediate studies. [2] After three years, she returned to Kolkata from Shantiniketan.
Pratibha made her first stage acting debut in Kolkata with the play 'Do Athi'. [2] Later, she continued her studies along with acting. After her M.A., she did D.Phil and D.Litt. [2] [4] She also taught in Shikshayatan College in Calcutta during 1950-1970. [3]
At the age of 13, Pratibha entered the theatre acting by playing a leading role in her grandfather's play 'Maharana Pratap'. She gained further attention for her performance in the dance play based on the story 'Shataranj Ke Khiladi', directed by Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. [5]
From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, she emerged as a leading heroine in Hindi theatre. [5] During this period, she performed plays under the banner 'Tarun Sangh' and later under the banner 'Anamika'. [5] From the late 1950s to the late 1990s, she contributed as a Hindi theatre director and heroine. [5] She played lead roles under the direction of prominent directors like Shyamanand Jalan, Shivkumar Joshi, Vimal Lath. [5] Her contributions in translations of famous plays are also significant. Dube Sen's play "Janata Ka Shatru" was translated into Hindi in 1959. [5]
In 1981, Pratibha Agrawal founded the Natya Shodh Sansthan, a theatre research institute in Kolkata. [6] The institute has compiled a historical archive of facts related to theatres, theatre artists and theatre institutions in all languages of India. [2] The institute provides comprehensive information on the tradition and history of theatre in India. The institute has collected rare materials used for theatre, drama manuscripts, posters, theatre reviews, newspaper and magazine clippings, magazines, books, audio-video cassettes, film stage models, slides, gramophone recordings, photographs, costumes, jewellery and brochures. [2]
The institute's library and museum have hundreds of books on theatre, rare manuscripts and interviews of four hundred people. [2] For the convenience of researchers, the catalogue of Natya Shodh Sansthan has been published in three volumes. It is edited by Pratibha Agarwal. [2] The institute has also been active in the field of publishing. The first book published by Pratibha Agarwal on Master Fida Hussain was published in 1986. [2]
After the establishment of her institute, Pratibha gave up acting and directing, but she did important work through the institute, including the collection and preservation of theatre-related materials. [2]
Pratibha Agrawal is also a writer and translator. Her original works - Sajan Ka Sukh Dukh (meaning: Joys and Sorrows of Creation), Dastak Zindagi Ki (meaning: The Breakdown of Life) and Mod Zindagi Ka (meaning: The Turning Point of Life) in Hindi have been widely acclaimed. [2] All three books are partially autobiographical. In these books, she has also presented the history of the Hindi theatre in Kolkata. [2] In this series, her book Kahani Madan Babu Ki (meaning: story of Madan Babu) can also be mentioned. [2]
Pratibha has also written poems. His poetry collection Khel Khel Mein is a collectible book for children. [2] She has written a biographical novel titled Pyare Harichand ji. [2] Her research paper titled 'Hindi Language Styles: An Analytical Discussion' is also a valuable work. [2] As a translator, she has translated notable works into Hindi including Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (1959),Rabindranath Tagore's Shesh Raksha (1963), Badal Sircar's Ebang Indrajit (1969), Utpal Dutt's Tin ki Talwar (1979), and Jayavant Dalvi's Hurry Up, Hari (1995). [3]
Pratibha Agrawal wrote her autobiography in two parts. The first part of the autobiography Dastak Zindagi Ki, published in the year 1990, is about the struggles of her life from childhood to marriage. [1] The second part Mod Zindagi Ka published in the year 1996, is about her life after marriage, and coming to Kolkata. [1] In the autobiography, the she has mentioned every small but important thing of her life. [1]
In 2005, Pratibha Agrawal was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her overall contribution to the performing arts. [7] In 2016 she received the 21st Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Award for Excellence in Indian Theatre by Sangit Kala Kendra. [8] [9] She received Ratna Sadasya Award of the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1975, award of the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan in 1989, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad Award in 1993, and the Bharatiya Anuvad Parishad Award in 1997. [3] In 2018, the Sahitya Akademi awarded her Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize for her Hindi translation of author Sombhu Mitra's Bengali work Abhinay Natak Manch. [10]
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.
Mannu Bhandari was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, Aap Ka Bunty and Mahabhoj (Feast), Bhandari also wrote over 150 short stories, several other novels, screenplays for television and film, and adaptations for theater. She was a pioneer of the Nayi Kahani movement in Hindi literature, which focused on the aspirations of the emerging Indian middle class, and her own work is notable for its depiction of the inner lives of middle class working and educated women. Her work tackles themes of family, relationships, gender equality, and caste discrimination in India.
Ratnakar Ramkrushna Matkari was a Marathi writer, a movie and play producer/director, and a self-taught artist from Maharashtra, India.
Satya Vrat Shastri was an Indian Sanskrit scholar, writer, grammarian and poet. He wrote three Mahakavyas, three Khandakavyas, one Prabandhakavyas and one Patrakavya and five works in critical writing in Sanskrit. His important works are Ramakirtimahakavyam, Brahattaram Bharatam, Sribodhisattvacharitam, Vaidika Vyakarana, Sarmanyadesah Sutram Vibhati, and "Discovery of Sanskrit Treasures" in seven volumes.
Amritlal Nagar was one of the prominent Hindi writers of the twentieth century.
Ustad Sabri Khan was an Indian sarangi player, who was descended on both sides of his family from a line of distinguished musicians.
Govind Purushottam Deshpande was a Marathi playwright and academic from Maharashtra, India.
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.
Rewa Prasad Dwivedi was a Sanskrit scholar, poet, writer, teacher, and critic. His original works include poetry as epics and lyrics, plays, and prose. He wrote the new literature under the pseudonym "sanatana", meaning 'the eternal'. He is also known as 'Acharya' Dwivedi.
Usha Ganguli was an Indian theatre director-actor and activist, most known for her work in Hindi theatre in Kolkata in the 1970s and 1980s. She founded Rangakarmee theatre group in 1976, known for its productions like Mahabhoj, Rudali, Court Martial, and Antaryatra. Apart from thespian Shyamanand Jalan of Padatik, she was the only other theatre director to practise Hindi theatre in Kolkata, which is largely Bengali speaking.
Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra is a Sanskrit author, poet, lyricist, playwright and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi.
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.
Bhaskaracharya Tripathi,, is a Sanskrit poet who was the recipient of the 2003 Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit for his work Nirjharini.
Chandravadan Chimanlal Mehta, popularly known as C. C. Mehta or Chan. Chi. Mehta, was a Gujarati playwright, theatre critic, bibliographer, poet, story writer, autobiographer, travel writer and broadcaster from Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
Tripti Mitra was a popular Indian actress of Bengali theatre and films, and wife of Sombhu Mitra, noted theatre director, with whom she co-founded pioneering theatre group Bohurupee in 1948. She has acted in films like Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Dharti Ke Lal.
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.
Kamla Srivastava was an Indian folk music singer. She retired as assistant professor in Musicology-cum-practical of Bhatkhande Music Institute, deemed university of Lucknow. She came from a family of artists and poets.
Lakshminarayan Lal was an Indian playwright, critic, and novelist. He worked in many genres of literature but was most prominently known as a playwright.
Ajita Srivastava is an Indian singer, educationist and a social worker. Srivastava is known for popularizing and promoting the Kajari folk songs, a popular form of folk music from Mirzapur and the surrounding region. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2022 by the Government of India for her contributions in the field of arts.