An expression of two characters’ unique spirit towards life. Bali believes in taking life as it comes. Shambhu lives in the glories of his past. After a series of intricate collisions, eventually the two reach harmony.

Biographies

MANAV KAUL

Manav Kaul is a theatre actor from the small town of Hoshangabad, MP, who came to Mumbai in 1997. Since, he has worked with theatre personalities Sunil Shanbaug and Alok Chatterjee, and was also closely associated with Pt. Satyadev Dubey’s memorable productions. Manav also featured as the main lead in the children’s film Jajantram Mamantram directed by Mr. Saumitra Ranade and produced by iDreams, and critically acclaimed Marathi feature film, Saat chya aat gharat. He has finished shooting for the late Ramanad Sagar’s home production 1971 directed by Mr. Amrit Sagar. Bali Aur Shambhu is Manav’s third original play. His work on the previous productions, Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane and Peele Scooterwala aadm was critically commended.

SUDHIR PANDEY

Sudhir Pandey is a senior theatre veteran who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years. Sudhir Pandey has being associated with the reputed theatre company, IPTA. He has worked in various TV serials and feature films, where is work has always been appreciated. He goes from strength to strength.

KUMUD MISHRA

Kumud Mishra is a senior theatre personality who is from a small town in Madhya Pradesh, arriving in Mumbai in 1993. He has since worked with theatre personalities like Pt. Satyadev Dubey, Sunil Shanbaug, Ramu Ramanathan .This National School of Drama graduate has also worked in TV serials and feature films.

A collection of six short stories by Chekhov dealing with emotions in relationships running the gamut of trite power plays, sublime love, the commonplace everyday to exceptional circumstances, from the abyss of poverty to the idle games of the rich.

“Besahara Aurat” features a wild woman with a nervous disorder who tries to extort money from a banker.

“Dooba Hua Aadmi”, a man in the “maritime entertainment business” will drown himself for a small fee.

“Shikari” shows a man-about-town giving an instructional session on seducing women, using a new husband as the conduit for his attempted seduction of the man’s bride, Irena.

“Cheenk” an ironic tale, ‘The Sneezer’ cannot apologize enough to a blustering general for sneezing on his head at the opera. ‘The Clerk’ cannot redeem himself of guilt and fears demotion.

“Surgery” Story of a man with a toothache faced with an inexperienced dental assistant who attempts his first tooth examination.

“The Gift” A tale of a dedicated father who thrusts his shy, 19-year old son into manhood by taking him to a house of ill repute, only to relent at the last moment and leave the boy more perplexed than ever.

Biographies

AMITABH SRIVASTAVA

Amitabh Srivastava graduated from the National School of Drama (Acting) in 1979 Soon after, he plunged into theatre in Delhi where he associated with major theatre directors E. Alkazi, B. V.Karanth, Fritz Benewitz, Ranjit KAPOOR, Barry Johnn, Amal Allana, Prasanna Devendra Raj Ankur. He visited the U.K, Germany, and Poland with the National School of Drama Repertory Company. 
For the last twenty-five years he has also been active with TV and cinema as writer, director, and actor and has been performing in numerous stage plays, T.V. serials, telefilms and films.
He has always considered writing and scripting to be his forte and has adapted world classics of drama such as The Tempest, Good Woman of Schetzuan, The Visit, Hedda Gabler, The Odd Couple, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay! Won’t Pay! to name a few. He has also written screenplays for feature films such as Hey Ram, Abhay, and White Rainbow.

ASHWIN CHADHA

Ashwin Chadha holds a diploma in acting from the Imago School of Acting under the directorship of acclaimed director Barry John. He was associated with Theatre Action Group (TAG) and acted in O Come Bulky Stomach, Blood Brothers, A Flea in Her Ear, Mangta Hai Now and Manto ,all directed by Barry John. He also played Cassio in Shakespeare’s Othello directed by the eminent director Mohan Maharishi. He has had lead roles in Ranjit Kapoor’s stage productions.

His selection in the ABCL Startrack Competition introduced him to Bollywood paving the way for the character role of ‘Asad’ in the much celebrated feature film Godmother. Ashwin is presently dubbing the voices of Gen. Musharraf and Inzamaam ul Haq for NDTV’s Double Take and Gustakhi Maaf and has performed in the Rafi Peer Festival in Pakistan.

ANILA SINGH

Anila S. Khosla graduated with the Best Actress Award from the National School of Drama and was a member of the N.S.D. Repertory until 1981. With the Repertory she designed costumes for Barry John’s The Fool, Kapoor’s Mukyamantri, R.G.Gopal’s Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se, Uttara Baokar’s Sandhya Chhaya and Kabhi Na Chooden Khet directed by Raina and others.

Since her return from New York, Anila has designed costumes for many productions including Raina’s Munto Hazir Hai, Ankur’s Mausam dar Mausam, Ranjit Kapoor’s Hum Rahe Na Hum and Auntiyon Ka Tehkhana.. She is an accomplished actress and has appeared in numerous Hindi and English plays for theatre and television.

The saga of Mumbai, Girangaon, traces the growth of the modern city through it various phases of development from an industrial centre based on a township of cotton textile mills. An effervescent community spawning a popular culture still evident in the modern metropolis, life revolved around work in the cotton mills, living in crowded chawls crammed full of workers from impoverished villages. The density, chaos and oppressive nature of this living enticed workers to the freedom of the streets. This in turn created a vibrant and virulent culture, in spite of poor wages and working conditions, still evident and reflected in the artistic renaissance of the 40s and 50s. Modernisation and the attendant struggles for workers of Girangaon set up the present battleground for the city’s future, mills replaced by malls, and chimneys by glass towers, the old laying siege to the new.
This is a celebration of Mumbai!

Biographies

RAMU RAMANATHAN

RAMU RAMANATHAN is a playwright-director and editor of PT Notes, a monthly theatre newsletter produced by Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.

He has written the plays Shanti, Shanti, It’s A War (1993 All India Best Play Award – The Hindu), Mahadevbhai, and Collaborators which was awarded the BBC Radio Playwriting Regional Award (2003). He penned the docu-drama 3, Sakina Manzil and youthful plays like Curfew, Yaar, Whats The Capital Of Manipur, Combat, and other one act and radio plays.

Ramanathan has written and directed two children’s plays for the Little Prithvi Players.

Ramanathan considers his best work to be with young people and non-theatre persons. He has workshopped and staged plays with diverse groups of University students. His collaboration with a group of architecture students resulted in 3 plays including a delightfully wicked piece called PM @ 3 pm. This group hosted an important 7-day workshop on Set Design and Theatre Aesthetics in Mumbai.

SUNIL SHANBAG, NIRUPAMA KAUL, DEVDATTA SABLE

The sound design for Cotton 56, Polyester 84 was carefully constructed to re-create a soundscape made up of  remembered sounds from the streets of Girangaon, and popular music from the time.

Sunil Shanbag

Also the director of the play, Sunil Shanbag uses sound and light as critical elements in all his productions. Often a piece of music, or a fragment of sound, sparks off the key idea in a production, and in Cotton 56, Polyester 84, it was the street sounds of Girangaon that helped create the design of the play. Sunil Shanbag has been directing plays for many years, and his work is marked by strong original texts, minimalist staging, and powerful performances by a group of talented actors.

Nirupama Kaul

Nirupama Kaul is a skilled sound editor with growing experience in creating tracks especially for the theatre. She has been involved in numerous documentary film and radio projects as an editor, and brings her skills dealing with real sounds to her work in Cotton 56, Polyester 84.

Devdatta Sable

Devdatta Sable is one of Maharashtra’s leading composers and music directors. His work in the theatre is of special note, and he has composed music for significant productions such as Dusra Samna, Mujra Ghya Sarkar, Zulva, Saiyya Bhaiye Kotwal, and most recently for Cotton 56, Polyester 84. Devdatta knows the cultural ethos of Girangaon intimately, and his contribution to re-creating the musical traditions of the period was invaluable.

A woman journalist recalls her single meeting with Arun Kolatkar, one of the finest contemporary poets of India, at a restaurant in Kolatkar’s favourite Kala Ghoda area in Mumbai. She traces the events that led to her encounter with the reclusive man, and relives her interview with him. “Dark Horse” is based on ten poems by Kolatkar, conjuring the life of the poems in a multi-layered performance against a music soundscape. Not ‘recited’, the poems are assimilated into a theatrical experience that carries action and emotion forward creating moods that may be flippant or sombre, or pure whimsy. Some are juxtaposed with lines from older bhakti poets like Tukaram and Mirabai. The play captures the spirit of Kolatkar’s poetry in all its wry humour and deep compassion for all living things.

Biographies

Gowri Ramnarayan has a PhD in Comparative Aesthetics and is a feature writer with The Hindu, Chennai. She was a vocal accompanist in concert to the late Carnatic music legend M S Subbulakshmi. Gowri has translated two plays of Vijay Tendulkar, as well as short stories of Kalki Krishnamurti. She has authored biographies and children’s books. She has been a member of the Fipresci Jury of the international critics’ association at film festivals in London, Venice, Valladolid, Oslo and Mumbai. Both Dark Horse and her other play Rural Phantasy have won critical acclaim.

An abstract treatment of the eternal questions, the mystery of the Universe and the existential problems of man and society. The play begins with Nandi by Suthradharan, a group of people who narrate whatever they eat, including the entire solar system, electrons and neutrons, all, eaten and digested. But something is indigestible! See worlds rotate and revolve in the Panja Bhootha: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space in a cosmic dance. See new worlds in embryonic form. Search.connection.struggle.constraint and loss.the macro and microcosmic views. The cosmic wheel turns. And turns again.

Biographies

Dr.Vadivel Thambiran Arumugham was born in a traditional Theru–K-Koothu family of Tamilnadu. With a degree in Chemistry from Madras University, he continued with a Bachelor in Theatre Arts (Director) at the School of Drama, Calicut University, in Kerala, an M.A in Tamil from Annamalai University, Tamilnadu, and a Ph.D on “The Theatrical Explorations of Eunuch Festival of the Aravan Temples of Tamilnadu” from Pondicherry University. He presently teaches at the School of Performing Arts, Pondicherry University. Director and actor in many plays touring to national and international theatre festivals, he was troupe leader of the Theru–K-koothu group in the Festival of India in France (1985), Sweden (1987) and the Festival de I’imagenerie in Paris (1997). In 1990 he conceived of the concept of ‘Prop’s Theatre’ and received support from the Sangeet Natak Academy scheme to direct Karunchuzhi (1990) and Oosi (1992). He received an Indo–French residency award to research contemporary theatre and choreography in 1995. In the same year, he received a fellowship from the British Council to visit London to study contemporary British theatre. He performed one man Theru-K-koothu performances in the U.K, France, Germany and Switzerland.

He authored Karunchuzhi, a collection of his plays, which received state awards in Tamilnadu and Pondicherry, and a prize in recognition from Thirupur Tamil Sangam (2000). He presented a research paper at the Mid American Theater Conference in USA (2005).

DR .C. RAVEENDRAN

Dr.C.Raveendran obtained a Masters Degree from Madras University in 1967 and a Doctorate in Tamil from Madurai Kamarajar University in 1977. He was a staff member at the Department of Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies, University of Delhi, since 1985, and retired as the Professor and Head of Department in 2005.

Prof. C.Raveendran has been associated with the modern theatre movement in Tamilnadu and since 1981 commenced lighting and set design for an extensive number of plays in Tamilnadu and Delhi. He has also conducted a number of lighting workshops at various University and theatre groups in Tamilnadu. He is author of several books on theatre and performing arts now pending publication. He has participated as Lighting Designer in national and international theatre festivals in Singapore (1990, 1998) Colombia (1996), France, Germany and Switzerland (1997). He is currently fulltime and resident lighting designer for Thalai-k-kol at Pondicherry.

A play in twelve parts based on the autobiography “Aamar Katha”. The narrator, the elderly Binodini, reflects on her fate, from her beginnings in abject poverty and an imminent future in the sex trade, then rescued for a life in the theatre. The vicissitudes of her life are complicated by a seemingly inescapable fate, in spite of the training of unique guru, Girish Ghosh. She finds herself obliged to live a double life as kept woman and actor. Her commitment to her theatre vocation is further disappointed by betrayal and a crisis in faith. The memories of her finer moments are stained by her shame and exploitation. Girish Ghosh remains noncommittal about her autobiography. Mourning her departure from the theatre, and other losses, she experiences a revelation and the presence of the Almighty.

Biographies

AMAL ALLANA

Amal Allana is a graduate of the National School of Drama, and followed with a two year apprenticeship at the Berliner Ensemble and other theatres in the GDR. She has directed over fifty plays for the stage, several plays and serials for television, designed costumes for stage and film, curated exhibitions, researched and written on theatre and engaged in various related activities. Concurrently, she has taught theatre direction at prestigious institutions in India. Her plays are as deeply ‘Indian’ as they are truly ‘international’, because she has a vision that transcends narrow definitions of culture and nationality. A meticulous observer of the ‘human condition’, she combines a passionate understanding of individual psychology with a world view that enables her to reflect the universality of human experience.

She is currently Head of Acting at The Dramatic Art & Design Academy (DADA) and Artistic Director of Theatre & Television Associates, New Delhi. Amal Allana is the present Chairperson of the National School of Drama, New Delhi. 

PREETI VASUDEVAN

Preeti Vasudevan, artistic director and choreographer, is one of India’s leading performers and choreographers. Ms. Vasudevan’s ground-breaking work in the contemporary idiom stems from her foundations in Bharatanatyam, Indian classical dance, combined with cross-training in other eastern and western movement and theater styles. She is the recipient of international awards and recognitions and was main faculty at 2004 American Dance Festival. Preeti holds an MA in Dance Studies from the Laban Centre in London, specialising in choreography and movement analysis.

She has received many Fellowships, including the Indiana Arts Commission, Individual Arts fellowship, USA, and a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, USA, 1999, and has been recipient of a Cultural Exchange Scholarship from Takasaki Arts Center College, Japan, 1994. She received a Special Award for Outstanding Performance at the Pongal Dance Festival in Chennai.

Preeti is the founder and artistic director of Thresh, an international collaborative multimedia arts group.

SALIMA RAZA

Salima began her stage career with the Delhi Art Theatre production of Kanjoos in 1958 for which she received the Best Actress Award. She followed with the Delhi Natya Sangh Best Supporting Actress Award for Dinner with The Family in 1960. She was a founding member of Yatrik. She played the main roles in Yatrik’s Azar Ka Khwab, one of their most popular productions. She also played the main role. in Lilette Dubey’s Aatmakatha. In the 90s she joined Theatre and Television Associates and has since then performed in Char Chaughi, Sonata, Erendira and Nati Binodini.

Salima has acted in over twenty-five plays in India and abroad in Hindi Urdu and English.She has been closely associated with radio and T.V since 1955 in India and abroad. Salima wrote, directed and acted in the film Dhaage Prem Ke, a landmark film on communal harmony.

She presently teaches speech in theatre at The Design and Dramatic Art Academy (DADA) in Delhi.

JAYANTA DAS

Jayanta Das is a seasoned theatre, television and film actor. From the age of 16 he acted in, and directed, many plays in Bengali and Hindi nationally. He has performed under the direction of leading directors including Dr. Habib Tanvir, Shri M.K.Raina and Shri.Rajinder Nath. He has co-acted with Shri Om Puri, Shri S. M. Zaheer. Jayanta was a member of the theatre group Players with Frank Thakurdas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ravi Baswani and Dinesh Thakur.

He has been recipient amateur Awards for acting and directing over an extensive period. He has also acted in feature films, and made voice-overs for BBC Documentaries and Trans World International Sports Features.

SWAROOPA GHOSH

Swaroopa Ghosh performed professionally on Kolkata stage throughout her college days and afterwards with major Bengali directors like Asit Bose, Bivas Chakraborty, Anjan Dutt, Sohag Sen and others. When she moved to Delhi in 1989 she was selected for the National School of Drama Repertory Company, which afforded her the opportunity to work with directors Fritz Bennewitz, M K Raina Bhanu Bharati, Ranjit Kapoor and Ebrahim Alkazi.

After leaving NSD Repertory she commenced with Yatrik Theatre and Joy Michael, an association that remains current. Therein, she worked with directors like Avijit Dutt, Bhaskar Ghosh and Joy Michael. Swaroopa later joined Alkazi’s Living Theatre, which marked a turning point. Around the same time she worked with Barry John, and Zuleikha Choudhury, who opened a new way of theatre to her. She found the confidence to do experimental work and performed the hour long monologue “The Chase”-a piece from Stefen Berkoff’s Decadence. In 2004 she became associated with Theatre and Television Associates and began working under director Amal Allana, performing in Erendira and Nati Binodini. 

She has taught drama in schools and directed plays for children, some gaining awards for Inter school Projects. She conducts theatre workshops and has taught movement and mime theatre to deaf children for nearly 6 years. She teaches IGCSE level drama at The British School and ‘emotive expression’ at Nissar Allana’s Dramatic Art and Design Academy. She has also had much experience working in television.

SONAM KALRA

Sonam has had many opportunities as an actress, the most challenging and exhilarating of which, has been Nati Binodini, with Amal Allana. She has played the female lead in a Teamwork Production, Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan, a musical directed by Sanjoy Roy, and played the female lead in The Heart of The Matter, a play about cancer, directed by Sita Raina.

Sonam has anchored TV shows such as The Real India Travel Show and Wheels for the BBC as well as Musafir Hoon Yaaron for Star Plus. She does voice-overs and sings jingles for radio and television advertisements and continues to work as a freelance copywriter to support her artistic endeavours. She believes she is a work in progress, has one life and wants to live it to the fullest.

NATASHA RASTOGI

Natasha has extensive acting experience in theatre, film and television. She has performed in a number of plays directed by Amal Allana: Nag Mandal, Erindra as Erindra and Nati Binodini. She may be also be remembered for her role as Sona Verma in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, winner of the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.  Her film and television credits extend to serials, telemovies and commercials.

In 2004 she resigned as drama teacher of the Modern School in New Delhi. She has choreographed and directed musical ballets involving two hundred and eighty children for 12 years, which were professionally scripted and recorded. Natasha designed the costumes and sets for each of these musicals. For the past 2 years she has worked with Sahitya Kala Parishad and MMI directing plays and musicals for schools.

AMITA AILAWADI

PREETI VASUDEVAN

NISSAR ALLANA

Born in 1946, Nissar graduated at the Grant Medical College in 1971. The same year he also started designing theatre sets and lights, beginning with Bertolt Brecht’s play, A Man’s a Man. Since then he has designed over seventy sets and lighting for plays, television and special events. Nissar worked in Berlin as a scenographer assistant at the Schaubuhne with the famous designer/director team Karl Ernst Herrman in 1975. He was appointed as Fellow of the Theatre Department in 1978 at Punjab University.

Nissar has worked as scenographer and lighting designer with directors like Amal Allana, Richard Schechner, Rolf Stahl, Egil Kipste, Zuleikha Chaudhari and other directors. He was set decorator on Richard Attenborough’s film, Gandhi.

Nissar has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and is presently director of a theatre academy, DADA, The Dramatic Art & Design Academy (DADA), and producer of Theatre & Television Associates.

KABIR SINGH

Kabir Singh gained a Diploma in Audio Engineering, at the School of Audio Engineering (SAE), Mumbai 2006.

Kabir has an impressive list of professional productions that he has designed sound for that includes the Amal Allana directed Erendira And Her Heartless Grandmother, The Mahabharata Project directed by Zuleikha Allana, which traveled to the Prague Quadrennial in 2003 and to the Bonn Biennale, Germany (2006). He has been sound designer for outdoor events and installations, and has worked as sound designer for Varun Narain in street and puppetry theatre. Kabir has designed sound for live events such as a sound and light show at Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur directed by Nissar Allana (2004). He has dabbled in sound for several short films. His sound works has extended to fashion events such as the Ramp Show for Lakme India Fashion Week (2004). He has also been involved with the Gere Foundation seminar event to increase AIDS awareness (2004). He has taught at university level at Rai University, New Delhi in a course about the “Aesthetics of Sound Design” to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Kabir moonlights as resident DJ at The Mezz in Friend’s Colony, Delhi.

“Numbers in the Dark” deals with the concept of a young Indian adult, torn between the present of the 21st century and the weight of 5000 years of history. A vein is to a leaf what an individual is to a collective. The play is an exploration of the most pressing questions of our time relating to identity and collective memory. The play aims to explore the realm of individual truth shaped by our collective memory and a loss of identity, unable to rely on documentation, media, or even history, to tell us. The question confronts us: which truth is trustworthy? And, whose truth? The direction of the play was stimulated by characters in Harold Pinter’s “Mountain Language” that echo marginalization within our times, and Pinter’s Nobel Acceptance Speech that strikes a chord, reflecting the moral policing and authoritarian procedures that the contemporary world is subject to. Fragmentation, Italo Calvino’s mirror, sees characters endure the struggle for a cohesive whole. What is authentic identity? Is there one at all? Or are we just Numbers in the Dark?  

Source Material-
Harold Pinter: Mountain Language and Nobel Acceptance Speech
Italo Calvino: The Mirror-The Target, World Memory, Solidarity, Black Sheep

Biographies

Atul Kumar

Atul Kumar has headed The Company Theatre since 1993. He trained in visual theatre with Philipe Genty in France, in Kathakali with Kudamaloor Karunakaran Nair in Kerala. He also trained in Kalerippayattu for 3 years. Atul has worked as an actor with numerous directors in India and abroad. He has directed many theatre productions that have toured internationally festivals and forums. TCT currently conducts national and international theatre workshops, forums, seminars, and conferences all focusing on issues for theatre. TCT is also set to launch an International Residency for Theatre Research and Performance in the near future.

Namit Das

Namit began as a classical singer and found his way to stage acting in school and college. Since then he has worked on Mumbai stage with directors like Atul Kumar, Imogen Butler-Cole, Nadir Khan, Chandan Roy Sanyal & Yuki Ellias. He recently finished the play President is Coming at the Writer’s Block Festival in Mumbai. Playing a myriad of roles in deverse plays and theatre forms, Namit has shown an amazing repertory of techniques and a rigour that he brings to each role he undertakes.

Sujay Saple

Sujay is an upcoming actor/director who has been working with The Company Theatre for the last 5 years. He has acted in plays like Voices, Noises Off and The Con Artist and co-directed the play Smell with Atul Kumar for the Writers’ Block Festival 2004. He is conducts theatre workshops for school and college students all over India. Sujay is now a permanent member of The Company Theatre and is working on the Youth section of EVAM – the International Residency for Theatre Research & Performance being set up in Maharashtra.

The journey of the young man Pier Gynt, a feckless dreamer who abandons responsibility to all who care for him to inhabit a fantasy world of easy fame and fortune. Exiled from his village, he sets about winning and losing fortunes, gaining and losing respect, and applying his mental faculties to the point of madness.

The girl who once spurned him for drunkenness, Solvieg, has waited faithfully through the years, while he roamed the world not giving her a thought. Aged and disillusioned, his return to the village heralds his presence as no more than a myth, a fairytale, and unrecognized and unwelcome, he exiles himself to the forest. There, he realises that the core, the truth at the heart of the onion is, that he wasted his life utterly, and shattered by this discovery, he repents his follies. He is rewarded by Solvieg’s forgiveness.

Biographies

VIKRAM MOHAN, VIKRAM KAUSHIK

Both Vikram Mohan and Vikram Kaushik trained under the well-known Choreographer Fernando Aguliera, at the American Embassy School. Vikram Mohan also trained with Shyamak Dawar. Both Vikrams were part of Khilona’s 2-month intensive Theatre Workshop and both also perform as character voices in Peer Gynt.

ROBIN DAS

Robin Das, a post graduate (Dramatics) from the National School of Drama, joined its teaching faculty in 1977. He has since been involved in practice, research and investigation of theatre, resulting in a plethora of designs, productions of diverse genres, and development of teaching methodologies. His explorations have included dance, music and the plastic arts, creating new contexts and relevance for tribal culture. His play presentations constantly seek the inherent modern and post-modern elements inherent in our folk and traditional forms. His notable works in design and art direction include Shila Shringaar, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Hazariprasad Dwivedi’s Anamdas Ka Potha, Jaishankar Prasad’s Janamjay Ka Naag Yogya and Shudrak’s Mricch Kattikam, and set design for E. Alkazi’s Jaag Utha Hai Raigarh. and Costumes/Sets/Props for B.V. Karanth’s  Barnam Van (Macbeth) Skandgupt. He worked in art direction on Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Khamosh and Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.

He designed the sets, costumes and props for Peer Gynt.

CHIITTANANJAN TRIPATHI

Chittranjan Tripathy composed lyrics and the score for Peer Gynt. A post-graduate from the National School of Drama (Direction), he has had 10 years training in classical Hindustani vocal music, and has composed music for numerous plays serials and telefilms. An accomplished director, himself, his first major play with NSD, Taj Mahal Ka Tender, is a legend. He has been associated with Khilona for the last 10 years having composed music for more than 15 major plays.

VK

A graduate from the National School of Drama and a member of

NSD Repertory Company for 4 years, he is the founder and director of Khilona, India’s first company of adults performing works for children. Under his leadership, the group has taken giant strides towards assisting the NSD to set up similarly inspired companies.

Prolific in acting, directing and writing songs for children, he has written and adapted many plays for children: Pushkin’s The Golden Fish, The Clown’s Cry for the Moon, Grehon Ki Kahani, and The Rabbit King. He has also conducted several workshops in theatre production for children. He translated over fifty plays including Brecht’s The Chalk Circle, Edward Bond’s The Fool, Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters and The Fan, and Moliere’s The Mock Doctor. He has acted in the films Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, Mileinge Mileinge, and Khosla Ka Ghosla.

He is the first children’s theatre practitioner to be honoured with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Theatre Direction (2005).

A story of The Man, The Woman, The King, The Fakir and The Storyteller unfolding through 52 poems. A meditation on love, the characters traverse each other’s stories as they carry us through the past, present and future. The boundaries of time and space blur, memoirs and reflections carrying us on a journey through the narrative zones of virtual time and space.  

Being in love with love, one forgets true love.
Being in love with Self, one forgets true love.  

The lovers, Man and Woman are smothered by the intensity of their love. They part on separate journeys, one through the secular world and the other through the internal labyrinths of the mind. Each seeks completion for the other. All realise that they have strayed from the true love they seek. She finds herself lost in love. The king opens his arms to pain. Each finds love by letting go of a vision of happiness.

Biographies

MOHIT TAKALKAR

Mohit Takalkar has been working as a Director in Marathi experimental theatre for the last 8 years and has directed an extensive number of full length and one act plays. He has also worked as a film editor, assistant director and screenwriter for feature films such as the acclaimed Devrai. He has edited and directed a number of short films including Tyachi Goshta, which has featured in festivals in Germany, the UK, Holland and India.

Mohit Takalkar has received multiple awards for contribuitions to experimental theatre. Most recently these have been the Zee Gaurav Award for Fridhe Madhe Thevlela Prem and Kala Gaurav Puraskar, both for Best Experimental Director in 2006. He received the Amrish Puri Award for contribution to experimental stage in 2005, the Ma. Ta. (Maharashtra Times) Award for Best Experimental Play for Chotyashya Suttit, 2004 and the Maharashtra State Award for Best Play and Best direction for Yayati and Nanephek.

Tu was selected for 9th Bharat Ranga Mahotsav 2007, New Delhi and Satellite Theatre Festival 2007, Kolkata. He has also recently collected Zee Gaurav Awards for acting and film editing.

SATEE

The playwright of TU has more than 15 years theatre experience. She has written, directed and acted in many Marathi plays that include ‘Prashna’, ‘Palasala Paana Paach’, and ‘Dukkar’. Satee has written a novel ‘Maitreen’ (Friend), and short stories for many weekly and fortnightly magazines. She scripted the National award winning short Film ‘Girni’, and has scripted many multimedia cd roms for children, and Ayurveda. She has scripted and directed educational documentaries, such as ‘Growing up with Marathi’, and a biography, ‘Sunanda’
She conducts theatre workshops for various institutions.

RADHIKA APTE

An actor by profession, Radhika has been doing theatre since her college days. She has acted in a feature film and many plays. She has also worked in commercials. She has won accolades for her roles at various state competitions.

ASHISH MEHTA

A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Ashish has been involved in theatre for about 4 years. He has acted in a one act play, a story presentation and one full length play. Ashish has also had experience in stage manageming a variety of plays, art directed two short films, ‘Tyaachi Goshta’ and ‘Girni’.

KALYANI KULKARNI

A Costume Designer and Make up artist by profession, Kalyani has been associated with theatre for the last 5 years. She has acted in Chandralok Complex directed by Mohit Takalkar. Kalyani has designed Costume Designer and has been Make-up Artist for all Aasakta productions, and many other Marathi plays. Has performed this role for TV productions and feature films, such as Restaurant by Sachin Kundalkar and Valu by Umesh Kulkarni.

PRADEEP VAIDYA

A Writer/Director, Theatre Trainer, Composer of Music, and Lighting Designer, Pradeep has worked for 20 institutions for around 1000 shows in different roles. Has composed music for T.V serial Chanakya produced audio cassettes. Was instrumental in designing an unique educational T.V show Ladhai Dahavichi for E-T.V Marathi. Currently involved in all Aasakta productions as Lighting Designer. Has won many accolades in lighting design at state level.

The journey of two Brahmin widows living in the midst of the satras in the post-independence era is the theme of “Apekshya”. The elephant as symbol of man’s strength and means of livelihood underscores a setting revealing disaster in the lives of many: Even in the Satras, prominent in the direction of the society, the grip of opium, and flourishing post independence Communism became a headache for the Adhikar of satras.

The widows Durga and Horu Gokhani both support religion and Sanskaras, although with very different aims. Both wore betel leaves on their feet taking care not to touch the ground, during their menstruation. Durga anticipated her in-laws to come and take her to her husband’s home and her only dream was to go to Kashi to release her dead husband’s remains ASTHI and to shave her head. Horu Gokhani was courageous and determined. After her opium-addicted husband died she carried on her family on her own. She also kept a man close to her, as her heart wanted to dream.

Sometimes even the powerful elephant gets mad – just as the men of the satras become agitated. But are the wishes, and dreams of these two lonely women fulfilled?

Biographies

Baharul Islam

Baharul Islam graduated from the National School of Drama (Acting).

He has designed and directed many plays: Urukha, Yayati, Saraighat, Abhimoinnyu, Jatra, Simar Sipare, Guwahati Guwahati, Holi, Apeksha, Court Marshal, Moi premar pinjarat bandi that have played in festivals for Bharat Rang Mahotsav, Nandikar, E z c c, Sangeet Natak Academy, Prithvi, Nehru Centre, and PDA festivals. He designed and directed a play in Kannada, Modola Gitti for Ninasam Repertory Company (2003-2004). Most recently he designed and directed Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the National School of Drama Repertory Company, New Delhi (2006). In July of the same year he directed Anton Chekhov’s Seagull for the Rangayana Repertory Company, Mysore. Baharul designed Octave 2006, a Festival in the northeast at Pragati Maiden, New Delhi 7 – 14 March, 2006, organised by the Indian Ministry of Culture.

Baharul has acted in Assamese feature films and radio plays regularly for twenty years. He spent 4 years with Mobile Theatre (Bhrayamaman) in Assam as Actor-Director working with groups: Bhagyadevi, Kohinoor, Anirvaan and Meghdoot, during which time he directed and performed extensively. He has acted in telefilm, serials and features, has directed a feature film, short film, and has produced and directed documentaries and a serial.

He received the Monohar Singh Smriti Award from the National School Of Drama for his contribution to theatre (2005). He has written 3 plays including Apeksha.  

At present, he is the Director of Seagull and a member of Indian Council for Cultural Relations Advisory Committee.

FEROZA BEGUM

Feroza Begum was born in 1964 at Diphu, a small hill station of Assam. After her graduation from Cotton College, she completed an M.A. in Assamese Literature from Guwahati University, where she resides.

She has worked on translations of Assamese articles, and currently works as a school teacher. She leads a parallel life as an actor, for which she has held a lifelong interest. She draws increasing recognition in this field, having received numerous state awards. She has acted in over forty plays nationally such as: Yatra, Apeksha, Ashar Ka Ek Din, Shakharam Bainder, Ghasiram Kotowal, Ranga Nadir Par, Kecha Pitalar Sas, Alap Astarag and Raja Ahe. Firoja has acted in TV productions in Assamese and Hindi. She now works with children and has directed children’s plays. She remans active in regional socio-cultural activities.  

In 1993, she joined the Seagull Group headed by Baharul Islam, acting in various national festivals with this group.