JURY PANEL 2008
Habib Tanvir
 Born in Raipur, Habib Tanvir grew up on Parsi theatre, silent films and the robust lilt of Chhatisgarthi folk songs. He trained at RADA and the Bristol Old Vic, travelled all over Europe, saw Brechtian theatre, returned home and did "Mitti ki Gadi", his adaptation of Sudraka's "Mricchakatikam".
Between then and "Charandas Chor", which burst on the theatre scene in 1975, he had gradually arrived, through a series of rejections and discoveries, at a form and style of theatre which became uniquely his. Though he has broken no new ground since then, he has continued to reap a continuous crop of stimulating theatre from that rich field, becoming in the process, that rare thing — a legend in his lifetime.
His many awards include the Sangeet Natak Academy Drama Award, Padma Shree National Award and the Padma Bhushan National Award in 2002
Mahesh Dattani
 Mahesh Dattani is a playwright, stage director, screen writer and film maker. His published works include FINAL SOLUTIONS AND OTHER PLAYS, for which he won the prestigious central Sahitya Akademi Award, TARA and a COLLECTED WORKS edition published by Penguin India in two volumes.
Most of his plays have been translated and performed in Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada. And are on the syllabus of several Indian and foreign universities and schools including New York Univerisity, Hyderabad University, JNU, LSR, Mumbai University etc.
Mahesh Dattani also conducts workshops in Playwriting and acting and writes radio drama regularly for BBC Radio 4.
His film Mango Souffle was shown in several international film festivals and was adjudged best motion picture at the Barcelona Film Festival 2003. His film Morning Raga had its international premier at the Cairo Film Festival and he won the award for best artistic contribution. The script has been archived by The Academy of Motion Pictures, USA.
Manoj Bajpai
 Throughout his relatively small but meaningful career, Manoj has won many awards. Born in a small village in Bihar , he moved to Delhi and trained at National School of Drama and with Barry John.
Manoj appeared in several small roles in films like Droh Kaal and Bandit Queen before getting a big break in 1998 film Satya directed by Ram Gopal Varma. His performance as Bhiku Mhatre, won him several awards, as he portrayed the hotheaded and compassionate sides of this small-time gangster, with equal panache. Another important film was Rakeysh Mehra's film Aks in 2001, for which again he won many awards. He work was also appreciated in films like, Zubeidaa , Pinjar (2003) for which on the National Film Award. Some of his films include Tammana , Shool, Ghaath, Road and Veer Zaara.
It is really remarkable that in a short time he has managed to work with directors such as Shyam Bengal, Ram Gopal Verma Mahesh Bhatt , E Niwas , J.P.Dutta , Hansal Mehta & Rakesh Mehra, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi to name a few.
Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry
 Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry is a renowned playwright, theatre director & teacher with a Diploma in Acting -National School of Drama, Delhi & MA History of Art, Punjab .
Presently Chairperson Department Of Indian theatre , she was Officer on Special Duty, Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh – on deputation to Bharat Bhawan,Bhopal.
Some of the plays she has directed include ‘The Suit’, ‘To Soothe the Seven Spirits' & 'Seven Sisters Banquet' in Tokyo & Kyoto with a multi-cultural cast. Also "Sibo in Supermarket" 'Unposted Love Letter' 'Kitchen Katha', 'Naga - Mandala', by Girish Karnad & 'HOLI', by Mahesh Elkunchwar.
She has conducted many Seminars, Conferences and Workshops on theatre in India and abroad on subjects like "Tradition and Modernity in Theatre", 'Acting Methodologies' in Kingston, Jamaica & Movement Workshop in Cambridge, UK.
She has won the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2003 for direction & Bhasha Vibagh Award 2004. She did workshops with Deepa Mehta for her film, 'Water’ ‘Heaven on Earth’ And’ What’s Cooking’.
Sushma Seth
 Sushma Seth is the honorary Cultural Director for ARPANA, a spiritual NGO involved in addressing the problems of forty thousand people of a re-settled slum colony. The programs include educating children, empowering women, creating awareness, nutrition, sanitation and medical aid. Dance-dramas and plays are performed regularly. Sushma Seth graduated in drama from Carnegie melon in USA.
She founded Yatrik, a theatre company, and Children’s Creative Theatre & has directed and acted in over 150 stage plays in Hindi,English,Urdu for various Delhi drama groups.
She is an educationist and has directed and Acted in television plays from 1961 and has acted in over 100 feature films.
She has been honored and felicitated and won numerous awards, including Founders Scholar Award from Carnegie Melon,Pittsburg,USA, Best actress Award – Sahitya Kala Parishad, Kalashri Award for Best Supporting Actress, Lifetime Achievement Award – Bhawna Kala Mandir, Women achievers Award from CPAA
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