Arvind Gaur
Encyclopedia
Arvind Gaur Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues. His work deals with communalism
, caste
issues, feudalism
, domestic violence
, crimes of state
, Politics of power, violence
, injustice
, social discrimination, marginalisation, and racism
. Arvind is the leader of Asmita, Delhi
's "most prolific theatre group", and is also an actor
trainer, social activist, street theatre
worker and story teller
.
Gaur was the recipient of a research fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
(1997–98). He was on the guest faculty of Delhi University for Theatre in education program for three years. He has conducted many theatre workshops and performed in various colleges, institutions, universities and schools in India
and abroad.
He has organized theatre workshops for children in schools and slums as well as street theatre
performances on different socio-political issues. He has directed more than 60 stage plays over two decades.
director. He has twin daughters Kakoli & Saveree.
newspaper as Culture columnist for about four years.
Watching plays, reading about them and writing about them is how his training in theatre started. He then shifted to Press Trust of India
(PTI-TV). He was associated with TV serial Tana-Bana. He was in charge of the research and programming there. All through his years with street theatre, print and television, Gaur had developed keen interest in direction. Finally, after devoting two years to PTI-TV he felt the urge to switch to theatre completely.
's Hanoosh (February,1993). He started his theatre journey with classics like Tughlaq, Andha Yug, Caligula (play)
, Julius Caesar (play)
etc. He performed Girish Karnad
's Tughlaq in a small basement theatre(SRC). It was a huge success. His Tughlaq was Selected as "the best play of the year 1994" by Sahitya Kala Parishad
. He achieved greater heights during a decade in theatre. He trained actors in his own style. He trained them as a complete theatre person. Arvind Gaur also collaborated with various Theatre artists and Groups specially in exploring a new language for Solo performances.
performances on different Socio- political issues.
Recently his group performed a series of "Anti Corruption " Street play in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) ROSA. and street play on "Decent Work for Domestic help" in collobration with ILO.
Scripts
, Kangana Ranaut, Shilpa Shukla
, Manu Rishi
,Aishveryaa Nidhi, Deepak Dobriyal
,Shakti Anand,Shalini Vatsa,Mohit Tripathi,Rajesh Bagotra ,Nandini Arora, Seema Azmi
, Aparna Singh,Susan Brar,Ayesha Mohan etc
Prominent theatre actors who worked with him are- Mallika Sarabhai
,
Piyush Mishra
, Rashi Bunny
, Lushin Dubey
,Bubbles Sabharwal,Ruth Sheard,Jaimini Kumar etc
.Arvind Gaur Also assisted Shri Habib Tanvir
during the Prithvi Theatre Festival.He designs lights for Agra Bazar ( Nazir Akbarabadi's poetry
),Charandas Chor (his masterpiece play , Edinburgh Fringe Award),
Asghar Wajahat
’s Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya ,Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna (Habib Tanvir's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
),Canadian-Indian playwright Rahul Varma's Zahreeli Hawa and Gaon ke naon Sasural, mor naon Damand.
Communalism
Communalism is a term with three distinct meanings according to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary'.'These include "a theory of government or a system of government in which independent communes participate in a federation". "the principles and practice of communal ownership"...
, caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
issues, feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, crimes of state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
, Politics of power, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, injustice
Injustice
Injustice is the lack of or opposition to justice, either in reference to a particular event or act, or as a larger status quo. The term generally refers to misuse, abuse, neglect, or malfeasance that is uncorrected or else sanctioned by a legal system. Misuse and abuse with regard to a particular...
, social discrimination, marginalisation, and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. Arvind is the leader of Asmita, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
's "most prolific theatre group", and is also an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
trainer, social activist, street theatre
Street theatre
Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are...
worker and story teller
Story Teller
Story Teller was a magazine partwork published by Marshall Cavendish between 1982 and 1985.-Publishing history:...
.
Gaur was the recipient of a research fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
The Ministry of Human Resource Development is an Indian government ministry, responsible for the development of human resources...
(1997–98). He was on the guest faculty of Delhi University for Theatre in education program for three years. He has conducted many theatre workshops and performed in various colleges, institutions, universities and schools in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and abroad.
He has organized theatre workshops for children in schools and slums as well as street theatre
Street theatre
Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are...
performances on different socio-political issues. He has directed more than 60 stage plays over two decades.
Personal life
Born 2 February 1963 in Delhi. Arvind’s father late Shri Shiva Nandan Sharma (died on 16.04.09) was a Maths scholar and his mother Mrs. Saraswati Devi is a housewife. He has one brother Anil Gaur & three sisters – Shashi Prabha,late Mithlesh and Dr. Anita Gaur. His wife Dr. Sangeeta Gaur is a very talented vocalist, composer & musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
director. He has twin daughters Kakoli & Saveree.
Theatre career
After completing his schooling from Model School, Vivek Vihar in Delhi, he decided to study engineering in Electronic Communication from PUSA Institute. Later, he joined the Delhi Public Library drama group. In DPL He acted in and directed various plays. Then he worked with slum kids and industrial labours for some time and conducted workshops for them. His first street play was with Zakir Hussein College, called Videshi Aya. It became very popular and he staged it around 200 schools. After this, his desire to express led him to journalism. He worked with the Navbharat TimesNavbharat Times
Navbharat Times aka NBT is the largest circulated as well as largest read Hindi newspaper of Delhi & Mumbai. From the stable of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd which also publishes other dailies like The Times of India, The Economic Times, Maharashtra Times and also magazines like Filmfare & Femina...
newspaper as Culture columnist for about four years.
Watching plays, reading about them and writing about them is how his training in theatre started. He then shifted to Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
(PTI-TV). He was associated with TV serial Tana-Bana. He was in charge of the research and programming there. All through his years with street theatre, print and television, Gaur had developed keen interest in direction. Finally, after devoting two years to PTI-TV he felt the urge to switch to theatre completely.
Theatre journey
Arvind's Debut play was Bhisham SahniBhisham Sahni
Bhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
's Hanoosh (February,1993). He started his theatre journey with classics like Tughlaq, Andha Yug, Caligula (play)
Caligula (play)
Caligula is a play written by Albert Camus, begun in 1938 and published for the first time in May 1944 by Éditions Gallimard. The play was later the subject of numerous revisions. It was part of what the author called the "Cycle of the Absurd", with the novel The Outsider and the essay The Myth...
, Julius Caesar (play)
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
etc. He performed Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
's Tughlaq in a small basement theatre(SRC). It was a huge success. His Tughlaq was Selected as "the best play of the year 1994" by Sahitya Kala Parishad
Sahitya Kala Parishad
Sahitya Kala Parishad is the Cultural wing of the Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi of Delhi for music, dance, drama & fine arts, established in 1968, under the 'Department Of Art, Culture And Language'. It was registered under the Society's Registration Act, 1860 on July 31, 1975...
. He achieved greater heights during a decade in theatre. He trained actors in his own style. He trained them as a complete theatre person. Arvind Gaur also collaborated with various Theatre artists and Groups specially in exploring a new language for Solo performances.
Major Directions
- Girish KarnadGirish KarnadGirish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
's Tughlaq Translations by B. V. KaranthB. V. KaranthBabukodi Venkataramana Karanth was a renowned film and theatre personality from India...
, Surekha SikriSurekha SikriSurekha Sikri or Surekha Sikri Rege is Indian film, theatre and TV actor. She has won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress twice, for her role in Tamas in 1988 and for Mammo in 1995.-Early life and background:...
& K.K. Nayyar - Bhisham SahniBhisham SahniBhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
's Hanoosh - Dharamvir BharatiDharamvir BharatiDr. Dharamvir Bharati was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the Chief-Editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine Dharmayug....
's Andha Yug (The Age of Blindness) - Swadesh DeepakSwadesh DeepakSwadesh Deepak is a popular Indian playwright, novelist and short-story writer. Deepak has been active on the Hindi literary scene since the mid 1960s and is best known for Court Martial, a pathbreaking play that he published in 1991. Deepak's most recent book is Maine Mandu Nahin Dekha, a...
’s Court Martial (450 shows) - Govind Deshpande’s Antim Divas, translated in Hindi by Chandra kant patil
- Albert CamusAlbert CamusAlbert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
's Caligula (play)Caligula (play)Caligula is a play written by Albert Camus, begun in 1938 and published for the first time in May 1944 by Éditions Gallimard. The play was later the subject of numerous revisions. It was part of what the author called the "Cycle of the Absurd", with the novel The Outsider and the essay The Myth...
, Translation by Sharad Chandra - Girish KarnadGirish KarnadGirish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
's Rakt Kalyan (TaledandaTaledandaTaledanda Taledanda Taledanda ((Kannada: ತಲೆದಂಡ, Hindi: Rakt Kalyan, literally: Death by Beheading) is a 1990 Kannada play written by Girish Karnad, an eminent person in Kannada literature, about the rise of the radical protest and reform movement, Veerashaivism, in 12th century Karnatak...
), Hindi Translation by Ram Gopal BajajRam Gopal BajajRam Gopal Bajaj is a noted Indian theatre director, academician, and a Hindi film actor. He has also been a faculty member and a former director of National School of Drama, New Delhi .... - Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's The Caucasian Chalk CircleThe Caucasian Chalk CircleThe Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents....
translated by KamleshwarKamleshwarKamleshwar was a prominent 20th-century Hindi writer, and script and dialogue writer for Hindi cinema and television... - Mahesh DattaniMahesh DattaniMahesh Dattani is an Indian director, actor and writer. He wrote plays like Final Solutions, Dance Like a Man,Bravely Fought the Queen,On a Muggy Night in Mumbai,Tara and 30 days in September...
's Final Solutions, translation by Shahid Anwar - Eugene O'NeillEugene O'NeillEugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Desire Under the ElmsDesire Under the ElmsDesire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...
translated by Nadira BabbarNadira BabbarNadira Babbar is an Indian theatre actress, director and an actress in Hindi cinema, who is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001. A leading name in Indian theatre, Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in Hindi theatre in 1981... - Dario FoDario FoDario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
's Operation Three Star, adaptaion of Accidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
by Amitabh Srivatava - Dr. Narendra MohanDr. Narendra MohanNarendra Mohan is an eminent Hindi poet, playwright and critic, who also writes in Punjabi.-Biography:Mohan is known for his controversial play Mr.JinnahHe has also edited works of Saadat Hassan Manto....
's Kalandar & Mr.Jinnah - Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's The Good Person of SzechwanThe Good Person of SzechwanThe Good Person of Szechwan is a play written by the German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berlau. The play was begun in 1938 but not completed until 1943, while the author was in exile in the United States...
(Ramkali-Good woman of Delhi), adaptation by Amitabh Srivastava - Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Waiting For GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
, translation Krishna Bal Dev Vaid - John Octanasek's Romeo Juliet and the darkness, script by Aishveryaa Nidhi
- Neil SimonNeil SimonNeil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's The Good Doctor, Adaptation - Sunil Jasuja, Sadia & Aparna Singh - Vijay TendulkarVijay TendulkarVijay Tendulkar was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi...
’s Ghashiram KotwalGhashiram KotwalGhashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972 , as his response to the rise of a local political party, Shiv Sena, in Maharashta . The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. Based on the life of Nana Phadnavis , one of the prominent minister in... - Sharad JoshiSharad JoshiFor agriculturist and social activist, Sharad Joshi, please create a separate article:Sharad Joshi Sharad Joshi is a Hindi poet, writer, satirist and a dialogue and scriptwriter in Hindi films and television...
's Andhon ka Hathi & Ek tha Gadha urf aladat Khan - Munshi PremchandMunshi PremchandMunshi Premchand , was a famous writer of modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is generally recognized in India as the foremost Hindi-Urdu writer of the early twentieth century...
's Mote ram ka Satyagrah ,Adaptation by Habib TanvirHabib TanvirHabib Tanvir was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He is the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor...
and Safdar HashmiSafdar HashmiSafdar Hashmi was a Communist playwright, actor, director, lyricist, and theorist, chiefly associated with Street theatre in India, and is still considered an important voice in political theatre in India.... - Ashok Lal's Ek Mamooli Aadmi
- Nag Bodas's Amma Tujhe salaam
- Rajesh Kumar's Me Gandhi Bolto
- William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Julius Caesar (play)Julius Caesar (play)The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against... - Mahesh Dattani's Tara, translation by Neeraj Mallik
- Vijay Mishra’s Tatt Niranjana, translation by Rajendra Prasad Mishra
- Doodnath Singh's Yama Gatha
- Uday PrakashUday PrakashUday Prakash is an eminent scholar, and a prolific Hindi poet, journalist, translator and short story writer.His writing spans fiction, non-fiction, and critically acclaimed films and documentaries. He has worked as an administrator, an editor, a researcher, and a TV director...
's Warren HastingsWarren HastingsWarren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
ka Saand - Dr. Harish Naval's Peeli Chht par Kaala Nissan
- Bhisham SahniBhisham SahniBhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
's Kabira ( KabirKabirKabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
) kheda Bazar Mai - Mahesh Dattani's 30 Days in September, Hindi translation by Smita Nirula
- Bharatendu HarishchandraBharatendu HarishchandraBharatendu Harishchandra is known as the father of modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. He is considered one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India. A recognized poet, he was also a trend setter in Hindi prose-writing...
's Andher Nagri - Harsh ManderHarsh ManderHarsh Mander is an Indian social activist and writer. He came into prominence after 2002 Gujarat riots and heads "Aman Biradari" which work for communal harmony. He became member of National Advisory Council of the UPA government in 2010 and special commissioner to the Supreme Court...
's Unsuni, script by Mallika SarabhaiMallika SarabhaiMallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.-Early life:Mallika Sarabhai was born in... - Rajesh Kumar's AmbedkarB. R. AmbedkarBhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
Aur Gandhi - Mohan RakeshMohan RakeshMohan Rakesh was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani literary movement of the Hindi literature in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din , which won a competition organized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi...
's Leheron Ke Raj Hans - Ahmedabad ki Aurat Bhali- Ramkali starring Mallika SarabhaiMallika SarabhaiMallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.-Early life:Mallika Sarabhai was born in...
(34th Vikram SarabhaiVikram SarabhaiVikram Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian physicist. He is considered to be the father of the Indian space program; legendary Homi Bhabha’s successor as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission; and was as at home in the world of the arts as in his favourite laboratory. His interests were vast and...
International Art Festival) - Gulzar's Kharaashein,play based on his poetries and stories
- Govind Purushottam DeshpandeGovind Purushottam DeshpandeGovind Purushottam Deshpande is a Marathi playwright and academic from Maharashtra, India. He is also known as GoPu , or GPD....
's Raastey - Mahesh BhattMahesh BhattMahesh Bhatt , is a prominent Indian film director, producer and screenwriter.Bhatt's early directional career consisted of acclaimed films, such as Arth, Saaransh, Janam, Naam and Zakhm....
's The Last Salute,written by Rajesh Kumar.Play based on Muntadhar al-ZaidiMuntadhar al-ZaidiMuntadhar al-Zaidi is an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Bagh. , al-Zaidi works with a Lebanese TV channel....
's Book.
Solo Play direction
- Bhisham SahniBhisham SahniBhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
’s Madhavi solo play with Rashi BunnyRashi BunnyRashi Bunny is an Indian theatre and cinema actor. She is most notably known for her performances in Bhisham Sahni's Madhavi, Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince... - Untitled, solo with Lushin DubeyLushin DubeyLushin Dubey is an Indian stage actor and director. She directed, acted and scripted many drama productions for over twenty years. Lushin is also known for her Solo plays Untitled and Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate with theatre director Arvind Gaur She also acted in film like Partition ,Murder...
(Theatre World) - Manjula PadmanabhanManjula PadmanabhanManjula Padmanabhan is a playwright, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author responsible for the play Harvest. She has also written such plays as Lights Out! ,Hidden Fires The Artist's Model and Sextet .Born in Delhi to a diplomat family in 1953, she went to boarding school in...
's Hidden Fires, with Rashi BunnyRashi BunnyRashi Bunny is an Indian theatre and cinema actor. She is most notably known for her performances in Bhisham Sahni's Madhavi, Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince... - Gandhari, solo with Aishveryaa Nidhi
- Sarah KaneSarah KaneSarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...
's 4.48 Psychosis4.48 Psychosis4.48 Psychosis is a play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on June 23, 2000, nearly one and a half years after Kane's February 20, 1999 death...
by Ruth Sheard - Women in Black, one-woman show written & acted by Bubbles Sabharwal
- Antoine de Saint-ExupéryAntoine de Saint-ExupéryAntoine de Saint-Exupéry , officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint Exupéry , was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of France's highest literary awards, and in 1939 was the winner of the U.S. National Book Award...
's The Little PrinceThe Little PrinceThe Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
, one-woman show by Rashi BunnyRashi BunnyRashi Bunny is an Indian theatre and cinema actor. She is most notably known for her performances in Bhisham Sahni's Madhavi, Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince... - Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate solo by Lushin DubeyLushin DubeyLushin Dubey is an Indian stage actor and director. She directed, acted and scripted many drama productions for over twenty years. Lushin is also known for her Solo plays Untitled and Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate with theatre director Arvind Gaur She also acted in film like Partition ,Murder...
- Walking through the RainbowRainbowA rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
, with Rashi BunnyRashi BunnyRashi Bunny is an Indian theatre and cinema actor. She is most notably known for her performances in Bhisham Sahni's Madhavi, Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince... - Story of the Tiger, with Jaimini Kumar Srivastava
- A Woman Alone , solo with Ruth Sheard
Street Plays
He directed more than 25 Street TheatreStreet theatre
Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are...
performances on different Socio- political issues.
Recently his group performed a series of "Anti Corruption " Street play in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations agency that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations...
(UNODC) ROSA. and street play on "Decent Work for Domestic help" in collobration with ILO.
Awards
- Artists 4 Change Karmaveer PuraskaarKarmaveer PuraskaarThe Karmaveer Puraskaar are National People's Awards for Citizen Social Justice and Action instituted by the citizens and people of India. These awards are instituted by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs – a Public-Private-People partnership in association with other partners from industry, media,...
Noble Laureates,2008 by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs - Special Jury award for best play in experimentation with tradition the at International Solo Theatre Festival, ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
,2004 - Colour of Nation Award at International TheatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
Festival, Nizhnevartovsk, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for Solo Play Madhavi by Rashi Bunny,2005 - Radha Krishna Award for his contribution to DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
’s art & cultureCultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
,2007 - Udhbhav Shikhar Samman (In memory of Aacharya Vijyendra Sanathak),2008
- Swar-Dhrohar award ,2007
Work for Visual media
- Acted in short film "Meri Jeevan ki Abhilasha" directed by Kriti Takkar which won 2nd best fiction film in "Mise-en-Scene", the international student’s film festival,2010.
- Assistant director- Docu-film "In search of an ideology" Director-PrasannaPrasannaPrasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...
for DoordarshanDoorDarshanDoordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
,Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,India - Worked with Press Trust of IndiaPress Trust of IndiaPress Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
(PTI-TV). - Acted in tele film "Dhabba" directed by Green Oscar awardee Mike PandeyMike PandeyMike Pandey is an Indian film maker specialising in films about wildlife and the environment. He has won over 300 awards for his work to spread awareness about biodiversity and species conservation...
, produced by Nafisa Ali. - Assistant director-Docu-film "Gokak" (V. K. GokakV. K. GokakVinayaka Krishna Gokak was a major writer in Kannada language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was fifth among eight recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada language for his epic Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi...
),Director- PrasannaPrasannaPrasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...
for Sahitya AkademiSahitya AkademiThe Sahitya Akademi ', India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India...
,Delhi - Research & Scripting for TV Serial"Taana -Bana "(1991–1992),produced by Press Trust of IndiaPress Trust of IndiaPress Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
Translation and Scripting
Translation- He translated Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
's Visarjan (Sacrifice),Performed by the Darpana Theatre Group directed by Ujjwal Dave - Arvind Gaur Translated Unsuni in Hindi;script and Direction by Mallika SarabhaiMallika SarabhaiMallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.-Early life:Mallika Sarabhai was born in...
Scripts
- He scripted plays like-Untitled,Gandhari,Bitter Chocolate(based on Pinki Virani's book),Madhavi solo play(based on Bhisham SahniBhisham SahniBhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
's play) and many street plays for Asmita Theatre.
Major Actors
Major cinema and theatre actors who trained under Arvind Gaur are- Imran ZahidImran Zahid
Imran Zahid is an Indian actor in both theatre and Bollywood. He has acted in Mahesh Bhatt's The Last Salute, based on Muntadhar al-Zaidi's book of the same title.-Early life:He began acting while at school in Bokaro...
, Kangana Ranaut, Shilpa Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Shilpa Shukla is an actress known for playing the role of Bindiya Naik, a member of the Indian women's national hockey team, in the sports-oriented movie Chak De India, starring Shahrukh Khan...
, Manu Rishi
Manu Rishi
Manu Rishi is an Indian film actor, lyricist, script and dialogue writer. Manu Rishi trained under theatre director Arvind Gaur for six years. He won the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award, 2009 for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!...
,Aishveryaa Nidhi, Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
,Shakti Anand,Shalini Vatsa,Mohit Tripathi,Rajesh Bagotra ,Nandini Arora, Seema Azmi
Seema Azmi
Seema Azmi is an Indian cinema and theatre actress. films - Chak De India & Saas bahu aur Sensex.- Biography :Seema Azmi started her acting career with eminent Theatre director Arvind Gaur.She joined Asmita theatre group, Delhi in 1996...
, Aparna Singh,Susan Brar,Ayesha Mohan etc
Prominent theatre actors who worked with him are- Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.-Early life:Mallika Sarabhai was born in...
,
Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter.-Early life and education:He spent his early life in Gwalior, where he received his education...
, Rashi Bunny
Rashi Bunny
Rashi Bunny is an Indian theatre and cinema actor. She is most notably known for her performances in Bhisham Sahni's Madhavi, Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince...
, Lushin Dubey
Lushin Dubey
Lushin Dubey is an Indian stage actor and director. She directed, acted and scripted many drama productions for over twenty years. Lushin is also known for her Solo plays Untitled and Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate with theatre director Arvind Gaur She also acted in film like Partition ,Murder...
,Bubbles Sabharwal,Ruth Sheard,Jaimini Kumar etc
Designs
Arvind Gaur designs lights for Naya Theatre group's major productions under the Direction of Padma Shri Habib TanvirHabib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He is the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor...
.Arvind Gaur Also assisted Shri Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He is the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor...
during the Prithvi Theatre Festival.He designs lights for Agra Bazar ( Nazir Akbarabadi's poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
),Charandas Chor (his masterpiece play , Edinburgh Fringe Award),
Asghar Wajahat
Asghar Wajahat
Syed Asghar Wajahat, popularly known as Asghar Wajahat , is a Hindi scholar, fiction writer, novelist, playwright, an independent documentary filmmaker and a television scriptwriter, who is most known for his work, 'Saat Aasmaan' and his acclaimed play, 'Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya, O Jamyai Nai', based...
’s Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya ,Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna (Habib Tanvir's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
),Canadian-Indian playwright Rahul Varma's Zahreeli Hawa and Gaon ke naon Sasural, mor naon Damand.
Further reading
- "Arvind Gaur-A Decade in Theatre"-Book by J.N. Kaushal (Ex-Acting Chief, National School of DramaNational School of DramaNational School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . 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...
,Repertory Company,),Published by ITI (International Theatre Institute), UNESCO,Indian Chapter - "Raising the curtain on theatre"-Director Arvind Gaur Reflects on why India needs a cultural policy by Seema Sindhu(Life Fires,September,2007)
- His Voice-"Ace Act" ,essay by Shekhar Chandran(New Women,Jan.2008)
- "The World of Theatre" By Ian Herbert, Nicole Leclercq,(P-126) published by International Theatre Institute
External links
- The good man of Delhi stage by Archana (2008-09-26) Mail-Today.
- Founder of Asmita Group, by Rohit Malik, Delhi Events (2008.12.30)
- Gandhari, solo-act by Aishveryaa Nidhi
- "All The World’s A Platform" by Shailaja Tripathi. Expressindia ,( 2003.09.17)
- http://www.hindu.com/yw/2004/12/11/stories/2004121100490300.htm"Heal the wounds" by Rohini Ramakrishan,(2004/12/11), The HinduThe HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
] - Dramatics Society of Lady Shri Ram College
- "A plethora of problems afflicts Hindi theatre" Rana A Siddiqui, The Tribune.(2001.12.28)
- Dattani's Final Solutions"Oneness Peace Festival,Hindu College,University of Delhi(2005.09.16)
- "Play of rules-Arvind Gaur's street theatre-Hatke Bachke"Nandini Nair,The Hindu (2009.01.12)
- Child-Bitter Chocolate"Express Features Service,The Indian Expres(2004.01.08)
- Park’s The Other Festival"Onassis Awardee Manjula Padmanabhan's "Hidden fires"-The Museum Theatre,Chennai(2005.12.07)