SNA’s Festival of Performance by Akademi Awardees

Fifth Day: SNA’s Festival of Performance by Akademi Awardees

New Delhi, July 27: The fifth day of the Festival of Performing Arts, featuring recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2010, being held between 23-31 July in the premises of Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) here, witnessed three performances by noted artistes – Malabika Mitra – Kathak, Warsi Brothers – Quwwali, Atamjit – play in Punjabi:

Profile of these artistes are detailed below:

MALABIKA MITRA

Born in 1956 in Calcutta, Shrimati Malabika Mitra was groomed as a Kathak dancer by Gurus Ramgopal Mishra of the Jaipur gharana and Om Prakash Maharaj of Lucknow. She also trained briefly with Shri Vijay Shankar and attended workshops in Kathak conducted by Pandit Birju Maharaj and Shrimati Sitara Devi. She equipped herself further with training in vocal music, Tabla and Sitar. Dr Mitra is a graduate in medicine from the National Medical College in Calcutta, and has applied her knowledge to develop a better understanding of the body and its movements. Shrimati Malabika Mitra has established herself as an outstanding exponent of Kathak dance. She has performed widely in national and international dance festivals. She is the founder director of the institution Shibpur Onkar Dance and Music Centre, where she has imparted training to many young dancers. She has also choreographed several dance productions based on literary works in Bengali and Sanskrit. She has written articles on Kathak, conducted seminars, and presented papers on Kathak at prestigious dance conferences. Her performance has been filmed in documentaries on dance. Shrimati Malabika Mitra has received several awards for her work from institutions within and outside her State. She was named Eminent Dancer of 2004 by the Government of West Bengal. Shrimati Malabika Mitra has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2010 for her contribution to Kathak dance.

NAZEER AHMED KHAN WARSI and NASEER AHMED KHAN WARSI (Warsi Brothers) Shri Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and Shri Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi were born in 1965 and 1969, respectively, in Hyderabad. The brothers received their training in music from their father, Shri Zaheer Ahmed Khan Warsi, and their grandfather Aziz Ahmed Khan

Warsi. They belong to the wellknown Qawwal Bachchon ka Gharana. The duo, popularly known as Warsi Brothers, have gained For their outstanding contribution to Qawwali, the duo have been honoured by institutions in Hyderabad. Shri Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and Shri Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi have received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2010 for their contribution to Qawwali. Jointly recognition as leading Qawwali performers. Their music bears the impress of the gayaki of the Delhi gharana, and is noted for its pure melody and improvisation. They are recognized specially for their Sufiyana Qawwali, and also for Ghazal-singing. The brothers have performed extensively in India and other countries. They are featured frequently on the media, including All India Radio and Doordarshan. They have produced a number of audio-cassettes and CDs of Qawwali.

Commenting on the performance of Warsi brother, Secretary SNA, Jayant Kastuar said, “Warsi brothers’ Qawwali truly ensures the transcendence of Sringar rasa to a level that takes rasikas eventually to a Bhakti mood.”

ATAMJIT

Born in 1950 in Amritsar, Shri Atamjit is a noted Punjabi playwright and director. He attracted wide attention with his first full-length play Kabrastaan, published in 1975. Deeply concerned with social issues, he has over the years produced a substantial body of work including Kamloops Deean Machhiaan, Rishtian da ki Rakhiye Na, Main tan Ik Sarangi Han, Panch Nad da Pani, Tatti Tawi Da Sach, Scooty and Ghadar Express. His plays have been widely performed, published, and translated into several languages. Many of them are prescribed reading in schools and colleges in Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir. Universities abroad, including the University of California in the United States, have also placed his work on their curricula. Plays directed by Shri Atamjit have been staged widely in Canada and the US. He has also given public readings of his plays before select audiences, such as Kamloops Deean Machhiaan which he read at the Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai. He has successfully written songs for various theatre productions, and has produced both documentaries and fiction films for Doordarshan. His plays have been broadcast by All India Radio and have been telecast by Doordarshan from Jalandhar. Shri Atamjit holds a PhD from Guru Nanak Dev University (1983), and is a former Secretary of the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi (1991-1994). He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009, and was declared Playwright of the Decade (1982-92) by the Punjabi Academy, Delhi. He has received awards as Playwright of the Year from several institutions including Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjabi Sahitya Academy, and Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi. Shri Atamjit receives the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Indian theatre as a playwright.
About the Play

Mein Taan ikk Saarangi Haan primarily revolves around the life of three single ladies and is set in the future – 2021, and flows backward; it moves from menopause to menarche, the landmark moments in a woman’s life, which to a large extent determines and undermines her choices.

Director’s Note

The title of the play is derived from a poignant tale of a young girl for whom the milestone of puberty becomes a fatal milestone. Otherwise too, the soulful ‘sarangi’ is a befitting metaphor for women. I have tried to reinterpret many folktales to prove my point. Down the line we have inherited a social system, a skewed pattern which continues to reinforce the gender stereotypes. The stories of the past might be heroine centric, yet the point of view that is propagated is essentially and intrinsically male. The script is multi-layered. The action keeps on shuttling between three time levels: the present, the past and the distant past inhabited by folk characters. To ensure the transition from one time level to another, the device of drama-within-thedrama has been used. It is to reinforce the intent of the play.

The Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna Sadasyata) and Akademi Award (Akademi Puraskar) are the most coveted national honours conferred on performing artists, gurus and scholars of the performing arts. These honours are decided by the Akademi’s General Council, the apex body consisting of eminent artists, scholars and nominees of the Government of India and of different States and Union Territories of the country.

Sangeet Natak Akademi, established by the Government of India on 31 May 1952, is the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama. It was created as the apex body in the country for the task of preservation and promotion of the performing art traditions of India. One of the important activities of the Akademi has been to give recognition and honours to artists in order to set standards in the performing arts, and to restore art and the artists to their rightful place in independent India.