Arvind Gaur
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Arvind Gaur | |
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Arvind Gauris anIndian theatredirector,actortrainer,social activist,street theatreworker andstory teller.[1]He is known for socially and politically relevant plays inIndia.[2][3]Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues.[4][5]His work deals withInternet censorship,communalism,casteissues,feudalism,domestic violence,crimesofstate,politics of power,violence,injustice,social discrimination,marginalisation,andracism.Arvind is the founder of Asmita, which is a theatre group inDelhi.[6][7]
Gaur was the recipient of a research fellowship awarded by theMinistry 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 colleges, institutions, universities and schools in India and abroad.[8]
He organizes theatre workshops for children[9]in schools andslumsas well asstreet theatreperformances on socio-political issues.[10][11][12]He has directed more than hundreds stage and street plays over 25 years.[13][14][15]
Personal life
[edit]He was born on 2 February 1963 in Delhi. Arvind's father Late. Shri Shiva Nandan Sharma was a Mathematics scholar and his mother Late. Saraswati Devi was a housewife. His father died on 16 April 2009 and his mother died on 19 September 2019. He has one brother Anil Gaur and three sisters: Shashi Prabha, late Mithlesh and Anita Gaur. He is married to Dr. Sangeeta Gaur. He has twins daughters Kakoli Gaur Nagpal and Saveree Gaur.[16]Prince Nagpal married his daughter Kakoli Gaur.
Theatre career
[edit]After completing his schooling from Model School, Delhi, he decided to study engineering in Electronic Communication. He later joined the Delhi Public Library drama group where he acted in and directed plays.[14][17]Then he worked with slum kids and industrial labourers for some time and conducted workshops for them. His first street play was with Zakir Hussein College, calledVideshi 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 theNavbharat Timesnewspaper as culture columnist for about four years.[14]
Gaur worked forPress Trust of India(PTI-TV) where he was incharge of research and programming. He was associated with TV serialTana-Bana.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.[18]
Arvind's debut play wasBhisham Sahni'sHanoosh(February, 1993). He started his theatre journey with plays likeTughlaq,Andha Yug,Caligula,Julius Caesar,etc.
He performedGirish Karnad'sTughlaqin a small basement theatre (SRC).Tughlaqwas selected as "the best play of the year 1994" bySahitya Kala Parishad.
Major directions
[edit]- Girish Karnad'sTughlaqtranslations byB. V. Karanth,Surekha Sikri& K.K. Nayyar
- Bhisham Sahni's Hanoosh
- Dharamvir Bharati's Andha Yug (The Age of Blindness)
- Swadesh Deepak's Court Martial (450 shows)
- Govind Deshpande's Antim Divas, translated in Hindi by Chandra kant patil
- Albert Camus'sCaligula (play),translation by Sharad Chandra
- Girish Karnad's Rakt Kalyan (Taledanda), Hindi Translation byRam Gopal Bajaj
- Bertolt Brecht'sThe Caucasian Chalk Circletranslated byKamleshwar
- Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions, translation by Shahid Anwar[19]
- Eugene O'Neill'sDesire Under the Elmstranslated byNadira Babbar
- Dario Fo's Operation Three Star, adaptation ofAccidental Death of an Anarchistby Amitabh Srivatava
- Dr. Narendra Mohan's Kalandar & Mr.Jinnah[20]
- Samuel Beckett'sWaiting For Godot,translation Krishna Bal Dev Vaid
- John Octanasek'sRomeo Julietand the darkness, script by Aishveryaa Nidhi
- Neil Simon's The Good Doctor, Adaptation - Sunil Jasuja, Sadia & Aparna Singh
- Vijay Tendulkar'sGhashiram Kotwal[21]
- Sharad Joshi's Andhon ka Hathi & Ek tha Gadha urf aladat Khan
- Munshi Premchand's Mote ram ka Satyagrah, Adaptation byHabib TanvirandSafdar Hashmi
- Ashok Lal's Ek Mamooli Aadmi[22][23]
- Nag Bodas's Amma Tujhe salaam[24]
- Rajesh Kumar's MeGandhiBolto
- William Shakespeare'sJulius Caesar
- Mahesh Dattani's Tara, translation by Neeraj Mallik
- Vijay Mishra's Tatt Niranjana, translation by Rajendra Prasad Mishra
- Doodnath Singh's Yama Gatha[25]
- Uday Prakash'sWarren Hastingska Saand
- Dr. Harish Naval's Peeli Chht par Kaala Nissan
- Bhisham Sahni's Kabira (Kabir) kheda Bazar Mai
- Mahesh Dattani's 30 Days in September, Hindi translation by Smita Nirula
- Bharatendu Harishchandra's Andher Nagri
- Harsh Mander's Unsuni, script byMallika Sarabhai
- Rajesh Kumar'sAmbedkarAurGandhi[26][27]Nominated for the best play, best direction and best ensemble in the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards-2011[28][29]
- Mohan Rakesh's Leheron Ke Raj Hans
- Bertolt Brecht'sThe Good Person of Szechwan'Ramkali', adaptation by Amitabh Srivastava, starringMallika SarabhaiandRevanta Sarabhai(34thVikram SarabhaiInternational Art Festival)[30][31][32]
- Gulzar's Kharaashein, play based on his poetries and stories
- Govind Purushottam Deshpande's Raastey. Hindi translation byJyoti Subhash[33]
- Mahesh Bhatt's The Last Salute, written by Rajesh Kumar.Play based onMuntadhar al-Zaidi's Book.[34][35][36][37]
- Partition play based onSaadat Hasan Manto's stories[38]
- Dario Fo's 'Chukayenge Nahi'Can't Pay? Won't Pay!,Hindi adaptation by Amitabh Srivastava[39]
- Rajesh Kumar's play 'Trial of Errors'
Solo play direction
[edit]- Bhisham Sahni'sMadhavisolo play withRashi Bunny[40][41]
- Untitled, solo withLushin Dubey(Theatre World)[42][43]
- Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, withRashi Bunny[44][45]
- Gandhari... in search of light, solo withAishveryaa Nidhi[46][47][48][49][50]
- Sarah Kane's4.48 Psychosisby Ruth Sheard[51]
- Women in Black, one-woman show written & acted by Bubbles Sabharwal[52]
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry'sThe Little Prince,one-woman show byRashi Bunny[53][54]
- Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate solo byLushin Dubey[55][56]
- Walking through theRainbow,withRashi Bunny
- Story of the Tiger, with Jaimini Kumar Srivastava
- A Woman Alone, solo with Ruth Sheard in English.
- 'I Will Not Cry', solo withLushin Dubey[57]
- Aruna's Story solo play withLushin Dubeybased onPinki Virani's book on NurseAruna Shanbaug case[58][59]
Street plays
[edit]Gaur directed more than 40street theatreperformances on socio-political issues. He has always raised voice against any socio-political issue that effects the common public. He directed street plays likeCorruption,Garbage,Road Rage,andDastakwhich is against the issue of eve teasing. His street plays are always thought-provoking and leave a huge mark on the mindset. He and his team performs socio-political street plays all across Delhi/NCR and the country. He is regarded as a man with a message who believes that change can start from society, if we wish to start the change.[60] [61][62]
Awards
[edit]Gaur won the Special Honour Award by Delhi International Film festival 2015[63]
Films/visual media
[edit]- Acted inRaanjhanaaas Guptaji directed byAanand L. Rai[64]
- Acted inJDfilm directed by Shailendra Pandey withGovind Namdev,Aman Verma,Vedita Pratap Singh
- acted inGurgaon
- Acted in short film "Meri Jeevan ki Abhilasha" directed by Kriti Takkar which won second best fiction film in "Mise-en-Scene", the international student's film festival, 2010.
- Assistant director, docu-film "In search of an ideology", director Prasanna for Doordarshan,Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India).
- Worked withPress Trust of India(PTI-TV).
- Acted in tele-film Dhabba directed by Green Oscar awardeeMike Pandey,produced byNafisa Ali.
- Assistant director, docu-film Gokak (V. K. Gokak), directorPrasannafor Sahitya Akademi, Delhi.
- Research and scripting for TV serial Taana-Bana (1991–1992), produced by Press Trust of India.
Translation and Scripting
[edit]Translation
[edit]He translatedRabindranath Tagore's Visarjan (Sacrifice), which is performed by the Darpana Theatre Group and directed by Ujjwal Dave. Gaur translated Unsuni in Hindi; script and direction byMallika Sarabhai.
Scripts
[edit]He scripted plays like Untitled, Gandhari...in search of light, I will not Cry, Bitter Chocolate (based onPinki Virani's book),Madhavisolo play (based onBhisham Sahni's play) and many street plays for Asmita Theatre.
Design
[edit]Arvind Gaur designs lights for Naya Theatre group's major productions under the direction ofHabib Tanvir.Gaur also assisted Habib Tanvir during the Prithvi Theatre Festival. He designs lights for Agra BazarNazeer Akbarabadi's poetry), Charandas Chor (his masterpiece play,Edinburgh FringeAward),Asghar Wajahat's Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya, Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna (Habib Tanvir's adaptation ofShakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream), Canadian-Indian playwright Rahul Varma's Zahreeli Hawa and Gaon ke naon Sasural, mor naon Damand.
Major Actors
[edit]Major cinema and theatre actors who trained under Arvind Gaur areKangana Ranaut,[65]Deepak Dobriyal,Manu Rishi,Shilpa Shukla,Rashi Bunny,Aishveryaa Nidhi,Tillotama Shome,Imran Zahid,Sheena Chohan,Seema Azmi,Ishwak Singh and Suraj Singh ofVeere Di Weddingfame.Sonam Kapoorattended Gaur's acting workshop to learn the nuances of street theatre for her filmRaanjhanaa. Other prominent theatre actors who worked with him areMallika Sarabhai,Piyush Mishra,Lushin Dubey,Bubbles Sabharwal, Ruth Sheard, Jaimini Kumar, etc.[66]
Further reading
[edit]- "Arvind Gaur-A Decade in Theatre" by J.N. Kaushal (ex-Acting Chief,National School of Drama,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 byInternational Theatre Institute
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External links
[edit]- The good man of Delhi stage by Archana (2008-09-26) Mail-Today.Archived15 March 2009 at theWayback Machine
- 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)[dead link]
- "Heal the wounds" by Rohini Ramakrishan,(2004/12/11),The Hindu
- Dramatics Society of Lady Shri Ram College
- "A plethora of problems afflicts Hindi theatre" Rana A Siddiqui, The Tribune.(2001.12.28)
- "Mahesh 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)
- "Nobody’s Child-Bitter Chocolate" Express Features Service, The Indian Express (2004.01.08)
- "The Park’s The Other Festival" Onassis Awardee Manjula Padmanabhan's "Hidden fires" -The Museum Theatre, Chennai (2005.12.07)
- Asmita Theatre Group