Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Ahmedabad, Gujarat,India |
| Occupation(s) | KuchipudiandBharatanatyamdancer, actress, politician |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse | Bipin Shah |
| Children | 2, includingRevanta |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Kartikeya Sarabhai(brother) Subhashini Ali(cousin) Shaad Ali(nephew) |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan-2010 |
| Website | www |
Mallika Sarabhaiis an activist and Indian classical dancer and actress fromAhmedabad,Gujarat,India. Daughter of a classical dancerMrinalini Sarabhaiand space scientistVikram Sarabhai,Mallika is an accomplishedKuchipudiandBharatanatyamdancer[1]and performer who has specialized in using the arts for social change and transformation.
Early life and education[edit]
Mallika Sarabhai was born inAhmedabadtoVikram SarabhaiandMrinalini Sarabhai.She graduated from theSt. Xavier's College, Ahmedabadwith a degree in Economics.[2]She then completed herMBAfromIIM Ahmedabadin 1974 and Doctorate in Organisational Behaviour from theGujarat Universityin 1976.[3]She is a noted choreographer and dancer and has also acted in a few Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati and international films.[4]
Career[edit]
She started to learn dancing when she was young and started her film career in the parallel cinema when she was 15. Mallika played the role ofDraupadiin thePeter Brook's playThe Mahabharata.Mallika has won many accolades during her long career, the Golden Star Award is one of them, which she won for the Best Dance Soloist, Theatre De Champs Elysees, Paris 1977. As well as a dancer, Sarabhai is a social activist.[5]She manages theDarpana Academy of Performing Artslocated at Ahmedabad, a centre for the arts and for the use of arts as a language for behaviour change.[6]
Performance[edit]
She acted in the Hindi movie titledHimalay Se Oonchathat was released in 1975. The movie which hadSunil Duttas the hero, did not do very well at the box office. In 1986 she acted in theBasu Chatterjidirected movie titledSheeshaopposite super starMithun Chakraborty.
In 1989 she performed hard-hitting solo theatrical works, Shakti: The Power of Women.[7]Her performance Sita's Daughters has toured the world and been performed over 500 times in three languages. After that, she directed and acted in numerous productions reflecting current issues and awareness among people. Amongst them is An Idea Named Meera; In Search of the Goddess and SvaKranti: The Revolution Within.
Mallika Sarabhai also wrote the script for the play 'Unsuni' based on Harsh Mander's book 'Unheard Voices' to raise awareness amongst children in elite schools and colleges to the real issues facing India's marginalized. The play went around 120 schools and colleges. Arvind Gaur later directed it as a play, with the same name. Darpana Academy has launched the people awareness movement through its production Unsuni which travels all over India.
In 2009 Mallika Sarabhai acted in an Indian adaptation Bertolt Brecht's ofThe Good Person of Szechwan(Ahmedabadki Aurat Bhali-Ramkali) directed byArvind Gaurin 34th Vikram Sarabhai International Art Festival.
In the year 2012, Mallika co-directed 'Women with Broken Wings,' an international production with filmmaker Yadavan Chandran and Swiss pianistElizabeth Sombart,an ode to the millions of women who have been the victims of violence. In 2014 she recreated, with Yadavan Chandran, Kadak Badshaahi, a multimedia production on the 603-year-old history of the city ofAhmedabad.The performance ran for an unprecedented 33 full nights in Darpana's venue, Natarani.
Television[edit]
Mallika has also used film and television for social change, especially for women's empowerment[8]and environmental consciousness. Through Darpana Communications, she has been responsible for the production of three thousand hours of TV broadcast programming, all of which has been shown throughDoordarshan,Gujarati. The programming uses the most popular genres of TV. She has anchored many shows on STAR TV andDoordarshanas well as the first NACO series on HIV, Talk Positive; the science seriesTurning Point;Vaividhyotsav, the culture quiz and Srishti: The Environment Quiz.
Writing[edit]
Mallika first started writing when she produced and performed Shakti: The Power of Women. Since then she has scripted her shows, TV serials for ISROs educational TV in Madhya Pradesh, film scripts and more new contemporary lyrics for Bharatanatyam. She has been a columnist forTimes of India,Vanitha,The Week,DivyaBhaskar,HansandDNA.
Her recent memoir is title, In Free Fall, My Experiments With Living. She recently appeared on apodcast,The Literary City withRamjee Chandranto talk about the memoir.
Politics[edit]
On 19 March 2009, Mallika Sarabhai announced her candidature against theBharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidateL K Advanifor theGandhinagar Lok Sabha seat,as an independent candidate in the2009 general election.She had several offers from the Congress to contest elections, the first being in 1984 fromRajiv Gandhi,but did not join any political party as she believed that all parties are corrupt.[9][10]She eventually lost to L K Advani by a huge margin and forfeited her election deposit in the process.[11]
She protested againstGujaratChief Minister,Narendra Modiduring Sadbhavna Mission in September 2011.[12]She accusedNarendra Modiof scuttling the petition filed in Supreme court by her on the2002 Gujarat violence.[12]She joined theAam Aadmi Partyon 8 January 2014.[13]
Personal life[edit]
Mallika met Bipin Shah in 1982 and married him. They have two children, a son,Revantaand a daughter Anahita.[14]They divorced in 1989.[15] Bipin and Mallika co-founded Mapin Publishing in 1984 and continue to run it together.[16]The loss of her mother, classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai, in 2016, left her bereft; yoga, dance,Transcendental Meditation(TM) andNon-Violent Communication(NVC) were some of the ways that she coped.[17]
She is the cousin of Indian politician and member of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist)Subhashini Ali,daughter of her mother’s sister CaptainLakshmi Sehgal(née Dr. Lakshmi Swaminathan) and ColonelPrem Sehgal.[18]Her brother is environmental educator and director ofCentre for Environment Education (CEE)Kartikeya Sarabhai.[19]
Honour[edit]
- Government ofGujaratawarded her with 'Gaurav Puraskar' for the contribution in the field of drama and dance.[20]
- She received thePadma Bhushanby government of India.
- The French Government awarded her with a knight's rank in theOrder of Academic Palmsin 2005 for her contribution in the field of drama and dance.
Gallery[edit]
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Performing Saarang in 2011,Indian Institute of Technology Madras -
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^International encyclopedia of dance:a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc
- ^"Alumni".St. Xavier's College (Autonomous) | Affiliated to Gujarat University.
- ^indobase Dances of India
- ^The Hindu: National: Mallika Sarabhai to contest against Advani
- ^Inspiring woman
- ^Welcome to the world of DarpanaArchived19 July 2011 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Inspiring woman - Mallika Sarabhai".
- ^"Interview with Mallika Sarabhai".
- ^Express India – Danseuse Mallika Sarabhai troops into Advani bastion in GandhinagarArchived23 September 2012 at theWayback Machine
- ^Poll dance: Mallika to contest against LK from Gandhinagar – Times of India
- ^The Hindu – National – Modi magic fails to work
- ^ab"Mallika Sarabhai, riots victims detained at Modi's fast venue".Hindustan Times.Indo-Asian News Service. 18 September 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 9 November 2013.Retrieved26 February2013.
- ^Desai, Darshan (8 January 2014)."Mallika Sarabhai joins AAP".The Hindu.Retrieved9 January2014.
- ^Narthaki – you gateway to world of Indian Dance
- ^Chatterjee, Madhurima (9 January 2012)."Mallika Unmuzzled".The Telegraph (India).
- ^The Tribune – Magazine section – Saturday Extra
- ^"Mallika Sarabhai opens up on battles with grief, 'future-proofing' her body".22 August 2022.
- ^"Ali's Karat and family 'factors'".www.telegraphindia.com.Retrieved16 November2022.
- ^"Mrinalini Sarabhai's 100th birth anniversary: Some interesting facts about the legendary dancer".The Indian Express.11 May 2018.Retrieved16 November2022.
- ^Vyas, Rajani (2012).Gujarat Ne Asmita(5th ed.). Ahmedabad: Akshara Publication. p. 284.
Further reading[edit]
- India's 50 Most Illustrious Women(ISBN81-88086-19-3) by Indra Gupta
External links[edit]
- Living people
- Actresses from Gujarat
- Indian civil rights activists
- Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumni
- Indian human rights activists
- Indian women activists
- Indian women's rights activists
- Dancers from Gujarat
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
- Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- Kuchipudi exponents
- Performers of Indian classical dance
- Actresses in Gujarati cinema
- Actresses in Malayalam cinema
- Sarabhai family
- 20th-century Indian dancers
- 20th-century Indian women artists
- 20th-century Indian actresses
- Women writers from Gujarat
- Activists from Gujarat
- Women artists from Gujarat
- 21st-century Indian dancers
- 21st-century Indian women artists
- Indian female classical dancers
- 21st-century Indian women politicians
- 21st-century Indian politicians
- Women in Gujarat politics
- Film directors from Gujarat
- Screenwriters from Gujarat
- Indian women screenwriters
- Indian women film directors
- 21st-century Indian actresses
- Women civil rights activists