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Saturday, January 3, 2026
TopicIndian Theatre

Topic: Indian Theatre

Theatre is now Bengal’s cultural star. Not cinema or literature

Two Bengali plays bagged 9 of the 13 awards at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards. It’s perhaps the state’s biggest haul at India’s most prestigious theatre awards.

Play about Bengal Renaissance has an unlikely hero—man who sculpted Bengali typeface

After 20 performances in two years, the play is headed for the 24th edition of the National School of Drama’s upcoming Bharat Rang Mahotsav theatre festival.

Ismat Chughtai scolded Naseeruddin Shah for not reading her work. Then he wrote a play on her

The India Habitat Centre’s auditorium was packed on the evening of 14 December for Ratna Pathak Shah. She talked about theatre in Indian languages beyond, Urdu, Hindi and English.

‘Waiting For Naseer’ is about finding fame on stage. Naseeruddin Shah is just a stand-in

The play is about two actors waiting to meet their inspiration—Naseeruddin Shah. The wait is an artifice to reflect on the state of theatre, artists’ insecurities, hypocrisies & fame.

Urdu Drama Festival reveals state of theatre—unpaid talent, lost scripts, sexual abuse jokes

The Urdu Drama festival aimed to promote the language. Thespians also raised concerns about the challenges they face— particularly the gap between the stage and writers.

Akshara Theatre is a Delhi gem, and a lifeline for small artists

Theatre stars Gopal Sharman and Jalabala Vaidya built Akshara Theatre with their own hands—literally. The struggle it’s facing today is a microcosm of the larger existential crisis in Delhi theatre scene.

Protest-hit Kolkata celebrates Habib Tanvir. He defied censors, shaped Indian theatre

‘Dekh Rahe Hain Nayan’, a three-day festival held in Kolkata on 30 August, celebrated Tanvir’s body of work. MK Raina, Naseeruddin Shah paid tribute to the theatre legend.

Play based on Manto’s story outraged an audience member. He still has that effect on people

Manto’s stories are renowned for their unfiltered, unflinching portrayal of society's darker sides. ‘Kali Salwaar’, which reveals the dreams and vulnerabilities of a sex worker, is among them.

Safdar Hashmi’s first major play wanted ‘people to vote Communist’. Thousands turned up in UP

In 'Safdar Hashmi: Towards Theatre for a Democracy', Anjum Katyal chronicles the contributions of a politically charged artiste to Indian Theatre.

Theatre is therapy—When MK Raina put on a play with Muslim and Kashmiri Pandit children

When Raina put up his first show after months of secret workshops, people from nearby districts crowded buses to watch it. That was his sign to keep going.

On Camera

Indian bureaucracy should be given incentives and rewards: MH Mody

Is there a place for a counter-bureaucracy, or a separate and competing bureaucracy to counterbalance the force of the executive’s bureaucracy, asked author MH Mody in 1980.

India’s urban co-op banks are turning the page—crisis to cautious revival, one metric at a time

With bad loans shrinking & capital buffers stronger, urban co-op banks’ new umbrella body NUCFDC is now prioritising rollout of digital transformation.

Greece looking at TATA’s WhAP infantry combat vehicle for army procurement

If deal goes through, Greece will be 2nd foreign country to procure vehicle. Morocco was first; TATA Group has set up manufacturing unit there with minimum 30 percent indigenous content.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.