Nadira Babbar (born 20 January 1948) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

theatre actress, director and an actress in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

cinema, who is the recipient of

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 2001. Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in

Hindi theatre Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and ...

in 1981. Nadira Babbar was seen playing mother to

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...

in Gurinder Chadha's film '' Bride and Prejudice'' (2004), and M. F. Hussain's '' Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' (2004). She was also portrayed as the mother of

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

in Sohail Khan's '' Jai Ho'' and as the mother of Raj Bansal (main villain) in

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an acto ...

's 2016 movie named ''Ghayal Once Again''.

Early life

She graduated from

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. 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 in ...

(NSD),

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

in 1971. Nadira was a Gold Medallist at NSD and went to Germany on a scholarship, and later got a chance to work with renowned directors like Grotovisky and Peter Brooks.

Career

She started her theatre group in ''Ekjute'' (Together) in 1981 in Delhi, which came out with its first production ''

Yahudi Ki Ladki ''Yahudi Ki Ladki'' (The Jew's Daughter) is a historical Urdu play by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, on the theme of persecution of Jews by the Romans. It was first published in 1913. The play became his best known work, and a classic in Parsi-Urdu theatr ...

'' in 1981, which revived the

Parsi theatre Parsi theatre is a generic term for an influential theatre tradition, staged by Parsis, and theatre companies largely-owned by the Parsi business community, which flourished between 1850 and 1930s. Plays were primarily in the Hindustani language ( ...

style, and is considered one of its finest. The group has also been performing the

Bhavai Bhavai, also known as ''Vesha'' or ''Swang'', is a popular folk theatre form of western India, especially in Gujarat. Etymology ''Bhavai'' may derive from the Sanskrit word ''Bhava'', meaning expression or emotion. It is also associated wit ...

-based musical, ''Jasma Odhan'', written by

Shanta Gandhi Shanta Kalidas Gandhi (20 December 1917 – 6 May 2002) was an Indian theatre director, dancer and playwright who was closely associated with IPTA, the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India. She studied with Indira Gandhi at a residenti ...

for several years now. Nadira moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

in 1988, and reestablished her theatre group. Over the last 30 years, Ekjute has given Indian theatre over sixty plays including ''Sandhya Chhaya'', ''Look Back in Anger'', ''Ballabpur Ki Roop Katha'', ''Baat Laat Ki Halaat Ki'', ''Bharam Ke Bhoot'', ''

Shabash Anarkali ''Shabash Anarkali'' (शाबाश अनारकली, شاباش انارکلی) is a Hindustani parody of the historical romance of Saleem and Anarkali set during the Mughal period in India. The play was written by Surinder Gulati, d ...

'' and ''Begum Jaan''; apart from directing plays written by herself: ''Dayashankar Ki Diary'' (1997), ''Sakku Bai'' (1999), ''Suman Aur Sana'' and ''Ji Jaisi Aapki Marzi''. It has worked with actors like

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He was the Pre ...

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter. Early life Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is ...

and

Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Ja ...

. In 1990, Ekjute started the 'Ekjute Young People's Theatre Group', which has given productions like ''Aao Picnic Challen'' and ''Azdak Ka Insaaf''. The groups celebrated 30 years of its foundation in 2011, with a week-long theatre festival, ''30 Years Caravan 2011'', at

Prithvi Theatres Prithvi or Prithvi Mata (Sanskrit: पृथ्वी, ', also पृथिवी, ', "the Vast One") is the Sanskrit name for the earth, as well as the name of a devi (goddess) in Hinduism and some branches of Buddhism. In the Vedas, her cons ...

, Mumbai which began on 14 April 2011. She also appeared in Salman Khan-starrer Hindi movie ''Jai Ho'' (2014). In 2016, she featured in Sunny Deol's '' Ghayal Once Again''. Nadira Babbar was recently seen in the web series,

The Married Woman ''The Married Woman'' is an Indian Hindi-language, romantic drama web series featuring Ridhi Dogra, Monica Dogra, Suhaas Ahuja, and Imaad Shah. Directed by Sahir Raza and produced by Juggernaut Productions, this web series is currently streaming ...

, directed by Sahir Raza. The star cast also includes

Ridhi Dogra Ridhi Dogra (born 22 September 1984) is an Indian actress known for her portrayal of Nusrat in ''Asur'', Astha in ''The Married Woman'', Priya in '' Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak?'' and participation in ''Nach Baliye 6'' and '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke ...

and

Monica Dogra Monica Dogra is an American musician and actress. She has acted in six feature films, as well as released five studio albums with the band Shaa’ir and func. She is a member on the judging panel of India's first English music talent show, The St ...

References

External links

*
Official website of 'Ekjute'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babbar, Nadira Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses Indian theatre directors Indian women dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award National School of Drama alumni Living people Hindi theatre 1948 births Actresses from Mumbai Screenwriters from Mumbai 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Women writers from Maharashtra Indian women theatre directors Dramatists and playwrights from Maharashtra

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links