Bansi Kaul (23 August 1949 – 6 February 2021) was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: 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 1995. Some of his notable plays included ''Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir,'' and ''Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka.'' He was a designer and associate show director for the
2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 7:00 PM ( IST) on 3 October 2010 ending at 10:00 PM (IST) displaying India's varied c ...
and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987
Khajuraho
Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous ...
Festival.
Early life
Bansi Kaul was born on 23 August 1949 into a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...
family in
Srinagar
Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...
, India.
He was interested in art and painting from an early age. He was exposed to
amateur theater
Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...
groups in Kashmir. He moved to
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
to join the
National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school 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 independent school ...
(NSD), but, did not qualify for the first time, before successfully retrying. He graduated from the institute with a specialization in
stagecraft
Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; ...
in 1973.
Career
Kaul started his career as a director with
National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school 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 independent school ...
's NSD Repertory Company and was also a member of the faculty of the school's department of extension, before forming his own theatre group in 1984. In 1986, he founded ''Rang Vidushak'', a theater group based in
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
, that incorporated folk idioms into its production and evolved a new idiom of clown-theatre. The group performed in India and abroad in several languages such as Hindi,
Punjabi,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
and
Sinhalese.
Kaul directed and produced over 100 plays through his career, with some of his notable plays included ''Aala Afsar'' based on
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
's satirical play
The Government Inspector
''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' (, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Base ...
, ''Kahan Kabir'' based on the collected works of poet-saint
Kabir
Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...
'','' and ''Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka'' an adaptation of Chinese folktale "Three promotions in succession"''.
'' Most of his plays were based on the
Nautanki
Nautanki is one of the most popular folk performance forms of South Asia, particularly in North India, northern India. Before the advent of Hindi cinema, Bollywood (the Hindi film industry), Nautanki was the biggest entertainment medium in the ...
style of street theater.
Other works included ''Mrichakatikam, Raja Agnivarna ka Pair, Agnileek, Veini Samhaar, Dashkumar Charitham, Sharvilk, Pancharathram, Andha Yug, Khel Guru Ka, Jo Ram Rachi Raakha, Aranyadhipathi Tantyamaama, Zindagi aur Zyonk, Vatan ka Raag, and Saudagar''.
In a review of a retrospective of his works ''Rang-Bansi'' (), newspaper ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' wrote, "As a designer, he (Kaul) treads two worlds – the designer of mega events with plenty of resources and the designer of the theatrical productions suffering from utter paucity of funds."
Through his works, he explored the politics of laughter and studied riddles and myths across Indian traditional folk tales, including clowns, or ''Vidushak'', into the central figure of his works.
His last production ''Paglaye Gusse Ka Dhuan'' in 2019 was for the
Lucknow
Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
based Bhartendu Natya Akademi. The play was based on the works of
Kashmiri poets
Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group
People with the nam ...
and addressed the topic of
Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during years of militancy in the state.
Building on his training in stagecraft, he worked as the art director for the 1986 and 1987
Khajuraho
Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous ...
Festival and also for the
Festival of India in China, Switzerland, and the USSR.
Kaul was one of the lead designers and an associate show director for the
2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 7:00 PM ( IST) on 3 October 2010 ending at 10:00 PM (IST) displaying India's varied c ...
. Speaking about his mandate, he would say that the requirement was to bring Indian culture and themes to the event, without letting
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
come across as the "only cultural identity of the country".
He was awarded the 1995
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: 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 ...
and the
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
, India's fourth highest civilian honor in 2014. He was also the recipient of the 2016 Rashtriya Kalidas Samman for ''Kahan Kabir''.
He received the 1994 Shikhar Samman from the
Government of Madhya Pradesh
The Government of Madhya Pradesh (abbreviated as MP) or Madhya Pradesh Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 55 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the governor of Madhya Prade ...
, and the 1995
Safdar Hashmi Award from the
Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Personal life
Kaul was married to theater artist Anjana Puri. Puri was a
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee herself and composed music for many of his productions.
Kaul died from cancer on 6 February 2021, in Delhi. He was 71.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaul, Bansi
1949 births
2021 deaths
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Kashmiri people
Kashmiri Pandits
Indian male dramatists and playwrights
National School of Drama alumni
Academic staff of the National School of Drama
Indian theatre directors
Hindi theatre
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
People from Srinagar
Dramatists and playwrights from Jammu and Kashmir
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Indian male writers