Sunil Shanbag (born 7 October 1956) is an Indian theatre director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. He has graduated from

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

, and although he didn't have any formal training in theatre, he has worked extensively with

Satyadev Dubey Satyadev Dubey (13 July 1936 – 25 December 2011) was an Indian theatre director, actor, playwright, screenwriter & film director. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Scre ...

, who considers him one of his foremost protégés. In 1985, Shanbag founded the theatre company Arpana. Its work is characterised by "contemporary and original texts by Indian and international playwrights (in translation), strong performances, minimalist staging, and innovative use of music and design."

Plays

In 2007, Shanbag directed the critically acclaimed ''Cotton 56, Polyester 84'' which won three META awards at the Mahindra Theatre Festival, including Best Original Script for its writer,

Ramu Ramanathan Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, known as Ramu Ramanathan, is an Indian playwright and director. His plays include ''Mahadevbhai, Cotton 56, Polyester 84'', ''Jazz'', ''Comrade Kumbhakarna'', and ''Postcards From Bardoli''. Besides playwriting, Raman ...

. The play is a celebration of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, through the culture spawned by rapid industrialisation, specially in the mills of

Girangaon Girangaon (literally "mill village") was a name of an area now part of central Mumbai, India, which at one time had almost 130 textile mills, with the majority being cotton mills. The mills of Girangaon contributed significantly to the prosperi ...

. In 2010, Shanbag opened the play ''S*x M*rality & Cens*rship''. The play revolves around the censorship woes faced by

Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was an Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marathi. His Marathi plays established him as a writ ...

Sakharam Binder ''Sakharam Binder'' (Sakharam, the Binder) is a play by Indian playwright Vijay Tendulkar written in Marathi and first performed in 1972. It was banned in India in 1974. It was produced and directed by Kamlakar Sarang. Synopsis Sakharam Binder, th ...

in Mumbai in 1974, juxtaposing this against the sanitising of

tamasha Tamasha () is a traditional form of Marathi theatre, often with singing and dancing, widely performed by local or travelling theatre groups within the state of Maharashtra, India."Tamasha", in James R. Brandon and Martin Banham (eds), ''The Cambr ...

traditions by middle-class conservatism. The play was funded by a grant from the

India Foundation for the Arts The India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent, non-profit organization that supports arts and cultural projects in India through funding and implementation. Established as a public trust in 1993, its headquarters is in Bangalore and ...

and underwent research and rehearsals for almost a year. Ultimately, it was nominated for nine awards at the META Awards, with supporting actress Geetanjali Kulkarni finally winning for her performance. Also in 2010, through his play ''Dreams of Taleem'', Shanbag tried to cope with the death of playwright Chetan Datar by incorporating Datar's play ''1, Madhavbaug'' in a narrative that dealt with the isolation felt by its gay protagonists. According to ''

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 ...

'', it did not seem to ask any new questions in the areas of theatre and sexuality, "despite its strong performances and a script that was otherwise quite seamless." In 2011, Shanbag presented his musical, ''Stories in a Song''. The show was conceived by noted classical vocalist

Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal (born 1 January 1959) is an Indian singer, and composer, known for her works in Hindustani classical music, Indian pop, and Tamil cinema. Her repertoire includes the genres of khyal, thumri, and dadra. She has received the Padma S ...

and percussionist Aneesh Pradhan for the 2011 Baaja Gaaja festival in Pune. According to

Mumbai Mirror The ''Mumbai Mirror'' is an Indian English-language newspaper published in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Launched in 2005 as a compact daily newspaper, its coverage focused on city specific local news and civic issues concerning education, healthcare an ...

, the stories in the play "reflected the socio-historical times in which they happened, and are lightly lined with satirical or sympathetic comment." In 2012, Shanbag was invited to perform a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

adaptation of

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate about the date of its composition, with possible dates ranging from 1598 to 1608. ...

as part of the Globe to Globe festival in London, in which all 37 of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's plays were performed in 37 different languages at

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

. The play was well received in the UK press, with

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

giving it a four-star rating, and the Arts Desk stating, "Shakespeare's problem play is solved by a buoyant Gujarati staging from Mumbai." Titled ''Maro Piyu Gayo Rangoon'' in India, the play had previously premiered in Mumbai, with veteran theatre critic

Shanta Gokhale Shanta Gokhale (born 14 August 1939) is an Indian writer, translator, journalist and theatre critic. She is best known for her works ''Rita Welinkar'' and ''Tya Varshi''. Early life and education Born in Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharasht ...

describing it as "a truly remarkable achievement". In 2014, the play was invited back to the Globe for another run of shows in a month that marked the 450th birth anniversary of Shakespeare. In April 2016, Shanbag directed his inaugural ''

tiatr ''Tiatr'' (; ) is a type of musical theatre that is popular in the state of Goa on the west coast of India, as well as in Mumbai and among the Goan expatriate communities in the Middle East, United Kingdom, and other cities with a significant pr ...

'' production titled ''Loretta'', which is an English play set in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

during the 1970s. Its initial performance took place in

. The original script, crafted in

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

Pundalik Naik Pundalik Narayan Naik (born 21 April 1952) is an Indian Konkani poet, short-story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He has 40 books and two films to his credit.Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. H ...

and was a co-author, along with

Shama Zaidi Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938) is an Indian screenplay writer, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary film maker. She is married to director M. S. Sathyu. Shama Zaidi Was Honored with Lifetime Achieve ...

, for the television serials ''Yatra'' and ''

Bharat Ek Khoj ''Bharat Ek Khoj'' () is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book '' The Discovery of India'' (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru that covers a 5,000-year history of the Indian subcontinent from its beginnings to independence from the Brit ...

''. In 1993, he produced ''Maihar Raag'', which won the

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for non-feature films and awarded with Swarna Ka ...

in 1994. In 2009, Shanbag directed the short film, ''The Sword and the Spear'', which was based on an international tour undertaken by contemporary dancer

Astad Deboo Astad Deboo (13 July 194710 December 2020) was an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. He was considered a pioneer of modern dance in India. Through his career he collaborated with artists including Pina Bausch, Alison Becker Chase an ...

and his troupe of

Thang-ta Thang Ta () is a classical Meitei traditional martial art form. It is originated from the Ancient Kangleipak (present day Manipur state). It is practised using weaponry. It is considered as the sibling of Sarit Sarak, which uses no weapons. Thang ...

martial arts performers from

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanbag, Sunil Tiatrists Indian theatre directors Indian male dramatists and playwrights 1956 births Living people Hindi theatre Screenwriters from Mumbai Indian television writers Indian documentary film directors Film directors from Mumbai Hindi-language screenwriters Hindi film producers Film producers from Mumbai Indian male television writers