Actor Pankaj Tripathi, And NSD Director Chittaranjan Tripathy Felicitate Winners Of One Act Competition

National School of Drama's Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2025 continued into its Eighth day, a folk and a play based upon a classical epic Sanskrit drama. The audience's response was overwhelming to both plays.

In the ‘Lok Rangam' segment, in collaboration with HUDCO, ‘Pratishodh' was performed by Kanha Lalit Kala kendra, K.C.E. Society, Jalgaon. Based on the Mahabharata, it was written and directed by Vaibhav Pundlik Mavale. It is a folk dance from the Khandesh region of Maharashtra called ‘Bhavani Dance'. In this dance, performers coat vermilion on their face and wear peacock feathers as a crown. This play follows Amba's quest for vengeance against Bheeshma. Rejected by both Shalv Naresh and Bheeshma, she vows retribution and is reborn as Shikhandi. Raised as a male, Shikhandi confronts Bheeshma on the tenth day of the Mahabharata war. Recognising Shikhandi as Amba, Bheeshma lowers his weapons, allowing Arjuna to strike, completing Amba's long-awaited revenge.

The students of NSD Varanasi centre performed the play ‘Uttara Ramcharit', a Sanskrit drama written Bhavabhuti, translated by Satyanarayan Kaviratna and Prof. Indu, and directed by Pravin Kumar Gunjan, Director, NSD Varanasi . It delves into Lord Rama's life after his return to Ayodhya, emphasising selflessness and sacrifice over personal attachments. Departing from conventional themes, Bhavabhuti's work centers on pathos, portraying Rama as an ideal ruler who upholds duty above all. The play highlights the purity of love, faith, and moral responsibility, making it a timeless masterpiece in Sanskrit dramaturgy.

The performance was followed by the audience having an interactive session with the director about the production process in the segment ‘Meet the Director'.

Day 8 of the Theatre Appreciation Course was also its concluding day. Session on ‘Actor and Director' was led by MK Raina. Raina is an Alumni of NSD, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee, theatre director, and artist. He shared his experience in cinema and theatre. He used his directed plays as reference to make the session informative.

Screening of a 2012 play directed by Anuradha Kapoor, ‘Virasat' was also part of the segment. Based on the classic narrative penned by Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar in his Wada Trilogy, the play was performed by NSD Repertory Company.

In the Closing Ceremony, Course Coordinator Prof. Amitesh Grover said that the objective of the course was to create a discerning audience. Shri Chittaranjan Tripathy, Director, NSD distributed certificates to the participants. He emphasised the need of an initiated audience, and reiterated that in the process of producing a play, the Playwright is the first creator, while the Director is the prime creator.

Advitiya - Day 8: Winners of the One Act Competition were announced last evening. Ramanujan College, Delhi University grabbed the winning prize money of INR 40,000 for their play ‘Coconut Tree'; while first runners up, Khalsa College, Amritsar, received a prize money of INR 20,000 for the play ‘Sindaura'; Second runners up Panjab University, Chandigarh, received prize money of INR 10,000 for play ‘Madhubala: A Love Story'. Aditi Arya, actor and NSD alumna, Himanshu B Joshi, graphic designer and director, and Saras Kumar, director and NSD alumnus, were jury members. Shri Chittaranjan Tripathy, Director of NSD, along with renowned actor and NSD Alumnus Shri Pankaj Tripathi, distributed prizes and certificates to the winning teams.

In today's Street Play line-up, ‘Moksha' group from Aurobindo College (Morning) performed a play based on Autism; ‘Rang Manch' group from Aurobindo College (Evening) focussed on state and government mitigation of obstacles for women empowerment; and Hansraj Dramatics Society performed a play titled ‘Dikri' based on the issue of gender violence. In the Open Stage segment, Aaditya Bhatter and Anurag Singh recited poetry, and Damini Singh performed a solo act.

For more information, please visit the official NSD/BRM websites: https://nsd.gov.in/, www.brm.nsd.gov.in