Shanta Gandhi
Encyclopedia
Shanta Gandhi was an India
n theatre director, dancer and playwright. She was a founder-member of the central ballet troupe of the Indian People's Theatre Association
(IPTA), and toured the country widely through the 1950s. As a playwright she is remembered as an early pioneer in reviving ancient Indian drama especially Sanskrit drama
and folk theatre to modern Indian theatre and amongst her most noted plays are Razia Sultan and Jasma Odan based on a Gujarati legend on the practice of suttee, her own production of the play in Gujarati Bhavai
style, became a landmark in contemporary Indian theatre , and along with ‘Maina Gurjari’ by her sister Deena Gandhi (later Pathak
), it is one of most popular Bhavai
s today .
She was a founder-member of Avehi, an education resource centre established in 1981, and also remained Chairperson of National School of Drama
, 1982-1984 . She was awarded the Padma Shri
in 1984 by Government of India
and the 2001 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
in Direction, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi
, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama..
in 1932, where she was classmate of Indira Gandhi
. And later moved to Bombay, here when her engineer father found her becoming too involved in the left-wing student movement in the 1930s, he sent her to England to study medicine. Here she stayed at a Fairfax Road boarding house, and across the hallway stayed Feroze Gandhi
, soon Indira, Feroze and Shanta became close and started going to concerts together ,and later when they got secretly engaged in 1936, only Shanta knew about it, beyond them . Soon she started frequenting India House
, meeting up with Krishna Menon
and his young ‘Free India' associates, and even joined a dance troupe to raise funds for the Spanish Civil War
. But before long her father called her back, as the World War II
in Europe was starting, thus ending a possible medical career.
's 'Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre', at Simtola, 3 km from Almora
, in Uttarakhand, and studied Bharata Muni
's Natyasastra from one of the teachers. She stayed there till it closed down in 1942 . Soon after, she became a full-time member of the Little Ballet Troupe, the dance wing of the Indian People's Theatre Association
in Bombay (now Mumbai), here along with her young sisters Dina Pathak
née
Gandhi (1922–2002) and Tarla Gandhi. The ballet troupe created India, Immortal, Man and Machine and the numerous legendary ballets that travelled India in 1950s with Ravi Shankar, Shanti Bardhan and many other performers and artists who later became famous on their own in modern Indian dance theatre and music. The sisters were also involved several years in the revival of Gujarati
theatre in Bombay .
In 1952, she started working with a group of children in the village Nikora, on the banks of the Narmada River
, in South Gujarat
with an informal curriculum
. Later, an experimental school attached to the B.M. Institute of Child Psychology and Development, Ahmedabad
, adopted this format and in the 1970s at the Bal Bhavan, Delhi took it as well, eventual Avehi was formed in 1981 and in 1990 in 1990 when AVEHI took up the programme, and named it ABACUS with Shanta Gandhi as Director.
In 1958, Shanta Gandhi was called to Delhi as Asian Theatre Institute was being set up, she joined a Professor of Ancient Indian Drama, in the following year when it merged with the National School of Drama
, she continued teaching and in the coming years revived ancient Indian plays starting with Sanskrit drama
masters, Kalidasa
, Bhasa
, Vishakhadatta and Bhavabhuti
. She was first to revive 4th century BC, Sanskrit playwright, Bhasa
's through her productions of Madhyamavyayoga
(1966) (The Middle One) and Urubhanga
(The Broken Thigh), a decade before Pannikar
and Ratan Thiyam
began working with them . She later directed Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa
, Virkam Varman's Bhagavadajjukam (1967) all in Hindi . In 1967, she wrote Jasma Odan in Gujarati
based on a folk tale, subsequently she translated it in Malavi Hindi with Dr. Shyam Parmar, the result was her most noted production of the Bhavai
-based musical Jasma Odhan in 1968, with NSD Repertory Company featuring actors like Manohar Singh
and Uttara Baokar
. She also did the design for the play, and it resurrected the Bhavai
folk theatre from Gujarat. Jasma Odhan remains an integral part of Bhavai repertoire to date and ran successfully in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi for many years and was also performed in London, Poland and GDR . It was later revived by Nadira Babbar
's group Ek jute, which is now performing it for several years now . She also wrote historical play, Razia Sultan which was quite popular and used Nautanki
folk theatre style from Uttar Pradesh
which choreographing her production, Amar Singh Rathor, which also wrote. She revived interest in Jaishankar Prasad
’s plays, which though appreciated of literary content were deemed un-stagable by scholars, by successfully staging his 1928 historical play Skanda Gupta, with little changes to the original script . She remained its Chairperson of, 1982-1984. She also remained Director, Bal Bhavan, Delhi and National Children's Museum.
1938 in Bombay (now Mumbai), but the couple divorced 1946 before Keirnan left India .
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n theatre director, dancer and playwright. She was a founder-member of the central ballet troupe of the Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People’s Theatre Association was an association of leftist theatre-artists and others mostly based in Kolkata, West Bengal, Mumbai and Assam, India. Its goal was to bring cultural awakening among the people of India. It was the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India...
(IPTA), and toured the country widely through the 1950s. As a playwright she is remembered as an early pioneer in reviving ancient Indian drama especially Sanskrit drama
Sanskrit drama
The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century CE. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama. This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India.Its...
and folk theatre to modern Indian theatre and amongst her most noted plays are Razia Sultan and Jasma Odan based on a Gujarati legend on the practice of suttee, her own production of the play in Gujarati Bhavai
Bhavai
Bhavai is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat. Jasma Odan based on Gujarati folk tale, wriiten and directed by Shanta Gandhi and Mena Gujari produced by Deena Gandhi are some of most popular Bhavai musicals..-History:...
style, became a landmark in contemporary Indian theatre , and along with ‘Maina Gurjari’ by her sister Deena Gandhi (later Pathak
Dina Pathak
Dina Pathak or Deena Pathak was a veteran actor and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was also a woman activist and remained the President of the 'National Federation of Indian Women'...
), it is one of most popular Bhavai
Bhavai
Bhavai is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat. Jasma Odan based on Gujarati folk tale, wriiten and directed by Shanta Gandhi and Mena Gujari produced by Deena Gandhi are some of most popular Bhavai musicals..-History:...
s today .
She was a founder-member of Avehi, an education resource centre established in 1981, and also remained Chairperson of National School of Drama
National School of Drama
National School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . 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 in 1975...
, 1982-1984 . She was awarded the Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
in 1984 by Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
and the 2001 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
in Direction, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.-History:...
, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama..
Early life and education
She joined Pupil's Own School, an experimental residential school in PunePune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
in 1932, where she was classmate of Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
. And later moved to Bombay, here when her engineer father found her becoming too involved in the left-wing student movement in the 1930s, he sent her to England to study medicine. Here she stayed at a Fairfax Road boarding house, and across the hallway stayed Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Jehangir Gandhi was an Indian politician and journalist, and publisher of the The National Herald and The Navjivan newspapers from Lucknow....
, soon Indira, Feroze and Shanta became close and started going to concerts together ,and later when they got secretly engaged in 1936, only Shanta knew about it, beyond them . Soon she started frequenting India House
India House
India House was an informal Indian nationalist organisation based in London between 1905 and 1910. With the patronage of Shyamji Krishna Varma, its home in a student residence in Highgate, North London was launched to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britain...
, meeting up with Krishna Menon
Krishna Menon
Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon , commonly referred to as Krishna Menon, was an Indian nationalist, diplomat and statesman, described as the second most powerful man in India by Time Magazine and others, after his ally and intimate friend, Jawaharlal Nehru.Described as "vitriolic,...
and his young ‘Free India' associates, and even joined a dance troupe to raise funds for the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. But before long her father called her back, as the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in Europe was starting, thus ending a possible medical career.
Career
She joined Uday ShankarUday Shankar
Uday Shankar , the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer, was most known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of...
's 'Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre', at Simtola, 3 km from Almora
Almora
Almora is a municipal board, a cantonment town in the Almora district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Almora was founded in 1568.It is a town bustling with activity and a rich cultural heritage and history. It is considered the cultural heart of the Kumaon region of...
, in Uttarakhand, and studied Bharata Muni
Bharata Muni
Bharata was an ancient Indian musicologist who authored the Natya Shastra, a theoretical treatise on ancient Indian dramaturgy and histrionics, dated to between roughly 400 BC and 200 BC. Indian dance and music find their root in the Natyashastra...
's Natyasastra from one of the teachers. She stayed there till it closed down in 1942 . Soon after, she became a full-time member of the Little Ballet Troupe, the dance wing of the Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People's Theatre Association
Indian People’s Theatre Association was an association of leftist theatre-artists and others mostly based in Kolkata, West Bengal, Mumbai and Assam, India. Its goal was to bring cultural awakening among the people of India. It was the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India...
in Bombay (now Mumbai), here along with her young sisters Dina Pathak
Dina Pathak
Dina Pathak or Deena Pathak was a veteran actor and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was also a woman activist and remained the President of the 'National Federation of Indian Women'...
née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Gandhi (1922–2002) and Tarla Gandhi. The ballet troupe created India, Immortal, Man and Machine and the numerous legendary ballets that travelled India in 1950s with Ravi Shankar, Shanti Bardhan and many other performers and artists who later became famous on their own in modern Indian dance theatre and music. The sisters were also involved several years in the revival of Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
theatre in Bombay .
In 1952, she started working with a group of children in the village Nikora, on the banks of the Narmada River
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
, in South Gujarat
South Gujarat
South Gujarat also known as Deccan Gujarat or Dakshin Gujarat is a region in Indian state of Gujarat. The region is one of the wettest region of India. The region is divided into two parts: 1) Western Part. 2) Eastern Part...
with an informal curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
. Later, an experimental school attached to the B.M. Institute of Child Psychology and Development, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, adopted this format and in the 1970s at the Bal Bhavan, Delhi took it as well, eventual Avehi was formed in 1981 and in 1990 in 1990 when AVEHI took up the programme, and named it ABACUS with Shanta Gandhi as Director.
In 1958, Shanta Gandhi was called to Delhi as Asian Theatre Institute was being set up, she joined a Professor of Ancient Indian Drama, in the following year when it merged with the National School of Drama
National School of Drama
National School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . 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 in 1975...
, she continued teaching and in the coming years revived ancient Indian plays starting with Sanskrit drama
Sanskrit drama
The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century CE. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama. This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India.Its...
masters, Kalidasa
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...
, Bhasa
Bhasa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit. However, very little is known about him.Kālidāsa in the introduction to his first play Malavikagnimitram writes -...
, Vishakhadatta and Bhavabhuti
Bhavabhuti
Bhavabhuti was an 8th century scholar of India noted for his plays and poetry, written in Sanskrit. His plays are considered equivalent to the works of Kalidasa...
. She was first to revive 4th century BC, Sanskrit playwright, Bhasa
Bhasa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit. However, very little is known about him.Kālidāsa in the introduction to his first play Malavikagnimitram writes -...
's through her productions of Madhyamavyayoga
Madhyamavyayoga
Madhyamavyayoga or Madhyama Vyāyoga , is a Sanskrit play attributed to Bhāsa. There is no real consensus regarding when the play was written, and it has been dated variously from 475 BCE to the 11th century CE...
(1966) (The Middle One) and Urubhanga
Urubhanga
Urubhanga or Urubhangam, , is a Sanskrit play written by Bhasa in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Based on the well-known epic, the Mahābhārata, by Vyasa, Urubhanga focuses on the story of the character Duryodhana during and after his fight with Bhima...
(The Broken Thigh), a decade before Pannikar
Kavalam Narayana Panicker
Kavalam Narayana Panicker is an Indian dramatist, theatre director and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Madhyamavyayogam...
and Ratan Thiyam
Ratan Thiyam
Ratan Thiyam is an Indian playwright and theatre director, and the winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, one of leading figures of the "theatre of roots" movement in Indian theatre, which started in 1970s...
began working with them . She later directed Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa
Mudrarakshasa
The Mudrarakshasa , a historical play in Sanskrit by Vishakhadatta in late 4th or early 5th century narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya to power in Northern India.-Origin:...
, Virkam Varman's Bhagavadajjukam (1967) all in Hindi . In 1967, she wrote Jasma Odan in Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
based on a folk tale, subsequently she translated it in Malavi Hindi with Dr. Shyam Parmar, the result was her most noted production of the Bhavai
Bhavai
Bhavai is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat. Jasma Odan based on Gujarati folk tale, wriiten and directed by Shanta Gandhi and Mena Gujari produced by Deena Gandhi are some of most popular Bhavai musicals..-History:...
-based musical Jasma Odhan in 1968, with NSD Repertory Company featuring actors like Manohar Singh
Manohar Singh
Manohar Singh was a distinguished Indian theatre actor-director and a character actor in Hindi films. He is best known for his performances in films such as Party and Daddy...
and Uttara Baokar
Uttara Baokar
Uttara Baokar is an Indian stage actor, who also acts in both on films and television. An alumna of National School of Drama, she remained lead actress with the NSD Repertory Company in the 1970s and '80s, a period which saw the revival of Hindi theatre in Delhi, before moving to television and...
. She also did the design for the play, and it resurrected the Bhavai
Bhavai
Bhavai is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat. Jasma Odan based on Gujarati folk tale, wriiten and directed by Shanta Gandhi and Mena Gujari produced by Deena Gandhi are some of most popular Bhavai musicals..-History:...
folk theatre from Gujarat. Jasma Odhan remains an integral part of Bhavai repertoire to date and ran successfully in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi for many years and was also performed in London, Poland and GDR . It was later revived by Nadira Babbar
Nadira Babbar
Nadira Babbar is an Indian theatre actress, director and an actress in Hindi cinema, who is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001. A leading name in Indian theatre, Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in Hindi theatre in 1981...
's group Ek jute, which is now performing it for several years now . She also wrote historical play, Razia Sultan which was quite popular and used Nautanki
Nautanki
Nautanki is one of the most popular folk operatic theater performance traditions of South Asia, particularly in northern India. Before the advent of Bollywood , Nautanki was the single most popular form of entertainment in the villages and towns of northern India...
folk theatre style from Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
which choreographing her production, Amar Singh Rathor, which also wrote. She revived interest in Jaishankar Prasad
Jaishankar Prasad
Jaishankar Prasad , one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre.- Biography :...
’s plays, which though appreciated of literary content were deemed un-stagable by scholars, by successfully staging his 1928 historical play Skanda Gupta, with little changes to the original script . She remained its Chairperson of, 1982-1984. She also remained Director, Bal Bhavan, Delhi and National Children's Museum.
Personal life
She was married to Marxist historian, Victor KiernanVictor Kiernan
Professor Victor Gordon Kiernan was a British Marxist historian and a former member of the Communist Party Historians Group with a particular focus on the history of imperialism ..Kiernan was born in Ashton upon Mersey, Sale to Congregationalist lower-middle class parents...
1938 in Bombay (now Mumbai), but the couple divorced 1946 before Keirnan left India .
External links
- The vanishing Indian (Memoriam) Indian Seminar
- Jasma Odhan play