Arvind Gaur ( अरविन्द गौड़ ), Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre.^[1] Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues.^[2][3] His work deals with communalism, caste issues, feudalism, domestic violence, crimes of state, Politics of power, violence, injustice, social discrimination, marginalisation, and racism. Arvind is the leader of Asmita, Delhi's "most prolific theatre group",^[4] and is also an actor trainer, social activist, street theatre worker and story teller.^[5]

Gaur was the recipient of a research fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (India) (1997–98). He was on the guest faculty of Delhi University for Theatre in education program for three years. He has conducted many theatre workshops and performed in various colleges, institutions, universities and schools in India and abroad.^[6]

He has organized theatre workshops for children^[7] in schools and slums as well as street theatre performances on different socio-political issues.^[8][9] He has directed more than 60 stage plays over two decades.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Born 2 February 1963 in Delhi. Arvind’s father late Shri Shiva Nandan Sharma (died on 16.04.09) was a Maths scholar and his mother Mrs. Saraswati Devi is a housewife. He has one brother Anil Gaur & three sisters – Shashi Prabha,late Mithlesh and Dr. Anita Gaur. His wife Dr. Sangeeta Gaur is a very talented vocalist, composer & music director. He has twin daughters Kakoli & Saveree.

Theatre career[link]

After completing his schooling from Model School, Vivek Vihar in Delhi, he decided to study engineering in Electronic Communication from PUSA Institute. Later, he joined the Delhi Public Library drama group.^[10] In DPL He acted in and directed various plays. Then he worked with slum kids and industrial labours for some time and conducted workshops for them. His first street play was with Zakir Hussein College, called Videshi Aya. It became very popular and he staged it around 200 schools. After this, his desire to express led him to journalism. He worked with the Navbharat Times newspaper as Culture columnist for about four years.^[10]

Watching plays, reading about them and writing about them is how his training in theatre started. He then shifted to Press Trust of India (PTI-TV). He was associated with TV serial Tana-Bana. He was in charge of the research and programming there. All through his years with street theatre, print and television, Gaur had developed keen interest in direction. Finally, after devoting two years to PTI-TV he felt the urge to switch to theatre completely.^[11]

Theatre journey[link]

Arvind's Debut play was Bhisham Sahni's Hanoosh (February,1993). He started his theatre journey with classics like Tughlaq, Andha Yug, Caligula (play), Julius Caesar (play)etc. He performed Girish Karnad's Tughlaq in a small basement theatre(SRC). It was a huge success. His Tughlaq was Selected as "the best play of the year 1994" by Sahitya Kala Parishad. He achieved greater heights during a decade in theatre. He trained actors in his own style. He trained them as a complete theatre person. Arvind Gaur also collaborated with various Theatre artists and Groups specially in exploring a new language for Solo performances.^[12]

Major Directions[link]

• Girish Karnad's Tughlaq Translations by B. V. Karanth, Surekha Sikri & K.K. Nayyar
• Bhisham Sahni's Hanoosh
• Dharamvir Bharati's Andha Yug (The Age of Blindness)
• Swadesh Deepak’s Court Martial (450 shows)
• Govind Deshpande’s Antim Divas, translated in Hindi by Chandra kant patil
• Albert Camus's Caligula (play), Translation by Sharad Chandra
• Girish Karnad's Rakt Kalyan (Taledanda), Hindi Translation by Ram Gopal Bajaj
• Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle translated by Kamleshwar
• Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions, translation by Shahid Anwar^[13]
• Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms translated by Nadira Babbar
• Dario Fo's Operation Three Star, adaptaion of Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Amitabh Srivatava
• Dr. Narendra Mohan's Kalandar & Mr.Jinnah
• Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan (Ramkali-Good woman of Delhi), adaptation by Amitabh Srivastava
• Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot, translation Krishna Bal Dev Vaid
• John Octanasek's Romeo Juliet and the darkness, script by Aishveryaa Nidhi
• Neil Simon's The Good Doctor, Adaptation - Sunil Jasuja, Sadia & Aparna Singh
• Vijay Tendulkar’s Ghashiram Kotwal^[14]
• Sharad Joshi's Andhon ka Hathi & Ek tha Gadha urf aladat Khan
• Munshi Premchand's Mote ram ka Satyagrah, Adaptation by Habib Tanvir and Safdar Hashmi
• Ashok Lal's Ek Mamooli Aadmi^[15]
• Nag Bodas's Amma Tujhe salaam^[16]
• Rajesh Kumar's Me Gandhi Bolto
• William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (play)
• Mahesh Dattani's Tara, translation by Neeraj Mallik
• Vijay Mishra’s Tatt Niranjana, translation by Rajendra Prasad Mishra
• Doodnath Singh's Yama Gatha^[17]
• Uday Prakash's Warren Hastings ka Saand
• Dr. Harish Naval's Peeli Chht par Kaala Nissan
• Bhisham Sahni's Kabira ( Kabir ) kheda Bazar Mai
• Mahesh Dattani's 30 Days in September, Hindi translation by Smita Nirula
• Bharatendu Harishchandra's Andher Nagri
• Harsh Mander's Unsuni, script by Mallika Sarabhai
• Rajesh Kumar's Ambedkar Aur Gandhi^[18][19]
• Mohan Rakesh's Leheron Ke Raj Hans
• Ahmedabad ki Aurat Bhali- Ramkali starring Mallika Sarabhai (34th Vikram Sarabhai International Art Festival)^[20][21]
• Gulzar's Kharaashein,play based on his poetries and stories
• Govind Purushottam Deshpande's Raastey
• Mahesh Bhatt's The Last Salute,written by Rajesh Kumar.Play based on Muntadhar al-Zaidi's Book.^[22]

Solo Play direction[link]

• Bhisham Sahni ’s Madhavi solo play with Rashi Bunny^[23]
• Untitled, solo with Lushin Dubey (Theatre World)^[24][25]
• Manjula Padmanabhan's Hidden Fires, with Rashi Bunny^[26][27]
• Gandhari, solo with Aishveryaa Nidhi^[28]
• Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis by Ruth Sheard^[29]
• Women in Black, one-woman show written & acted by Bubbles Sabharwal^[30]
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, one-woman show by Rashi Bunny^[31]
• Pinki Virani's Bitter Chocolate solo by Lushin Dubey^[32]
• Walking through the Rainbow, with Rashi Bunny
• Story of the Tiger, with Jaimini Kumar Srivastava
• A Woman Alone , solo with Ruth Sheard

Street Plays[link]

He directed more than 25 Street Theatre performances on different Socio- political issues.^[33][34] Recently his group performed a series of "Anti Corruption " Street play in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ROSA.^[35] and street play on "Decent Work for Domestic help" in collobration with ILO.^[36]

Awards[link]

• Artists 4 Change Karmaveer Puraskaar Noble Laureates,2008 by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs
• Special Jury award for best play in experimentation with tradition the at International Solo Theatre Festival, Armenia,2004
• Colour of Nation Award at International Theatre Festival, Nizhnevartovsk, Russia for Solo Play Madhavi by Rashi Bunny,2005
• Radha Krishna Award for his contribution to Delhi’s art & culture,2007
• Udhbhav Shikhar Samman (In memory of Aacharya Vijyendra Sanathak),2008
• Swar-Dhrohar award ,2007

Work for Visual media[link]

1. Acted in short film "Meri Jeevan ki Abhilasha" directed by Kriti Takkar which won 2nd best fiction film in "Mise-en-Scene", the international student’s film festival,2010.
2. Assistant director- Docu-film "In search of an ideology" Director-Prasanna for Doordarshan,Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,India
3. Worked with Press Trust of India (PTI-TV).
4. Acted in tele film "Dhabba" directed by Green Oscar awardee Mike Pandey, produced by Nafisa Ali.
5. Assistant director-Docu-film "Gokak" (V. K. Gokak),Director- Prasanna for Sahitya Akademi,Delhi
6. Research & Scripting for TV Serial"Taana -Bana "(1991–1992),produced by Press Trust of India

Translation and Scripting[link]

Translation

• He translated Rabindranath Tagore's Visarjan (Sacrifice),Performed by the Darpana Theatre Group directed by Ujjwal Dave^[37]
• Arvind Gaur Translated Unsuni in Hindi;script and Direction by Mallika Sarabhai^[38]

Scripts

• He scripted plays like-Untitled,Gandhari,Bitter Chocolate(based on Pinki Virani's book),Madhavi solo play(based on Bhisham Sahni's play) and many street plays for Asmita Theatre.

Major Actors[link]

Major cinema and theatre actors who trained under Arvind Gaur are- Imran Zahid, Kangana Ranaut,^[39] Shilpa Shukla, Manu Rishi,Aishveryaa Nidhi, Deepak Dobriyal,Shakti Anand, Shalini Vatsa, Mohit Tripathi, Rajesh Bagotra, Nandini Arora, Seema Azmi, Aparna Singh, Susan Brar, Ayesha Mohan etc

Prominent theatre actors who worked with him are- Mallika Sarabhai, Piyush Mishra, Rashi Bunny, Lushin Dubey ,Bubbles Sabharwal,Ruth Sheard,Jaimini Kumar etc^[40]

Designs[link]

Arvind Gaur designs lights for Naya Theatre group's major productions under the Direction of Padma Shri Habib Tanvir.Arvind Gaur Also assisted Shri Habib Tanvir during the Prithvi Theatre Festival.He designs lights for Agra Bazar ( Nazir Akbarabadi's poetry),Charandas Chor (his masterpiece play , Edinburgh Fringe Award), Asghar Wajahat’s Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya ,Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna (Habib Tanvir's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream ),Canadian-Indian playwright Rahul Varma's Zahreeli Hawa and Gaon ke naon Sasural, mor naon Damand.

Further reading[link]

1. "Arvind Gaur-A Decade in Theatre"-Book by J.N. Kaushal (Ex-Acting Chief, National School of Drama,Repertory Company,),Published by ITI (International Theatre Institute), UNESCO,Indian Chapter
2. "Raising the curtain on theatre"-Director Arvind Gaur Reflects on why India needs a cultural policy by Seema Sindhu(Life Fires,September,2007)
3. His Voice-"Ace Act",essay by Shekhar Chandran(New Women,Jan.2008)
4. "The World of Theatre" By Ian Herbert, Nicole Leclercq,(P-126) published by International Theatre Institute

References[link]

External links[link]

1. The good man of Delhi stage by Archana (2008-09-26) Mail-Today.
2. Founder of Asmita Group, by Rohit Malik, Delhi Events (2008.12.30)
3. Gandhari, solo-act by Aishveryaa Nidhi
4. "All The World’s A Platform" by Shailaja Tripathi. Expressindia ,( 2003.09.17)
5. "Heal the wounds" by Rohini Ramakrishan,(2004/12/11), The Hindu
6. Dramatics Society of Lady Shri Ram College
7. "A plethora of problems afflicts Hindi theatre" Rana A Siddiqui, The Tribune.(2001.12.28)
8. "Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions"Oneness Peace Festival,Hindu College,University of Delhi(2005.09.16)
9. "Play of rules-Arvind Gaur's street theatre-Hatke Bachke"Nandini Nair,The Hindu (2009.01.12)
10. "Nobody’s Child-Bitter Chocolate"Express Features Service,The Indian Expres(2004.01.08)
11. "The Park’s The Other Festival"Onassis Awardee Manjula Padmanabhan's "Hidden fires"-The Museum Theatre,Chennai(2005.12.07)

Kangna Ranaut
Kangna Ranaut at the launch of Provogue's spring summer collection, 2012
Born	Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (1987-03-20) 20 March 1987 (age 25) Bhambla, Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh, India
Other names	Kangna Ranaut
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006 - present
Website
http://www.realkangnaranaut.com/

Kangna Ranaut (born 20 March 1987)^[1] is an Indian actress who appears mostly in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 2006 with a leading role in Gangster.^[2] She won a Filmfare as well as a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a troubled model in Fashion (2008) and subsequently featured in such commercially successful films as Raaz – The Mystery Continues (2009), Once Upon A Time In Mumbai (2010), Double Dhamaal (2011) and Tanu Weds Manu (2011).

Early life[link]

Ranaut was born to Asha, a school teacher, and Amardeep, a businessman. She has an elder sister, Rangoli and a younger brother, Akshit. She was born in a small town called Bhambla in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Her family lives in Mandi.^[3] According to Ranaut, her ancestors were Rajputs who came from a royal family in Jaipur, before one of them made their home in Himachal.^[4]

She did her schooling in Dehradun. After a few months of college, she moved to Delhi to become a model and joined the Elite Modelling Agency in 2003.^[3]

Career[link]

Early Work, until 2005[link]

Ranaut started her career as a theatre actor in Delhi with Asmita Theatre Group.^[5] She trained under eminent theatre director Arvind Gaur.^[6] She participated in his theatre workshop at India Habitat Centre and acted in several plays. Her first play with Arvind Gaur was Girish Karnad's Taledanda (Rakt-Kalyan). Ranaut joined Asha Chandra's course in 2004 to brush herself to face the camera.

Debut & Breakthrough in Films, 2006-present[link]

Ranaut moved to Mumbai to try her luck in movies. In September 2005, Anurag Basu spotted her in a cafe in Mumbai, and offered her the lead role in Gangster.^[7] Released in 2006, the film became critically and commercially successful and her performance was especially applauded.^[8] This was followed by another acclaimed performance in Woh Lamhe, which also released in 2006.

Later, in 2007, Ranaut starred in Anurag Basu's Life In A... Metro. Her performance in the film earned her rave reviews. That same year she also starred in Shakalaka Boom Boom as an aspiring singer. Her next film, Fashion, starring Priyanka Chopra and Mugdha Godse, was released in 2008. The film, portraying the dark side of the fashion world, was a critical success, and Ranaut's portrayal of a supermodel who loses everything to drugs gained her widespread praise, fetching her various awards, including the prestigious Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2009, Ranaut appeared in the thriller Raaz – The Mystery Continues with Emraan Hashmi. The movie has been a commercial success and was declared the first reasonable hit of 2009. Her next release was Vaada Raha with Bobby Deol. She starred in Ek Niranjan, a Telugu film directed by Puri Jagannadh, whose previous film Pokiri has been remade in Hindi as Wanted. In 2010, Kangna was seen in a guest appearance opposite Hrithik Roshan in Kites and also starred in a leading role alongside Ajay Devgan in one of the year's most successful outings Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. Ranaut also appeared in Knock Out and No Problem which were both critical and commercial failures.

Her first release of 2011 was Tanu Weds Manu opposite R. Madhavan, a romantic comedy that proved to be successful at the box office. Along with Ajay Devgan, Zarine Khan and Arbaaz Khan, Ranaut made a special appearance in Anees Bazmee's highly successful comedy Ready, which starred Salman Khan and Asin Thottumkal in lead roles. She was next seen in the multistarrer Double Dhamaal, the sequel of Dhamaal, which emrged as a moderate success at the box office. Ranaut later appeared in Rascals alongside Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt, which opened to a good response at the box office, however became a commercial and critical failure. She also appeared in Miley Naa Miley Hum which failed to do well at the box office. In 2012, Ranaut once again appeared alongside Ajay Devgan in Tezz, which was a major failure at the box office. As of May 2012, Ranaut is set to appear in I Love NY opposite Sunny Deol, Shootout At Wadala alongside John Abraham and Anil Kapoor, Krrish 3 with Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra and Vivek Oberoi and Rensil D'Silva's next alongside Emraan Hashmi.

Awards[link]

2007

• Asian Festival of First Films, Best Actress, Gangster
• Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Gangster
• Filmfare Fairever Fresh Face of the Year Award, Gangster
• IIFA Best Female Debut Award, Gangster
• Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female, Gangster
• Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut, Gangster
• Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female, Gangster
• Bollywood Movie Award – Best Female Debut, Gangster

2008

• Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award (Female), Life in a... Metro

2009

• National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress,Fashion
• Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion
• IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion
• Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion
• Apsara Awards Best Supporting Actress, Fashion

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of Indian film actresses

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kangna Ranaut

• Official Website
• Kangna Ranaut at the Internet Movie Database

Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal
Born	(1968-06-16) 16 June 1968 (age 44) Hissar, Haryana
Education	B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering
Alma mater	IIT Kharagpur
Organization	Parivartan (परिवर्तन) Public Cause Research Foundation India Against Corruption
Political movement	2012 Indian anti-corruption movement 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement Right to Information Jan Lokpal Bill
Religion	Hinduism
Children	3
Website
http://www.pcrf.in/

Arvind Kumar Kejriwal (born 16 June 1968) is a retired Indian Revenue Service officer and an Indian social activist fighting for greater transparency in Government.^[1] He was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, for activating India's Right to Information movement at grassroots and social activities to empower the poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding the government answerable to the people.^[2][3][2][2] Kejriwal is also a Saathi (fellow) of the Association for India's Development,^[4] a Global Impact award winning NGO.^[5]