Atul Kumar

Atul Kumar Biography

Atul Kumar is a famous theatre personality. An accomplished play director, he is one of the leading names of Indian theater in the present times. Apart from staging shows in various cities and towns of India, he has also done theatre shows abroad. Most recently he staged Piya Behroopiya at London's Globe Theatre. He has been inspired from Shakespeare’s plays and has adopted many to Indian versions. He is associated with Mumbai-based The Company Theatre for more than 15 years. He is the founder of this theatre group and works as a director as well as actor. 

He decided to take the profession of theatre quite at a very young age. As a child, he wanted to become Big B onscreen. His father was a businessman and he passed away when Atul was 14. Atul says, he would have become a businessman if otherwise. He grew up in Delhi in the 70s. An accomplished artist, he has trained himself in the Kerala art forms – Kathakali and martial art, Kalari Payattu. He reached Kerala to learn from theatre exponent KV Panikkar, but learnt Kerala art forms instead. He studied French literature, though he was not interested in studies. He has also been associated with Philip Genty in Paris and the Royal Court Theatre, London before completely absorbing to Mumbai-based The Company Theatre, found by himself. 

His theatre play The Blue Mug in 2011 starred many leading film personalities like Ranvir Shorey, Sheeba Chadha, Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor. The play was loosely on the bestselling book ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat' by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The played received acclaim from U.S., Europe, Singapore and other parts of the world. Currently he is involved in setting up an International Theatre Residency in Maharashtra for rigorous training and research in the field of theatre. He is also involved in creation of a workspace and residency for theatre actors in rural Maharashra.

Published: N/A

Updated: October 24, 2014