Bansi Kaul Biography 
Bansi Kaul is a noted theatre artist, designer and director from Kashmir. For his outstanding contributions to Indian art he was honored by Padma Shri by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. He is also a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. A veteran personality of Indian theater, he is the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group and Theatre institute in Bhopal, known for revitalizing the silenced laugher in their extraordinary clown-performances. He founded the theatre troupe in 1984. He staged plays in Hindi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Singhalese languages. Known for his humorous plays he also guides kids for theatre workshops.
Bansi was born in Srinagar on August 23, 1949. He is a graduate from the prestigious National School of Drama, New Delhi, graduated in the year 1973. He started his career as a director with NSD Repertory Company. He also worked as a teacher with NSD for many years till he started his own theatric group - Rang Vidushak in 1984. He incorporated folk idioms into his plays resulting in the evolution of a new idiom of clown-theatre. He derives his strength from ordinary people and humour in everyday life, which he later incorporated for his plays. This artist feels that a stage actor needs a good rhythm and body language, rather than words, to play the perfect clown.
He also works extensively for theatre music. Through his plays Kaul has developed a new idiom and performance language. Akhada, natgiri, modern dance, story-telling, indigenous village-games and music are the various forms associated with the act. Known as a designer too, he is an eminent visualiser and designer of space who experiments with various colours and designs. He regularly does workshops for kids.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 18, 2016
