Gul Bardhan Biography 
Gul Bardhan is an Indian artist best known as a choreographer and theatre personality based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. She is best known for her association with Indian People's Theatre Association, working as an artist and choreographer for numerous art pieces. In 1952, she co-founded Little Ballet Troupe with her husband, and took over its leadership after the death of her husband. For his contributions towards arts and culture, Government of India honoured him with the fourth highest civilian honour - Padma Shri in 2010.
Gul Bardhan hailed from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and belonged to a Mumbai-based Gujarati family. She was born in the year 1928. She had a brother and two sisters, and was the youngest among 4 siblings. Her father Hans Raj Shah was a political worker, who worked for Congress. Her mother was interested in music and used to play the string instrument dilruba. Once she watched Shanti Bardhan’s ballet, Bhookha Hai Bengal, based on the Bengal famine and got drawn towards this art form. He was trained in Manipuri and Tipperah, and a performer of Uday Shankar dance troupe at Almora. The centre disbanded later. But Shanti didn’t discontinue his art performances and he chose to redefine Shankar’s choreography. Gul joined his group in 1945 and later married him.
In 1952 her husband Shanti Bardhan founded the Ranga Sri Little Ballet Troupe in Bhopal, and she has been associated with the group since then, which produced ballets, music, and also a new dance form using human puppets. They travelled far and wide to learn urban, folk and tribal dance and later incorporated in their art pieces. When Shantida passed away in 1954, she headed the troupe and continued with her art performances. It was later renamed as Ranga Shri Little Ballet Troupe. Sangeet Natak Academy award and the Padma Shri are the major honours received by her. She passed away soon after she received Padma honour in 2010.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
