Rita Ganguly Biography 
Rita Ganguly is a professor, vocalist, dancer and a disciple of legendary Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar. For her contributions towards the field of arts, government of India honoured her with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2000 and Padma Shri in 2003. Rita Ganguly is the founder of Kaladharmi, an NGO aimed at promoting arts, and also Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazals (BAAG), a ghazal academy. Rita Ganguly is married to Keshav Kothari, a former secretary of Sangeet Natak Akademi. Her elder sister Gita Ghatak was an actress and an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. Her daughter Meghna Kothari is a noted film actress, best known for her debut film, Prem Agan with Fardeen Khan. Rita has played a brief role of 2005 Bollywood film, Parineeta.
Rita Ganguly was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh into a family of literals and freedom fighters. Her father K. L. Ganguly, a journalist was the first editor of the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Nehru. He was a congress leader and freedom fighter too. Rita spent her childhood days in Lucknow, where her father worked in National Herald as an editor. She started learning Rabindrasangeet at the age of 12 under Gopeshwar Banerjee. She along with her sister Gita Ghatak joined Viswabharati, where they continued with their studies. She studied Kathakali and Manipuri under renowned gurus, and trained in modern dance at Martha Graham School, New York.
As an artist she got opportunity to perform at many Indian and international stages, earning accolades. She joined the National School of Drama as a teacher, where she taught for three decades. She introduced a new course of Movement and Mime to the academics, and also contributed in productions and costume designing. Ganguly is a Ford Foundation Fellow and did her PhD on her thesis on the female singers of Indian subcontinent.
Published: September 24, 2018
Updated: September 24, 2018
