Padma Shri Bansi Kaul No More: Major Shock To Theater

Padma Shri Bansi Kaul no more: Major damage to the theater world, senior colorist Padmashri Bansi Kaul dies.

Bansi Kaul (72), who was awarded the Padma Shri, considered a strong pillar of Indian theater, died on Saturday morning.

He breathed his last at his residence in Dwarka Sector-7, Delhi at 8.46 am. He will be cremated on Sunday. According to his family, Kaul was suffering from cancer.

He lived in Delhi with his wife Anjana Puri. Born in Srinagar, Bansi Kaul was a graduate of the National Student of Drama and in the year 1984, he founded his institution in Bhopal under the name Rang Jaddushak.

He got Indian theater recognized worldwide by staging several plays.

Bansi Kaul was born on 23 August 1949 in Srinagar to a Kashmiri Pandit family. He started his career as director of NSD in 1973.

He also received the Sangeet Natak Award and Padma Shri Award for his performance in the field of theater. Kahan Kabir was also one of his better plays, due to which he also received the Kalidas Award in the year 2016.

He was an excellent theatrical director as well as a writer, painter, and set designer. He was fondly called by all the color workers as Bansi Da.

Apart from Hindi, Bansi Kaul has also directed plays in Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Sihali, Urdu, Bundelkhandi and Baghelkhandi languages.

Balwant Thakur, director of Natrang Natya Sanstha, says that Bansi Da was a better director than he was. The theater has suffered a lot due to his death.

At the same time, the colorist and director Mushtaq Kak also mourned the death of Bansi Kaul and said that the theater has lost a great personality.

Junker style was made by making Bhopal a workplace

The news of the death of Bansi Da is a wave of mourning among the color workers of Madhya Pradesh, including the color capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Actually, he had gone to a workshop of Bhopal drama, but there he felt like setting up his own theater group Rang Vidyudak too.

After this, he kept going to the country and the world for drama, but the headquarters remained in Bhopal. He was unmatched in the vision of the stage.

Bansi Kaul invented a new style of acting in Ujjain by doing research work with Mach Mela and nuts, Kathagayakas, and Akharas.

This led to the birth of the color clown drama group, in which the play of the clown style began. The clown has a laughing character. Basiji was an artist of nomadism, who traveled around the country to know Indian folk art closely.

Color wanders:

Alok Chatterjee, director, and colorist of MP Natya Vidyalaya described his death as the end of an era. He said that he was my mentor and friend in the 38-year relationship.

I acted in his play ‘Andha Yuga’. B.V. among those who roam around for drama in the country. Bansi Kaul was the only one after Karanth Saheb. He recognized the clown or clown style.

Laughter is also used for the question and answer in this style. He was born in Kashmir, but lived in Madhya Pradesh and worked for Rangkarma.

Senior color worker KG Trivedi said that the color workers should carry forward the legacy that Banshi has handed over.

Every fellow used to worry:

Theater worker Uday Shahane told that after they pass out from the National School of Drama (NSD), he used to go to workshops all over the country. It was during this time that I met him in Gwalior.

He had come to Bhopal to do workshops and he liked the city so much that in 1984 he set up the theater group Color Jester.

He also had close ties to the Little Ballet troupe and was currently the president of LBT. Bansi Da used to worry about everyone working with him. Their human nature makes them unique.

The platform of the porch of Ravindra Bhavan was built:

Senior Ranger Ashok Bulani told that in 1980 I came to Bhopal from Gwalior. Bansiji then performed two plays Antigoni and Idipas at Ravindra Bhavan. His stage vision was amazing.

Without using the inner and outer platform of Ravindra Bhavan, he made the porch of the building towards the restaurant. Staircases were erected on both sides for the artists to climb the stage.

A stunning set of designs on the porch, which was well received by the audience. After coming to Bhopal, he was on the selection committee of the Rangamandal of Bharat Bhavan and also joined as the visiting director.