Top 10 Theatre Artists That Are Making Indian Theatre Awesome

Indian Theatre has given us one of the most famous playwright in the country. He is known to have shaped the Modern Indian Theatre from the past decades. Some of his most famous plays includes Hayavadana, Bendu Kaalu on Toast, Tughlaq, Nagamandala. Girish Karnad is also an amazing Indian director and an actor. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and has won four Filmfare Awards.

The famous artist behind the much famous Amul Girl, the mascot for the amul brand, Rahul Da Cunha is the artist that deals with advertising, theatre and travel. The man is so much talented that has the power to work both nights with different job profiles. In the day, he runs his ad agency that has been making India smile from the past 47 years with that Amul Girl and at night he directs the shows for the Indian Theatre like Pune Highway, Class Act of 84, Me, Kash & Cruise among many others. 

The queen of Theatre royalty in India, Dolly Thakore is an exceptional theatre artist. She has won many hearts not just in the theatre genre but also as a TV presenter, casting director, communications and PR expert, film and theatre reviewer, compere, auctioneer and a social worker.  She is well known as the ultimate news speaker in English that comes on Mumbai Doordarshan at 8 PM. Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party, and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf are the various plays she acted in during her era. 

One of the recognised TV and movie actor, Lilette Dubey is a renowned Indian Theatre artist. Lillete is also an acclaimed theatre director, television and film artist, and was part of the Theatre Action Group (TAG) in Delhi. She has directed a number of plays, most notable being Mahesh Dattani's Dance Like a Man, which is the longest running Indian play in English, having completed 497 shows across the world, including a two-week run on the Broadway. Her famous movies include Kal Ho Naa Ho, Monsoon Wedding, The Exotic Marigold Flower and Housefull.

One of the most epic gems of the Indian Cinema, Naseeruddin Shah has his roots in the Indian Theatre. He started his own theatre company Motley Theatre along with Tom Alter, Benjamin Gilani and Ratna Pathak in 1979. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema. Nishant, Aakrosh, Sparsh, Mirch Masala, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, Trikal, Bhavni Bhavai, Junoon, Mandi, Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, Ardh Satya, Katha, and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro are his some of the most famous movies. 

Makarand Deshpande has been one of the most renowned theatre artists in India that now deals with Indian film actor, writer, and director in Hindi, Malayalam cinema, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. Makarand has been the director of 5 films and has mostly appeared in some comic or supporting roles in the films like Jungle, Sarfarosh, Swades, Makdee, and Darna Zaroori Hai etc. He runs his own theatre company called Ansh Theatre and has made Sir Sir Sarla, Ek Kadam Aage, Kasturi, Grihalaxmi, Krishna Kidding and The Doll. 

The owner of Q Theatre Productions, Quasar Thakore Padamsee has been responsible for delivering multiple talents to the Indian Theatre and the cinema. The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail, Minorities, All My Sons, So Many Socks, The Peasant of El Salvador are some of his famous plays that he has so brightly directed. He is the son of the famous theatre artist we have mentioned in our list before- Dolly Thakore. 

Manav Kaul is an Indian theatre director, playwright, actor and filmmaker. He has become one of the most popular face in the indian film industry as a supporting actor after his epic performance as a politician in Kai Po Che. Manav has been in the India Theatre since 2004 and has directed plays like Ilhaam, Park, Peele Scooter Wala Aadmi and Bali Aur Shambhu. He has been seen in the movies too and his performance is rather anticipated in the upcoming bollywood movie Tumhari Sulu alongside Vidya Balan. 

Famous as a comedian, a father in the Indian film industry, Rajit Kapur has his roots in the Indian Theatre as well. Larins Sahib, Love Letters, Are There Tigers in Congo?, Class of 84 among other are some of his epic plays in the theatre. He is also the co owner of Rage Theatre. The 1996 movie, Mahatma Gandhi is the most memorable role he has ever played for the industry. 

The owner of Akvarious productions, Akarsh Khurana is the man that has created a name for himself in the past decade. He has been known for producing 22 plays and has directed 10 of them even. His company has seen major heights in this time. He has in his has more than 50 productions in the duration of just 15 years. Some of the most popular plays include All About Women, The Adventures of Tintin, A Guy Thing and Blackbird.