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Sheila Bhatia
Indian poet and playwright(1916 - 2008) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sheila Bhatia (1 March 1916 – 17 February 2008) was an Indian poet, playwright,[1] theatre personality[2][3] and the founder of the Delhi Art Theatre, a forum based in Delhi for the promotion of Indian art forms.[4] She is credited with originating Punjabi opera, an Indian form of dance drama incorporating operatic movements.[5][6][7][8] She was honoured by the Government of India in 1971 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.[9] A decade later, she received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for theatre direction in 1982[10] followed by Kalidas Samman in 1997.[11]
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Biography
Sheila Bhatia was born on 1 March 1916[5] in Sialkot in British India, in present-day Pakistan.[11] After securing a BA degree, she graduated in education (BT) and started working as a teacher of mathematics in Lahore, involving herself with the Indian freedom struggle.[4] Later she moved to Delhi where she founded the Delhi Art Theatre.[5][12] She also worked with the National School of Drama as the head of the acting department.[11]
Bhatia's debut production was Call of the Valley, a musical.[4][5] That was followed by over 60 productions,[1] such as Heer Ranjha (1957), Dard Aayega Dabe Paon (1979), Sulgada Darya (1982), Omar Khayyam (1990), Naseeb (1997), Chann Badla Da, Loha Kutt,[13] Ghalib Kaun tha and Nadir Shah in Punabi and Qissa yeh aurat ka (1972), Hawa se hippy tak (1972), and Yeh ishq nahin asan (1980) in Urdu.[5][11][12] A follower of Faiz Ahmed Faiz,[14][15] Bhatia also has 10 publications to her credit including the poetry anthology, Parlo Da Jhakkarh (1950).[11]
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Awards
The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1971.[9] She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for best direction in 1982.[10] The next year, she was awarded the Ghalib Award (1983) followed by Punjabi Arts Council award.[11] She received the best director award from the Delhi Administration in 1986 and the Kalidas Samman in 1997.[11] She was also a recipient of Urdu Academy Award[11] and the Param Sahit Sarkar Sanman by the Punjabi Academy (2000).[16]
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Death
Sheila Bhatia died on 17 February 2008 at the age of 91.[5]
See also
References
Further reading
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