Bombay Talkies Biographies Vikram Kapadia (Writer Director)
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Bombay Talkies Biographies Vikram Kapadia (Writer Director) Maverick theatre maker Vikram Kapadia has more than twenty‐five years of experience in the arts. He effortlessly combines the related avatars of director, actor, writer, lighting designer and filmmaker ‐ in an impressive career that has encompassed live performance, advertising, films and television. Vikram’s training began in 1981 under Roshan Taneja (Former Principal of Acting, FTII, Pune) at the Actor’s Studio in Bombay, where he completed the year ‐ long diploma course. He went on to work (and train) under the legendary Pearl Padamsee, and was soon cast by other directors including Salim Ghouse, Meher and Noshir Jehangir and Naseeruddin Shah through the 80s. Vikram established his own theatre company Masque in 1987, embarking on an illustrious path as theatre director. His first play was the challenging Pirandello play Six Characters in Search of an Author (1987). This was followed by the critical successes The Dining Room (1989), The Typists (1990) and Dance and the Railroad (1992). He was then invited to co‐direct Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar by and with, Naseeruddin Shah in a production commissioned by the NCPA, Mumbai. The enormous success of Girish Karnad’s epic Tughlaq (1994), in which he also played the title role, and his path‐breaking version of Romeo and Juliet (1995) established Vikram firmly as one of the leading directors in Indian theatre. In the mid to late nineties, disappointed by the lack of original Indian scripts to direct, Vikram turned to playwriting. His first work, Life in the Dark ‐ a half hour monologue was selected and published in the monthly edition of P.E.N. and was staged as part of a series of monologues at the Sophia Bhabha Auditorium, South Mumbai. Two later monologues, On the Road and The Party were staged as part of the sold‐out Going Solo series in 2001‐2002. On the Road is now considered a benchmark in Indian English theatre, with its incisive writing and an exemplary performance by stage veteran Darshan Jariwalla. The popularity of these monologues lead to Vikram’s first two‐act play, the satirical black comedy Black with Equal, which premiered at the NCPA in November 2002. The play performed at festivals across India (including the NSD’s prestigious Bharat Rang Mahotsav) enjoyed an uninterrupted run of house‐full shows in Mumbai until its closure in 2007, and has been published by Sahitya Akademi. The English version of Bombay Talkies, written and directed by him and produced by The Orchid Room Experiment, opened at the NCPA’s Centrestage Festival in November 2011. Outside of theatre, Vikram Kapadia has worked in the closely ‐ related worlds of advertising, television and film. His lead roles in TV series like K Street Pali Hill, Kavyanjali and Naya Zamana have made him a recognizable face with the lay public. TV insiders know and respect him as the screenplay writer of two series, Kismat and Khotey Sikkey, for YashRaj Films. His cinematic experience includes a stellar role in Rebecca Ryman’s German tele‐film Wer Liebe Verspricht together with the legendary Mario Adorf. More recently he appeared in a major role in the 2012 American independent film, A Decent Arrangement directed by Sarovar Banka and also starring Shabana Azmi, which premiered in May 2012 in New York. Ratnabali Bhattacharjee Ratnabali has been a regular actor on stage, film and television since she began her acting career in 2004. She was chosen by the Italian group Luoghi dell’Arte to act in their play, Commedia dell’Arte Galore, a part of the Prithvi Festival 2004 and was performed in Bangalore and Delhi. Her stage highlights include Basuri, directed by Sunil Shanbag, Ursula, Fear of the Estuary and Insulting the Audience directed by Rehaan Engineer, The President is Coming by Kunaal Roy Kapur and Park by Manav Kaul. Veteran writer‐director Makrand Deshpande cast her in both Dhoni Dho Dalta Hai and Sakharam Ki Khoj Mein Hawaldar. Film credits include lead roles in Rohini Ramanathan’s short film, Disconnected, Mamta Murthy’s Row Over Maria, Ruchi Bhimani’s Feet and Offshore, an American independent film directed by Diane Cheklich. She has appeared in Anjali Punjabi’s short film, Fancy Dress, Saeed Mirza’s Savdhaan Meri Jaan and Neeraj Ghaywan’s award‐winning short film Shor. Most recently she acted in an American feature film, Sold, directed by Jeffrey Brown. She starred as the Indian lead in Mumbai Calling, ITV’s comedy tele‐series, co‐written by and starring, Sanjeev Bhaskar. Ratnabali is regularly seen in commercials, having been cast in films for Cadbury Bytes, Vim, Citibank, I Pill and Tata Tetley. She is also a popular voice‐ over artist and has programmed, hosted and written radio shows. Rasika Dugal Rasika’s versatility as an actor is evident in the varied roles she has played on stage. Best known for her performance in The Vagina Monologues, she also performs in the English version of Bombay Talkies, is a storyteller in Dastangoi (an urdu storytelling art) and an improviser with the troupe Improv Comedy Mumbai. Rasika is best known for her performance in the film Kshay. As Chhaya, the housewife on a downward spiral, Rasika had an opportunity that is rare for many actors, of shouldering responsibility for an entire film. Her performance has wowed both audiences and critics, in India and at the eight international festivals the film has been screened at, since its release in June 2012. A graduate of the acting course at the Film and Television Institute of India, Rasika has done cameos in films directed by Santosh Sivan,Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap. In television, she has acted in the serials Powder and Kismat. Her upcoming work is a film Qissa, directed by Anup Singh Batla in which she plays a pivotal role alongside Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra and Tillotama Shome. Namit Das Namit is a familiar face on stage, film and television. He has an extensive list of stage roles to his credit. He has been cast by Nadir Khan in Michael Cristofer’s classic play Shadowbox, Imogen Butler Cole in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Sunil Shanbag in Chetan Datar’s Mastana Rampuri Urf Chappanchuri and Kunaal Roy Kapur in the long‐running The President is Coming. He has appeared in a number of The Company Theatre productions, directed by Atul Kumar, including the clown show I am Invincible, Voices, Chairs and a youth production of Numbers in the Dark. He has acted in a corporate play The Soul of A Salesman, directed by Etienne Coutinho. He can currently be seen on stage in Rajat Kapoor’s Hamlet the Clown Prince, Sunil Shanbag’s Stories in a Song and the English version of Bombay Talkies. Namit appears on the big screen in the Rohan Sippy produced, The President is Coming, directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur (who also directed the stage play). He also acted in Wake Up Sid directed by Ayaan Mukherjee, and in Deven Khote’s unreleased UTV film Phillum City. He appears alongside Vidya Balan in Ghanchakkar, in theatres from mid 2013. On television, Namit has appeared as the lead character in Zee TV’s Pancham, and acted in ITV’s Mumbai Calling alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar. He has hosted a season of NDTV’s Showbiz. He is a popular advertising talent having appeared in ad films for Venus Soaps, Idea, Vodafone, Colgate, Pepsi and Cadbury. Jaswinder Singh Technical writer by profession, actor by choice, Jaswinder realized early on that acting and theatre were his true calling. More than 15 productions, a few TV shows, 3 short films and 2 Feature films later, the calling is stronger than ever. He has played lead roles in plays including The Bureaucrat directed by Rahul da Cunha, The Country directed by Meeta Vashisht and Angst Angst by Ramu Ramanathan. On television he has played lead roles in Yashraj’s Powder and Ketan Mehta’s Pradahan Mantri. He has also designed lights for many productions and is now directing a play. Through his company 'Alchymy', he dabbles in Production, Events and Life‐Skills training for corporates and students. .