Described as ‘one of India’s best and most serious contemporary playwrights writing in English’ by Alexander Viets in the International Herald Tribune, Mahesh Dattani is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi award. Born on August 7, 1958, Mahesh Dattani received his early education at Baldwin’s High School and then went on to join St. Joseph’s College of Fine Arts and Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka. Prior to his stint with the world [...]
Legendary Painter M.F Hussain Passes Away India’s most famous modern art painter M.F Hussain passed away in London on Thursday, June 8th 2011. He was 95 years old. It is believed that the legendary painter succumbed to a heart attack in London’s Royal Brompton Hospital. Hussian had been living in self -imposed exile in Dubai and London, after he received threats prior to some of his paintings depicting Hindu deities in the nude. M.F Hussain [...]
Dr. L. Subramaniam is a reputed Tamil violinist,and composer. He has extensive training in Carnatic and Western classical music and made his mark in fusion orchestral music compositions. He was born into a Tamil family of established musicians. His father V.Lakshminarayana and his mother V.Seethalakshmi were accomplished musicians of their time. L.Subramaniam gave his first public performance at the age of ten. He is highly qualified with a Doctorate in Medicine but is a violinist [...]
Shrimati Kumkum Mohanty is a world famous Odissi dancer. She has received training under Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra at Kala Vikash Kendra. Her contribution to the field of Odissi dance has been vast and praiseworthy. Kumkum Mohanty has been honoured with the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1994. As a child, Kumkum Mohanty was an exceptional dancer. A serious student of Kelucharan Mohapatra, Kumkum Mohanty grew up as an outstanding dancer, dedicated to the dance form [...]
The doyen of Odissi, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was born on January 8, 1926 in Raghurajpur, Orissa. Kelucharan was a precocious child, he learnt to paint, sculpt and play the Khol drum at a very early age. He joined Gotipua troupes and folk theater groups when he was just nine. He was totally immersed in Odissi. He resurrected odissi when it was at the verge of extinction. In 1994 he set up an organisation, ‘Srjan’ to [...]
Dr.K.J.Yesudas a.k.a Kattassery Joseph Yesudas or alternatively Jesudas is a Malayali Indian classical musician and a noted playback singer of Indian films. K.J.Yesudas was born in Fort Kochi, Kerala on January 10,1940. His father Augustine Joseph was a noted Malayalam classical musician and stage actor of that era.His father was also his first guru (teacher). His talent for singing become apparent when he joined the music academy at Thrippinithura and won the gold medal for [...]
Jamini Roy was born in 1887 in Bankura in West Bengal. In 1903, Jamini Roy came to Kolkata and took admission in the Government School of Art. He was a student of Abanindranath Tagore. Roy painted a couple of beautiful portraits and landscapes that shows his unquestionable artistic qualities. In his early days Jamini Roy went through extreme poverty and was forced to take odd jobs. His Kalighat paintings was sold outside the Kalighat Temple. [...]
‘Dance for the Lord’ is Odissi’s tradition. Sanjukta Panigrahi, the legendary Odissi dancer maintained this custom all through her life. The dedicated dancer played a pivotal role in reviving the Odissi dance form in India and popularizing it in abroad. She was given the title Padmashri by the Government of India in recognition of her priceless contribution to Indian dance. She was also awarded the Sangeet Kala Academy Award. Sanjukta Panigrahi was born on 24.08.44 [...]
Raja and Radha Reddy, the world famous dancing couple, excel in the art of Kuchipudi, They have taken this dance to a new height by adhering to the traditional style and technique of Kuchipudi dance. They are named among the major dancers of India for their excellence and perfection in this dance form. Both of them were born the state of Andhra Pradesh, Raja Reddy was born in 1944 in Narsapur and Radha Reddy in [...]
Pt. Birju Maharaj Probably the greatest exponent of Kathak, Pt Birju Maharaj was born on 4th February 1938. He belongs to the Kalka-Bindadin Lucknow Gharana of Kathak. Named Brij Mohan, he is the son of legendary Achchan Maharaj of Maharaj family of Kathak dancers. Brij Mohan was into dancing from the initial years of life. Trained by his uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lachchu Maharaj he gave his first performance at the age of seven. After [...]
