Pune: Tanveer Natyadharmi Award 2025 Presented to Dushyanth Gunshekar of Tamil Nadu
The program, which was held at Shreeram Lagoo Rang Avakash at Hirabaug Chowk on Tilak Road, was attended by Maharashtra Cultural Center President and veteran actor Dr. Mohan Agashe, Roopvedh Pratishthan’s Anand Lagoo, Maharashtra Cultural Center’s Managing Committee Chairman S. P. Kulkarni, this year’s Tanveer Natyadharmi Award winner Dushyanth Gunshekar, Maharashtra Cultural Center’s Prasad Vanarase and other dignitaries.
This is the 18th year of the Tanveer Natyadharmi Award and the award is given annually to young artists who have made special contributions to the field of theatre. The award consists of a momento and a cash prize of Rs 75,000.
Dushyanth Gunshekar is a theatre educator and organizer who leads the group Crea-Shakthi in Tamil Nadu. He creates and stages plays on social issues, works to provide steady income and support to theatre artists, and has developed theatre-related study programs for both private and government schools. Through his initiative Crea Play, he takes experimental theatre to students and has played a major role in making theatre a part of the school curriculum, helping children build confidence, creativity and collaborative skills.
Dushyanth said, “Through Crea-Shakthi, our initiative Crea Play is a very important part of our work. We are taking experimental theatre to school students because every child has the right to discover their own voice, and for me, theatre is a democratic art form.” He further added, “Theatre helps children gain confidence, think in the right direction, work together, and turn workplaces into human spaces. That is why including theatre in school education is so important.”
He further shared, In our country, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and many other regional theatres appear to work region-centric, limited to their respective areas. In contrast, I feel these theatre traditions should work together at a national level. We must break the regional walls and build bridges among them. Instead of competing with each other, theatres should work togther so that the future of Indian theatre becomes brighter.
Through his organization Crea-Shakti and initiative Crea-Play Dushayant has produced over 90 plays with over 1700 stage shows in India and abroad. About 800 plus theatre artists have participated in these plays. Currently, Crea-Shakti employs over 50 full time theatre artists. Over 1 Lac school children have experienced Crea-Play through 140 partner schools, which include public and private schools.
Dr. Pillai presented his views on “Re-imagine the Ring: The Indian Circus Between Tradition, Theatre and the Future”. He shared that the Indian circus was started in the 1880s by Vishnupant Chatre in Maharashtra and later gained popularity in Kerala, but it declined in the 2000s. He explained that to revive it, circus artists and students from the National School of Drama collaborated to create hybrid performances, combining theatre skills with circus acts. He mentioned that in these performances, special attention was given to stagecraft, sound, and lighting. He also said that under the NOVA (Network of Visual Arts) initiative, they had conducted several experimental performances based on works like Panchatantra, Meghdoot, and Samudra Manthan, bringing the circus back to audiences in a modern form.
Dr. Mohan Agashe shared, “Today, Pune’s young audience is giving strong support to experimental theatre. I admire Dushyanth Gunshekar for taking important steps to create sustainable theatre in Tamil Nadu and for introducing theatre to children at the right age. His efforts to make theatre accessible to young students and to nurture their interest are truly remarkable and worthy of recognition.”
Anand Lagoo then gave information about the role of the Tanveer Natyadharmi Award. Prasad Vanarse introduced Dushyanth Gunshekar to the audience. Rajesh Deshmukh anchored the program.
Photo caption – Dushyanth Gunshekar from Tamil Nadu was presented with this year’s Tanveer Natyadharmi Award 2025 at a program jointly organized by Roopvedh Pratishthan and Maharashtra Cultural Center in Pune. In the photo (from left) while presenting the award at the program held at Shriram Lagoo Rang Avaksha at Hirabaug Chowk on Tilak Road, S. P. Kulkarni, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Anand Lagoo, Dushyanth Gunshekar, Dr. Abhilash Pillai and Prasad Vanarase.
