Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, JUNE, 12
Balwant Thakur has been appointed by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as the Cultural Diplomat of India to South Africa. He will head the ICCR’s Swami Vivekanand Cultural Centre, Johannesburg (South Africa) as head of the Centre/ Director for a period of three years. Considered to be the highest ever elevation of any cultural personality of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Balwant Thakur is the third Indian Theatre Director to hold this position in the post India Independence period after Girish Karnad and Mohan Maharishi who held the similar positions in UK and Mauritius after serving in India as Chairman Sangeet Natak Akademi and Chairman Indian Theatre respectively.
To foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries, India has established cultural centres abroad which are mandated to promote composite cultural heritage of India in different parts of the world. Conferred with highest Indian honor in Performing Arts and Padamshree, Balwant Thakur has already held prestigious cultural positions in the country including Project Director, Language and Culture Department Himachal Pradesh Government, Secretary J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages and Regional Director, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, J&K. With Sixteen years of experience in cultural administration in Government sector and Thirty Six years experience of top NGO management, it is expected of Balwant Thakur to create new mile-stones of his illustrious career in South Africa.
Born in 1960, Balwant Thakur is one of the most creative theatre directors of the country who have given a new identity to Indian theatre with their highly innovative theatre productions. Decorated with the highest Indian honor in performing arts i.e, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in theatre, Balwant Thakur is credited for being the youngest theatre director of India who has participated over two hundred National Theatre Festivals as director, which is a record in the country. Known as a magic man of theatre, his outstanding visual poetics on stage like ‘Ghumayee’ ‘Bawa Jitto’ ‘Suno Eh Kahani’ ‘Chauraha’ and ‘Mahabhoj’ have vibrated the theatre scene of North India. Credited for bringing Dogri theatre to the National and International limelight, he has been highly instrumental in creating a new cultural renaissance in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recognizing his outstanding contribution in Indian theatre, the Department of Culture, Govt. of India Awarded him the National Senior fellowship for three years to do research on the performing modes of Jammu. In 1992 he was decorated with yet another prestigious award of the country i.e, ‘Sanskriti Award’ for direction in theatre, which is given once in three years to a theatre person. Same year he got The Ford Foundation (USA) Grant Award for his research project ‘Search for a New Theatre Language’. This gave a new flip to his creative endeavours and he won the rarest honors like ‘Abhinayak Samman’ ‘Saptrishi Samman’ ‘Naksha Samman’ and ‘Kala Nidhi Purskar’
In Children’s theatre, Balwant Thakur is one among the very few theatre directors of the country who have revolutionized the theatre scene and have evolved a new dramaturgy for children. His plays like ‘Mere Hisse Ki Dhoop Kahan Hai’ ‘Aap Hamare Hain Kaun’ ‘Hum Hain Naa’ and ‘Bhag Beta Bhag’ are being credited as the most demanded children productions which have been featured in almost all the major theatre events in India.
He also served on the Boards of prestigious Institutions of the country including, Department of Culture, Govt. of India, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, North Zone Cultural Centre, Council for Promotion of Urdu Language and as an expert for National School of Drama, Department of Culture, M.P., Department of Language & Culture, H.P. and Association of Indian Universities.
Widely traveled Balwant Thakur held his presentations in Bangkok (Thailand) Singapore, London, Oxford, Brighton, Stratford, Berlin, Frankfurt, (Germany), Rome (Italy) Moscow, Yoroslov, Belgrade, St. Petersburg, Turkey, Shanghai, Bejing, Nanjing, Xining, Almaty, Bishkek, Denmark, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhaabi, and Dhaka.
