Habib Tanvir (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009) was one of the most popular Indian

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

He was the writer of plays such as, ''Agra Bazar'' (1954) and ''

Charandas Chor Charandas Chor (''Charandas the Thief'') is a 1975 children's film by noted director Shyam Benegal, based on the famous play by Habib Tanvir, which itself was an adaptation of a classical Rajasthani folktale by Vijaydan Detha. The lyrics of the ...

'' (1975). A pioneer in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi theatre Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and ...

, he was most known for his work with

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

i tribals, at the Naya Theatre, a theatre company he founded in 1959 in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

. He went on to include indigenous performance forms such as ''nacha'', to create not only a new theatrical language, but also milestones such as ''Charandas Chor'', ''Gaon ka Naam Sasural, Mor Naam Damad'' and ''Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna''. For him, true "theatre of the people" existed in the villages, which he strived to bring to the urban "educated", employing both folk performers as actors alongside urban actors. He died on 8 June 2009 at Bhopal after a three-week-long illness. Upon his death, he was the last of pioneering actor-managers in

Indian theatre Theatre of India is one of the most ancient forms of theatre and it features a detailed textual, sculptural, and dramatic effects which emerged in mid first millennium BC. Like in the areas of music and dance, the Indian theatre is also define ...

, which included

Sisir Bhaduri Shishir Kumar Bhaduri or Sisir Kumar Bhaduri (2 October 1889 – 30 June 1959) was an Indian stage actor and theatre founder, who commonly referred to as the pioneer of modern Bengali theatre, where he was an actor, director, playwright and eve ...

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

and

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

, and often he managed plays with a mammoth cast, such as ''Charandas Chor'', which included an orchestra of 72 people on stage and ''Agra Bazaar'', with 52 people. During his lifetime he won several national and international awards, including the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in 1969,

Jawarharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru Me ...

in 1979,

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 1983,

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman ( hi, कालिदास सम्मान) is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The ...

1990,

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

in 1996, and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 2002. Apart from that he had also been nominated to become a member of the Upper House of Indian Parliament, the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

(1972–1978). His play ''

'' (Charandas, The Thief) won him the Fringe Firsts Award at Edinburgh International Drama Festival in 1982, and in 2007, it was included in the

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

' list of 'India's 60 Best works since Independence which said : "an innovative dramaturgy equally impelled by Brecht and folk idioms, Habib Tanvir seduces across language barriers in this his all-time biggest hit about a Robin Hood-style thief."

Biography

Early life

He was born in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, Chhattisgarh (erstwhile Madhya Pradesh) to Hafiz Ahmed Khan, who hailed from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. He passed his matriculation from Laurie Municipal High School,

, and later completed his B.A. from Morris College,

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

in 1944. Thereafter he studied M.A. for a year at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. Early in life, he started writing poetry using his pen name ''Takhallus''. Soon after, he assumed his name, Habib Tanvir.

Career

In 1945, he moved to Bombay, and joined

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

(AIR) Bombay as a producer. While in Bombay, he wrote songs for Urdu and Hindi films and even acted in a few of them. He also joined the

Progressive Writers' Association The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

(PWA) and became an integral part of

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

(IPTA) as an actor. Later, when most of the prominent IPTA members were imprisoned for opposing the British rule, he was asked to take over the organisation. In 1954, he moved to New Delhi, and worked with Qudsia Zaidi's Hindustani Theatre, and also worked with Children's theatre, where he authored many plays. Later in the same year, he produced his first significant play ''Agra Bazar'' based on the works and times of the plebeian 18th-century Urdu poet, Nazir Akbarabadi, an older poet in the generation of

Mirza Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

. For this play he brought together local residents and folk artistes from

Okhla Okhla is a suburban village located near Okhla barrage in the South East Delhi district of Delhi near the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Its nearest industrial area called commonly as Okhla Industrial Area (OIA) or Okhla Industrial Est ...

village in Delhi and students of

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia () is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in ...

creating a palette never seen before in Indian theatre. Additionally, the play was not staged in a confined space, rather a bazaar, a marketplace. After this, he continued to work with non-trained actors and folk artistes like the folk artists of Chhattisgarh.

Stay in Europe

In 1955, when he was in his 30s, Habib moved to England. There, he trained in Acting at

Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

(RADA) (1955) and in Direction at

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. I ...

(1956). For the next two years, he travelled through Europe, watching various theatre activities. One of the highlights of this period, was his eight-month stay in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1956, during which he got to see several plays of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, produced by

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...

, just a few months after Brecht's death. This proved to have a lasting influence on him, as in the coming years, he started using local idioms in his plays, to express trans-cultural tales and ideologies. This, over the years, gave rise to a "theatre of roots", which was marked by an utter simplicity in style, presentation and technique, yet remaining eloquent and powerfully experiential.

Return to India

A deeply inspired Habib returned to India in 1958 and took to directing full-time. He produced ''Mitti ki Gaadi'' a post-London play, based on

Shudraka Shudraka ( IAST: ) was an Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit plays are attributed: '' Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart''), ''Vinavasavadatta'', and a ''bhana'' (short one-act monologue), ''Padmaprabhritaka''.Bhattacharji, Sukumari ...

's Sanskrit work, Mrichakatika. It became his first important production in Chhattisgarhi. This was the result of the work he had been doing since his return – working with six folk actors from Chhattisgarh. He went on to found "Naya Theatre", a theatre company in 1959. In his exploratory phase, i.e. 1970–73, he broke free from one more theatre restriction – he no longer made the folk artistes, who had been performing in all his plays, speak Hindi. Instead, the artistes switched to Chhattisgarhi, a local language they were more accustomed to. Later, he even started experimenting with "

Pandavani Pandavani (lit.: Songs and Stories of the Pandavas) is a folk singing style involving narration of tales from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The singing also involves musical accompaniment. Bhima, the second of the Pandava is the hero of t ...

", a folk singing style from the region and temple rituals. This made his plays stand out amidst the gamut of plays which still employed traditional theatre techniques like blocking movements or fixing lights on paper. Spontaneity and improvisation became the hallmark of his new theatre style, where the folk artistes were allowed greater freedom of expression. His next venture with Chhattisgarhi ''Nach'' style, saw another breakthrough in 1972, with a staging of the play titled ''Gaon Ka Naam Sasural, Mor Naam Damaad''. This was based on a comic folk tale, where an old man falls in love with a young woman, who eventually elopes with another young man. By the time he produced his seminal play, ''

'' in 1975, the technique became popular. This play immediately established a whole new idiom in modern India theatre; whose highlight was ''Nach'' – a chorus that provided commentary through song. He also brought in Govind Ram Nirmalkar, a noted Nacha artist who would later go on to win

and

s, to play the lead role. Later, he collaborated with

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

, when he adapted the play to a feature-length film, by the same name, starring Smita Patil and Lalu Ram. He was awarded the prestigious

in 1979 for research on ''Relevance of Tribal Performing Arts and their Adaptability to A changing Environment''. In 1980, he directed the play ''Moti Ram ka Satyagraha'' for Janam (

Jan Natya Manch Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front; Janam for short) is a New Delhi-based amateur theatre company specialising in left-wing street theatre in Hindi. It was founded in 1973 by a group of Delhi's radical theatre amateurs who sought to take th ...

) on the request of

Safdar Hashmi Safdar Hashmi (12 April 1954 – 2 January 1989) was a communist playwright and director, best known for his work with street theatre in India. He was also an actor, lyricist, and theorist, and he is still considered an important voice in Indian ...

. During his career, Habib has acted in over nine feature films, including

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

's film, ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

'' (1982), ''Black and White'' and in a yet-to-be-released film on the Bhopal gas tragedy. His first brush with controversy came about in the 1990s, with his production of a traditional Chhattisgarhi play about religious hypocrisy, ''Ponga Pandit''. The play was based on a folk tale and had been created by Chhattisgarhi theatre artists in the 1930s. Though he had been producing it since the sixties, in the changed social climate after the

Babri Masjid Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...

demolition, the play caused quite an uproar amongst Hindu fundamentalists, especially the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), whose supporters disrupted many of its shows, and even emptied the auditoriums, yet he continued to show it all over. His Chhattisgarhi folk troupe, surprised again, with his rendition of Asghar Wajahat's ''Jisne Lahore Nahin Dekhya'' in 1992. Then in 1993 came ''Kamdeo Ka Apna Basant Ritu Ka Sapna'', Tanvir's Hindi adaptation of Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. In 1995, he was invited to the United States by the Chicago Actors Ensemble, where he wrote his only English language play, ''The Broken Bridge''. In 2002, he directed ''Zahareeli Hawa'', a translation of ''

'' by the Canadian-Indian playwright Rahul Varma, based on the

Bhopal Gas Tragedy The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's w ...

. During his illustrious career he brought works from all genres to stage, from ancient Sanskrit works by Shudraka, Bhasa, Vishakhadatta and Bhavabhuti; to European classics by Shakespeare, Molière and Goldoni; modern masters Brecht, Garcia, Lorca, Gorky, and Oscar Wilde; Tagore, Asghar Wajahat, Shankar Shesh, Safdar Hashmi, Rahul Varma, stories by Premchand, Stefan Zweig and Vijaydan Detha, apart from an array of Chhattisgarhi folk tales.

Legacy

In 2010, at the 12th

Bharat Rang Mahotsav Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) (भारत रंग महोत्सव) or the National Theatre Festival, started in 1999, is the annual theatre festival organised by National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. The festival was started to showcas ...

, the annual theatre festival of

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

, Delhi, a tribute exhibition dedicated to life, works and theatre of Habib Tanvir and

B.V. Karanth Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (Kannada: ಬಾಬುಕೋಡಿ ವೆಂಕಟರಮಣ ಕಾರಂತ) (19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, co ...

was displayed. The 13th

opened with an Assamese adaptation of his classic play ''

'', directed by Anup Hazarika, a NSD graduate.

Awards

He was the recipient of # Sangeet Natak Akademy Award(1969), #

Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru Me ...

(1979), #

(1983), #

(2002), among other national and international awards during his lifetime.

Plays

* ''Agra Bazar'' (1954) * ''Shatranj Ke Mohrey'' (1954) * ''Lala Shoharat Rai'' (1954) * ''Mitti Ki Gaadi'' (1958) * ''Gaon Ke Naon Sasural, Mor Naon Damand'' (1973) * ''Charandas Chor'' (1975) * ''Uttar Ram Charitra'' (1977) * ''Bahadur Kalarin'' (1978) * ''Ponga Pandit'' (1960s) * ''Ek Aurat Hypathia Bhi Thee'' (1980s) * ''Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya'' (1990) * ''Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna'' (1993) * ''The Broken Bridge'' (1995) * ''Zahreeli Hawa'' (2002) * ''Raj Rakt'' (2006) * ''Kartoos'' (?) * ''Dekh Rahe Hai Nyan'' * ''Hirma Ki Amar Kahani'' * He also came up with his own versions of ''Basant Retu ka Sapna'', ''Shajapur ki Shanti Bai'', ''Mitti ki Gari'' and ''Mudrarakhsas''.

Filmography

* '' Rahi'' (1952) - Ramu * ''Foot Path'' (1953) * ''

'' (1975) (lyrics and script) * ''Staying On'' (1980) (TV) - Dr. Mitra * ''

'' (1982) - Indian barrister * ''Man-Eaters of Kumaon'' (1986) (TV) - Bahadur * ''

Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin (English: This Is Not Our Destination) is a 1987 Hindi drama film written and directed by Sudhir Mishra, in a directorial debut. It starred Manohar Singh, Habib Tanvir, B. M. Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Sushmita Mukherjee and Nas ...

'' (1987) - Akhtar Baig * ''

Hero Hiralal ''Hero Hiralal'' is a 1988 Indian film directed by Ketan Mehta, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Sanjana Kapoor in leading roles. It is a movie about an auto rickshaw driver who falls in love with a film actress. The movie showcased performances b ...

'' (1988) * '' Prahaar: The Final Attack'' (1991) - Joe D'Souza, father of Peter D'Souza * ''The Burning Season'' (1993) - Raja Sahib * ''Sardar'' (1993) * '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'' (2005) - Bahadur Shah Zafar * '' Black & White'' (2008)Habib Tanveer
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. - Quazi Saab (final film role)

Bibliography

* Rang Habib – Critical Appreciation of Habib Tanveer's Works, Written by Shri B. R. Bhargava, Published by National School of Drama, 2006 * ''Charandas Chor''. Tr. by Anjum Katyal. Seagull Books, 1996. * Use of Music and Dance in Contemporary Dramatic Performances * The Buddhist Theatre of Tibet * The Living Tale of Hirma: Hirma Ki Amar Kahani. ''Calcutta, Seagull Books, 2005''.
Janam comes of Age by Habib Tanvir, 1988
''Theatre of the streets: the Jana Natya Manch experience'', by Arjun Ghosh, Jana Naṭya Mancha, edited by Sudhanva Deshpande. Published by Jana Natya Manch, 2007 * Gaon ke Naon Theatre, Mor Naon Habib (documentary film), dirs. Sanjay Maharishi and Sudhanva Deshpande, 2005 * One Day in the Life of Ponga Pandit (documentary film), dirs. Sanjay Maharishi and Sudhanva Deshpande, 2005 * Tanvir ka safarnama (documentary film), dir. Ranjan Kamath. 2008

References

External links

Habib Tanvir: Making of a Legend, Samar, 2001

Super trouper : Habib Tanvir
*

Rahul Varma's Tribute to Habib Tanvir

Rahul Varma's newest play mentored by Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanvir, Habib 1923 births 2009 deaths Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors Indian male film actors Indian male stage actors Indian People's Theatre Association people Male actors from Chhattisgarh People from Raipur, Chhattisgarh Aligarh Muslim University alumni Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Hindi theatre Hindi dramatists and playwrights Male actors in Hindi cinema Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows Dramatists and playwrights from Chhattisgarh 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male actors Poets from Chhattisgarh