Ram Gopal Bajaj is an Indian theatre director,

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

, and a

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film actor. He has also been a faculty member and a former Director 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 ...

, New Delhi (1995 – September 2001). He was awarded the

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 2003 and

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 1996 for his contribution to theatre.

Biography

Ram Gopal Bajaj graduated from the

(NSD) in 1965. He became a member of its faculty and eventually its Director (November 1995 – September 2001). During his tenure as the head of NSD he started two theatre festivals,

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 ...

a (National Theatre Festival) and Jashn-e-Bachpan (National Children's Theatre Festival). Over the years, he directed numerous plays with the

, NSD Repertory Company, starting with ''Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se, Surya Ki Pehli Kiran Tak'' in 1974, Jai Shankar Prasad’s ''Skand Gupta'' in 1977, followed by ''Quaid-E-Hayaat'' in 1989. His other noted production was ''

Ashadh Ka Ek Din ''Ashadh Ka Ek Din'' (Hindi: आषाढ़ का एक दिन, One Day in Ashadh) is a Hindi play by Mohan Rakesh that debuted in 1958 and is considered the first Modern Hindi play. The play received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for best p ...

'' by

Mohan Rakesh Mohan may refer to: People * Mohan Shumsher JBR, Former prime minister of Nepal * Mohan (actor) (born 1956), Indian film actor * Mohan (director), Indian director of Malayalam films * Mohan (name), a name generally found among Hindus * Mohan (cl ...

in 1992. He also was the Chief of the

Repertory Company A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

from 1988 to 1994. He translated

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

's ''

Rakt Kalyan Rakt is a village in the former municipality of Uden, North Brabant, the Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst. The site of a famous windmill, Molen van Jetten (built in 1811 and moved to its current locati ...

'' ( Taledanda) into Hindi, first directed by

Ebrahim Alkazi Ebrahim Alkazi (18 October 1925 – 4 August 2020) was an Indian theatre director and drama teacher. A rigid disciplinarian, he instilled in his acting students an awe and reverence that they still carry with them, with several of them havin ...

for NSD and then by

Arvind Gaur Arvind Gaur is an Indian theatre director known for innovative, socially and politically relevant plays in India. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social politica ...

(1995) for Asmita Theater. In 2017, he was honoured with ''

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 ...

'' by the

Government of Madhya Pradesh Government of Madhya Pradesh also known as the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 52 districts. It consists of an executive, ...

Career

Bajaj has been connected with the film industry for over three decades, first as an assistant director in art films like ''

Utsav ''Utsav'' (Hindi: उत्सव; English: Festival) is a 1984 Hindi erotic drama film, produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Girish Karnad. The film is based on play '' Mrichakatika'' ('' The Little Clay Cart'') by Śūdraka. The film s ...

'' (1984) and ''Godhuli'' (1977), later appearing in character roles in films like, '' Masoom'' (1983), ''

Hip Hip Hurray Hip hip hooray (also hippity hip hooray; ''Hooray'' may also be spelled and pronounced hoorah, hurrah, hurray etc.) is a cheer called out to express congratulation toward someone or something, in the English-speaking world and elsewhere. By a sol ...

'' (1984), ''

Mirch Masala ''Mirch Masala'' (Translation: Hot Spice) is a 1987 Hindi psychological thriller film directed by Ketan Mehta. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil in the lead roles. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, ''Forbes'' included Smita ...

'' (1985), and '' Chandni'' (1989). His most noted film roles have been in ''

Parzania ''Parzania'' (translation: ''Heaven and hell on earth'') is a 2007 Indian drama film co-written and directed by Rahul Dholakia; David N. Donihue is the other co-writer. The film featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in the lead roles, while Cor ...

'' and as the Guru, in Jackie Chan starrer, '' The Myth'', both in 2005. He starred as Dr. Amit Singh in ''

Mango Dreams ''Mango Dreams'' is a 2016 English-language drama film produced and directed by John Upchurch. Plot As a child, Dr. Amit Singh (Ram Gopal Bajaj) survived the British partition of India. Since then, he has been running forward his whole life, run ...

'' (2016) and in ''

Jolly LLB 2 ''The State vs. Jolly LL.B 2'', better known as ''Jolly LL.B 2'', is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film written and directed by Subhash Kapoor. Akshay Kumar plays the titular character, Jagdishwar Mishra, replacing the 2013 film's ...

'' as Advocate Rizvi Sahab. He also starred as "Shankar Dayal Bajpai" and Vikramaditya Singh" in the popular

StarPlus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, ...

TV serials, '' Navya..Naye Dhadkan Naye Sawaal'' (2011) and ''

Rishton Ka Chakravyuh ''Rishton Ka Chakravyuh'' () is an Indian television drama series aired on STAR Plus. The show stars Narayani Shastri, Sangita Ghosh, Mahima Makwana, Ankit Siwach and Ajay Chaudhary. Set against a royal backdrop, the show revolves around a m ...

'' (2017) respectively. His latest serial was Sufiyana Pyaar Mera that aired in 2019 on Star Bharat, where he played the character of Sayyed Shehriyat "Miajaan" Shah Ghazi. He will be seen in LSD Pvt Ltd next tv show for zeetv His upcoming Web series is ''

Fittrat ''Fittrat'' is an Indian romantic drama web series produced by Ekta Kapoor for ALTBalaji. It stars Krystle D'Souza, Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan. It started streaming simultaneously on ALT Balaji & ZEE5 on 18 October 2019. Tarini Bisht is ...

'' Season 2 He is a member of the academic council of

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Filmography

Web series

References

External links