31 Hindi theatre

Ebrahim Alkazi was an Indian theatre director and drama teacher. Alkazi was a strict disciplinarian who did rigorous research before producing a play, leading to important advances in scenographic design. His standards later became very influential. He also remained the Director of National School of Drama, New Delhi (1962–1977) He was also a noted art connoisseur, collector and gallery owner, and founded the Art Heritage Gallery in Delhi with his wife, Roshan Alkazi.

Andha Yug is a 1953 verse play written in Hindi, by renowned novelist, poet, and playwright Dharamvir Bharati (1926-1997). Set in the last day of the Great Mahabharat war, the five-act tragedy was written in the years following the 1947 partition of India atrocities, as allegory to its destruction of human lives and ethical values. It is a metaphoric meditation on the politics of violence and aggressive selfhood and that war dehumanized individuals and society. Thus both the victor and the vanquished lose eventually.

Nadira Babbar is an Indian theatre actress, director and an actress in Hindi cinema, who is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001. Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in Hindi theatre in 1981.

Uttara Baokar is an Indian stage, film and television actress. She acted in several notable plays, like as Padmavati in Mukyhamantri, Mena in Mena Gurjari, Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello, the mother in playwright Girish Karnad's Tughlaq, the nautch girl in Chhote Saiyad Bade Saiyad and the lead role of Umrao in Umrao Jaan. In 1978, she also directed Jaywant Dalvi's play Sandhya Chhaya, in Hindi translation by Kusum Kumar.

Dharamvir Bharati was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine Dharmayug, from 1960 till 1987.

Satyadev Dubey was an Indian theatre director, actor, playwright, screenwriter, and film actor and director. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971.

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 political issues. His work deals with Internet censorship, communalism, caste issues, feudalism, domestic violence, crimes of state, politics of power, violence, injustice, social discrimination, marginalisation, and racism. Arvind is the leader of Asmita, Delhi's "most prolific theatre group", and is an actor trainer, social activist, street theatre worker and story teller.

Bharatendu Harishchandra is known as the father of Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. He is considered as one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India. A recognised poet, he was a trendsetter in Hindi prose-writing. He was an author of several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts; he used new media like reports, publications, letters to the editor, translations and literary works to shape public opinion.

Safdar Hashmi 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 political theatre. He was an activist of the Students' Federation of India (SFI).

Shyamanand Jalan was an influential Kolkata-based Indian thespian, theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s. He was the first to perform modernist Mohan Rakesh, starting with his magnum opus Ashadh Ka Ek Din in 1960 and in the coming years bridged the gap between Hindi theatre and Bengali theatre, by mounting Hindi productions of works by Bengali playwrights, like Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit (1968) and Pagla Ghora (1971), which in turn introduced Sircar to rest of the country. In 2005, he directed his first and only film Eashwar Mime Co., which was an adaptation of Dibyendu Palit's story, Mukhabhinoy, by Vijay Tendulkar.

Prithviraj Kapoor was a pioneer of Indian theatre and of the Hindi film industry, who started his career as an actor in the silent era of Hindi cinema, associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and who founded the Prithvi Theatres, a travelling theatre company based in Mumbai, in 1944. He was the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, four generations of which, beginning with him, have played active roles in the Hindi film industry, with two generations still active in Bollywood. He's also acted in a Kannada movie Sākshatkāra. However, his father, Basheshwar Nath Kapoor, also played a short role in his movie Awara. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth was a film and theatre personality from India. Throughout his life he was director, actor and musician of modern Indian theatre both in Kannada as well as Hindi, and one of the pioneers of Kannada and Hindi new wave cinema. He was born in Dakshina Kannada.

Bansi Kaul was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Some of his notable plays included Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir, and Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka. He was a designer and associate show director for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987 Khajuraho Festival.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in Shaan (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1960s, he moved to films with Sai Paranjpye's Jadu Ka Shankh in 1974. He worked in several parallel cinema films before working in the mainstream Hindi film industry. He appeared in Mahesh Bhatt's classic Arth (1982), Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986), Waaris (1988), and in all three parts of Deepa Mehta's Elements trilogy: Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).

Madhavi is an Indian play written in Hindi by Bhisham Sahni. This is a play in three acts which recounts an ancient tale of Madhavi, daughter of king Yayati from Mahabharata.

Piyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer and scriptwriter. Mishra grew up in Gwalior, and graduated from National School of Drama, Delhi in 1986. Thereafter, he started his career in Hindi theatre in Delhi. Over the next decade, he established himself as a theatre director, actor, lyricist and singer. He moved to Mumbai in 2002, receiving acclaim for his acting in Maqbool (2003) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). In 2014, he acted in the film The Shaukeens, along with Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Lisa Hayden in the lead role, which had Akshay Kumar in an extended cameo. Piyush also appeared in The Kapil Sharma Show to promote the film with Anpuam Kher and Annu Kapoor. Although the film was a remake of the 1982 film Shaukeen directed by Basu Chatterjee, it was well appreciated by audience and was voted the best comedy film of 2014.

Amrit Keshav Nayak was a Parsi theatre actor-director, lyricist and Gujarati author. He joined theatre at early age and later directed several plays including adaptations of plays of Shakespeare. He wrote plays and novels also.

Pierrot's Troupe is an internationally renowned theatre group based in New Delhi, India, which was formed in 1989. The group performs original plays in Hindi, Urdu and English.Pierrot's troupe has performed more than 2000 plays touring throughout the country.Pierrots has also staged its dramas in the USA, Dubai and UK.

K. K. Raina is an Indian film, television and theatre character actor, and award-winning script writer, who is best known for his roles as Juror #8 in the 1986 film Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, a remake of 12 Angry Men, and Byomkesh Bakshi's associate Ajit Kumar Banerji in the 1993 Doordarshan detective series Byomkesh Bakshi. Raina won the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue in 1998 for the Rajkumar Santoshi film China Gate.

Maharaj Krishen Raina popularly known as M. K. Raina, is one of India's most well-known theatre actors and directors. M. K. Raina graduated from National School of Drama in 1970 with the Best Actor award and since 1972, he has been freelance theater worker, film person and cultural activist, working all over India in many languages and with many traditional forms.

Rangakarmee is a noted Indian theatre group, based in Kolkata. The theatre group was founded in January, 1976 by Usha Ganguly. They spearhead Hindi theatre in Kolkata, they have also staged Bengali plays.

Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting roles beginning in the 1940s. Sehgal appeared in several British films, television shows, and Bollywood productions in a career that spanned over six decades.

Sunil Shanbag is an Indian theatre director, screenwriter and documentary film-maker. He has graduated from Mumbai University, and although he didn't have any formal training in theatre, he has worked extensively with Satyadev Dubey, who considers him one of his foremost protégés.

Himani Bhatt Shivpuri is an Indian actress known for her character roles in Bollywood films and Hindi soap operas. Her films include Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Raja (1995), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Khamoshi (1996), Hero No. 1 (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Bandhan (1998), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Biwi No.1 (1999), Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003).

Sudha Shivpuri was an Indian actress who was most famous for her role as Baa in the Hindi TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000–2008).

Surekha Sikri is an Indian theatre, film and television actress. A veteran of Hindi theatre, she made her debut in the 1978 political drama film Kissa Kursi Ka and went on to play supporting roles in numerous Hindi and Malayalam films, as well as in Indian soap operas. Sikri has received several awards, including three National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award.

Manohar Singh was a distinguished Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. He is best known for his performances in films such as Party (1984) and Daddy (1989). Starting his acting career from theatre, he went on to become a theatre director and later the chief of National School of Drama Repertory Company, 1976 to 1988, before switching to cinema. As a theatre actor his best known performances were in Tughlaq, directed by Ebrahim Alkazi; Himmat Mai and Begum Barve by Nissar and Amal Allana.

Jaishankar Bhudhardas Bhojak, better known by his theatre name Jaishankar Sundari , was an Indian actor and director of Gujarati theatre. Starting at the young age, he rose to fame for his roles of female impersonator in early Gujarati plays. He retired from acting in 1932 but returned to theatre direction and teaching in 1948. He directed and acted in several successful plays. He was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1951 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971.

Habib Tanvir was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He was the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar (1954) and Charandas Chor (1975). A pioneer in Urdu and Hindi theatre, he was most known for his work with Chhattisgarhi tribals, at the Naya Theatre, a theatre company he founded in 1959 in Bhopal. 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.

Mohan Upreti (1928–1997) was an Indian theatre director, playwright and a music composer, considered one of the pioneers in Indian theatre music.

Zangoora – The Gypsy Prince is the first Bollywood musical. It was premiered on 23 September 2010 at Nautanki Mahal of Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon. It has a cast of 110 members with Hussain Kuwajerwala, Gauahar Khan, Kashmira Irani and Sadanand Patil playing lead; besides crew of 250 people. In June 2013, the musical completed a run of 1000 shows, and became the longest running Bollywood stage show in India.