Faculty Members

ACTING & DIRECTION

ABHILASH PILLAI
Professor, Acting & Direction

Currently the Dean Academics, Centre In-Charge and In-Charge of Cultural Exchange Programme of National School of Drama, Dr. Abhilash Pillai is a play director, pedagogue, and scholar of contemporary Indian Theatre, who has directed more than 30 productions in various Indian languages and English. He is often credited as one of the initiators of digital theatre in Modern Indian Drama with ‘Anth Ananth’, a 1995 production of NSD Repertory Company. His theatre reinforces the past and also the present through 20th and 21st century Indian Pop visuals, video, recorded sound and other technological interventions. His works draw on a wide array of materials but are presented in a contemporary aesthetic style and envision a dialogue between practice and scholarship that seeks to augment the perspective with critical knowledge about various issues concerned. As a theatre maker, he has been involved in several collaborative projects, international and national, and initiated first-ever collaboration between NSD and a Circus Company, culminating in a production ‘Clowns & Clouds’.

He did his graduation in BTA (Bachelor of Theatre Arts), Calicut University in 1991; did a three-year post-graduate diploma in dramatics from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi in Design & Direction, with distinction in 1994; passed a two-year diploma in Theatre Production and Stage Management with honours from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London in 1998. Later, he did a one year intensive training in advanced theatre direction in association with eminent directors in the Orange Tree Theatre, U.K. from 1998-1999, and achieved Ph. D. from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2012. He started his artistic life as an artistic director of Abhinaya Theatre and Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 1999.

Dr. Pillai has authored a book on C.N. Sreekantan Nair – Vision and Mission of a Theatre Activist –published by the Central Sahitya Akademi. He has contributed articles on theatre in leading publications, attended seminars and conducted several workshops in India and abroad.

Dr. Pillai served as Dean Academics of NSD during 2008-2011. He has been Artistic Director and Chief Curator of National Theatre Festival organised by Information & Public Relations Department of the Government of Kerala and ITFoK (International Theatre Festival of Kerala) organised by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi for couple of years. Besides, he was the Chief Technical Coordinator and Steering Committee Member of Bharat Rang Mahotsav from 2008- 2011. He is also the Advisory Committee member of  21st BRM.

Among many awards, he has received the prestigious Sanskriti Award for achievements in theatre in 2002-03, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Award for theatre direction in 2012 and National School of Drama’s Manohar Singh Smriti Puraskar in 2009. He can be visited at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhilash_Pillai, https://en.everybodywiki.com/Abhilash_Pillai, http://youtube.com/watch?v=SkHYo3JK2sY and http://youtube.com/channel/UCx9BmiiM7ijPhHiH4Xio84Q.

SANTANU BOSE
Associate Professor, World Drama

Santanu Bose has created over 75 pieces of theatre over the past 33 years in various parts of the country and the world. These have been shown extensively in India and in different parts of Asia, Europe and Australia.

AMITESH GROVER
Assistant Professor, Extension Programme

Amitesh Grover (b.1980) is a performer, director, writer, and curator based in New Delhi, India. His works move beyond theatre, into visual arts, films, photography, installations, publishing, and processes. His practice is firmly anchored in the politics of performance, and his works are shown internationally in theatres, galleries, public spaces, and on the internet. He is the recipient of MASH FICA Award, Ustad Bismillah Khan National Award, Charles Wallace Award, and has been nominated for Arte Laguna Prize (Italy), Prix Ars Electronica Award (Austria) & Forecast Award (Germany). He has been on numerous residencies including PACT Zollverein (Germany), Tokyo Culture Creation Project (Japan), Arts Centre Melbourne (Australia), and Rote Fabrik Studios (Switzerland). He has given prominent talks on his work at PSi’23 (Germany), University of Exeter (U.K.), Lasalle College of Art (Singapore), National Drama Theatre (Lithuania), Cornell University (U.S.) among others. He is Festival Director for ITFoK Theatre Festival, and Curator (Performance Art) for Serendipity Arts Festival. He studied at University of Arts London and is NSD alumnus.

ARUNA KUMAR MALIK
Assistant Professor (Stage Craft)

Born & brought up in Orissa, Aruna Kumar Malik completed his B.F.A. in Fine Arts (Sculpture) from Utkal University and Graduate Diploma in Acting from National School of Drama in 2007. Since then he has been working as an actor, director, set & propos designer. He has worked in more than 250 plays as designer & actor. He has acted in few films and TV serials also. He has been awarded Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship to study advance prosthetic make up in UK.  Recently, he has been awarded with Bismillah Khan Youth Award by Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2014-15. He has conducted several theatre workshops in many different parts of the country. He joined NSD as Assistant Professor in May 2017.

DIPANKAR PAUL
Assistant Professor, Lighting Design

A post graduate from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata with the specialization in Dramatic Arts (Faculty of Fine Arts) and a post graduate from National School Of Drama, New Delhi with specialization in Design, Direction and Theatre Technique, Dipankar Paul has been engaged with Theatre Arts practice for more than 24 years as an Actor, Set Designer, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer and Director. His directorial plays have been performed nationally and internationally. In addition, he has been associated with children’s theatre activities as a facilitator. He has also been part of a few important feature films and TV serials as well. He has a keen interest in painting and sculpting.

MD. ABDUL KADIR SHAH
Assistant Professor, Movement and Dean, Academics

An NSD alumnus (2004), Abdul Kadir Shah is extensively trained in Manipuri Martial Art – Thang Ta, Tai Chi, Sitorio Karate, Modern Movement and Dance. He had been working with NSD Repertory Company as an artist from 2004-2011. He has performed in major roles in plays like ‘Ghasiram Kotwal’, ‘1857 Ek Safar Nama’, ‘Ram Nam Satya Hain’, ‘Acharya Tartuf’ among others. He has also taken classes for Physical Fitness, Breath & Body Control and Body Movement in NSD Repertory Company and many other theatre organisations. He has worked as a fight & movement choreographer in more than fifteen plays of NSD & NSD Repertory Company i.e. ‘Uttar Ramcharit’, ‘Baan Bhatt Ki Aatma Katha’, ‘Poshak’, ‘Comrade Kumbhkarna’, ‘Main Instanbul Hoon’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’, ‘Mashriki Hoor’, ‘Othelo’, ‘Hamlet’ etc. He has been participating in many International theatre festivals, e.g. Ibsen Commemoration in Bangladesh, ATEC International Theatre Festival in China, Colombo International Theatre Festival, among others.

RIKEN NGOMLE
Assistant Professor(Acting)

A Martial Artist, Actor and Director. Riken Ngomle pursued advance training in acting at Studio Matejka, Grotowsky Institute, Poland after graduating in Acting from National School of Drama, New Delhi. Later on, he worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad for four years. Recently, he joined the National School of Drama as Assistant Professor (Acting).