New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Eminent theatre, film and television director-actor Ram Gopal Bajaj will receive the META Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming theatre festival here, organisers announced on Tuesday.

The organisers, Mahindra Group and Teamwork Arts, also introduced the jury members for the 19th edition of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) that includes directors and actors Dolly Thakore, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Kusum Haider, Mahesh Dattani, Raghubir Yadav, Vinay Pathak and director of the Serendipity Arts Foundation Smriti Rajgarhiya.

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The week-long festival will be held from March 14-20 at Kamani Auditorium and Shri Ram Centre, where 10-shortlisted plays will be performed for the panel of jury members.

Bjaja, this year's lifetime achievement awardee, graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD) with specialisation in acting and has been associated with the drama school as an artist and a teaching faculty member.

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He also served as the director of NSD from 1995 to 2001 and is widely acclaimed for his performances in "Hayavadana", "Begum ka Takiya", "Ghasiram Kotwal", "Andha Yug", "Tughlaq" and "King Lear". Later, he also established himself as a director with productions such as "Ajaat Ghar", "Ashadh ka Ek Din" and "Surya ki Antim Kiran se, Surya ki Pehli Kiran Tak".

"Bajaj is also credited for having started the Bharat Rang Mahotsav, which was set up in 1999. Today it has become a huge platform for performers from across the country and across languages to come and find a space here in Delhi," Sanjoy Roy, managing director, Teamwork Arts said here at a press conference.

Bajaj was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1996 and the Padma Shri in 2003 for his contribution to theatre.

In previous years, the META Lifetime Achievement Award has been conferred on several stalwarts of Indian theatre, including Badal Sircar (2010), Zohra Sehgal (2011), Khaled Chaudhury (2012), Ebrahim Alkazi (2013), Girish Karnad (2014), Heisnam Kanhai Lal (2015), Ratan Thiyam (2016), Arun Kakde (2017), Vijaya Mehta (2018), Mahesh Elkunchwar (2019), Barry John (2020), Sushma Seth (2023).

Bajaj will receive the lifetime achievement award at the closing ceremony on March 20 at Kamani Auditorium.

This year, the theatre festival will see 10 plays compete across 13 categories, including costume design, choreography, and original script in languages including Assamese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Hindustani, Malayalam, and Marathi.

The theatrical productions will focus on key narratives such as "retelling of epic tales, oppression and authoritarianism, protest and rebellion, identity and gender, the sanctity of the artist, ethics, morality, adventure and grit".

"Our commitment to nurturing theatre, the bedrock of numerous artistic expressions, has yielded remarkable results, with each passing year showcasing an unparalleled display of theatrical excellence. META serves as a vibrant reflection of our nation's cultural mosaic, celebrating the richness of language, diversity of themes, and breadth of genres,” Jay Shah, head, cultural outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said.

The nominated plays are: "Agnisuta Draupadi" (Hindi), directed by Maisnam Joy Metei; "Avalanche" (Hindustani), directed by Gandharv Dewan; "Bhoothangal" (Malayalam), directed by OT Shahjahan; "Do You Know this Song?" (English), directed by Mallika Taneja; "Gagan Damama Bajyo" (Hindi), directed by Piyush Mishra; "Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta" (Marathi), directed by Mohit Takalkar; "Gopal Ure & Co." (Bengali), directed by Sujan Mukhopadhyay; "Hayavadana" (Hindi), directed by Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry; "Raghunath" (Assamese), directed by Bidyut Kr Nath; and "Siachen" (Hindi), directed by Makarand Deshpande.

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