Acclaimed psychiatrist to visit PU

Chandigarh: Acclaimed actor and psychiatrist Dr Mohan Agashe will visit Panjab University on Friday to participate in an interactive session on the topic "World of Theatre and Cinema" at the School of Communication Studies (SCS) at 10.30am.

The event will open at SCS with an interactive session where the budding media students will get an opportunity to learn from the experiences and knowledge of Agashe, who has a rich and illustrious career as an actor and a mental health consultant. Agashe, in addition to being a psychiatrist and Director-Professor of Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health (1991-97 and 2002-05), has been acknowledged as one of the finest actors on the stage and on screen. He has won several prestigious awards and honours including the Padma Shri (1990) and Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1996. Agashe has also been the director of Film and Television Institute of India from 1997-2002.

The SCS would host screening of the award winning film "Astu : So Be it" at the UICET auditorium at 2pm. "Astu", directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar and starring Agashe, brings to the audience the story of a retired director of an oriental research institute who is now suffering from Alzheimer's and goes missing while travelling with his daughter.

The film has won about 19 awards in different categories and has been the official selection at various international film festivals in India, South Africa and New York. The film screening would be followed by a panel discussion with eminent panelists -- Dr Mohan Agashe; Professor Sanjay Wadwalkar from SCS (panelist & moderator), Dr Navdeep Kaur, chairperson, the department of Indian Theatre; and Professor Pushpinder Syal, department of English & Cultural Studies.