Pune artistes get Vinod Doshi fellowship

PUNE: Two theatre artists from Pune are among the five people who have won the Vinod Doshi fellowship for performing arts for 2013-14.
Om Bhutkar and Parna Pethe are Puneites while Gagan Riar and Shruti Vyas are from Mumbai. Umesh Jagtap hails from Tuljapur.
The announcement was made by Ashok Kulkarni, managing trustee of the Sahitya Rangbhoomi Pratishthan, at a press conference on Thursday.The fellowships, containing a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each, are awarded to young theatre artists each year to help them pursue their aspirations in theatre. It will be formally awarded at a function to be held at Gharkul Lawns on February 12.
In its eighth year, the fellowship is awarded to theatre artists who are actively engaged in the field.
Bhutkar has been a versatile theatre personality who has donned the hat of an actor, director and playwright. He won the best actor and best director awards at the prestigious Purshottam Karandak in 2009 and 2010 respectively. He has written and acted in the play, 'Mi Ghalib'. He also won the national award for best child actor for the film 'Chote Sipahi' in 2005 and has acted in several films which include 'Deool' and yet-to-be-released 'Ajooba' and 'Ek Cup Chya'.
Pethe has also been active in the Purshottam and Firodiya Karandak contests. He has won several prizes, notably for 'Jhada lavnaara manus' among others. She is actively involved in the city's experimental theatre group and recently played the role of Savitribai Phule in G P Deshpande's play 'Satyashodhak'. Pethe has a role in noted playwright Satish Alekar's new play, 'Ek Diwas Mathakade'.
Jagtap, who hails from Tuljapur, has done his master's in drama from the Centre for Performing Arts at the University of Pune and has a career in theatre spanning 12 years now. He was a part of the international production of 'A Midsummer night's dream' where he has performed 365 shows across the globe. He has acted in over 22 plays and at present is rehearsing for noted theatre director Mohit Takalkar's play 'Uney Purey Shahar Ek'.
Riar has been in theatre for 14 years now and has performed in productions of 'Chor Chor' and 'Ok Tata bye bye' which were initiatives of the Writer's Bloc, the British Council and the Royal Court London. He is currently acting in the play 'Piya Behroopiya', an Indian adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. Vyas is actively involved in Hindi and English experimental theatre in Mumbai and is in theatre for the last eight years.
Alekar, who was present at the news conference, said, "A significant feature of this fellowship is that it is given on the basis of the recipient's contribution to theatre." and the winner has the freedom to utilize the amount as per her wish."
Theatre director Sunil Shanbag, Alekar and Kulkarni were part of the selection panel.
The fellows can utilise the amount of Rs 1 lakh for travel, conceiving new ideas in theatre, direction, creative skills in the field or any chosen subject. It will not be binding on them to submit a report of how the grant was spent.