Manjul Bhardwaj

Manjul Bhardwaj
Born	Dahkora, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar, Haryana, India
Occupation(s)	Actor, writer, director, social activist

Manjul Bhardwaj is an actor, director, writer, facilitator, and initiator in theatre. He is from Dahkora Village in Jhajjar District of Haryana, India.[1] For the past 25 years, he has been based in Mumbai and dedicated himself to creating "The Theatre of Relevance." As a writer and director, he has written and directed more than 25 plays.[2]

In 1992, Bhardwaj founded The Experimental Theatre Foundation, a pioneering theatre movement in India.[3][4][5] He has conducted more than 300 "Theatre of Relevance" workshops[3] for a variety of organizations, institutions and groups, in 28 states of India[6] as well as abroad[7] (Singapore and Germany).[8][9] Brandeis University sends students for internship to understand fundamentals, principles, concepts and processes of "Theatre of Relevance".[10]

His work has focused on issues such as child labour,[11][12] people affected by HIV and AIDS,[13] and what is known as "Sex-Selection" (the homicide of female fetus).[14][15][16][17][18]

In 2006, he and his group were invited in "Kinder Kultur Karawane"[19] by Buro Fur Kultur Und-Medien Projekte to Germany to perform the play "Vishwa – The World" for 41 days from 10 September to 20 October 2006.[20] The play was performed 24 times in 13 cities of Germany (Hamburg, Ahrensburg, Berlin, Dessau, Penzberg, Biberach, Dobeln, Wiesbaden, Marburg, Chemnitz, Aschaffenburg, Freiburg and Radolfzell).[21][22]

Theatre career

Bhardwaj has written or directed the following plays:

Sr.No.	Year	Name of The Play	Language	Subject	Play Time	First Time Presented At	First Time Presented on
1	1993	Door Se Kisi Ne Aawaj Di	Hindi	Secularism & National Integration	30 Mins	Birla Krida Kendra, Girgaon, Mumbai	12 February 1993
2	1993	Dekha Dekhi	Hindi	Commercialization & Middle Class	60 mins	Karnataka Sangh, Matunga, Mumbai	17 April 1993
3	1994	Mera Bachpan[23]	Hindi	Child Labour	40 Mins	Gautam Nagar, Charkop, Kandivali (W), Mumbai	12 April 1994
4	1994	Dwandwa	Hindi	Household Violence	30 Mins	Tata Community Centre, Chembur, Mumbai	31 July 1994
5	1998	Napunsak	Hindi	Political & Social Satire	50 Mins	Sydenham College, Churchgate, Mumbai	9 March 1998
6	1998	Main Aurat Hun	Hindi	Women Identity	30 Mins	Mumbai University, Mumbai	11 April 1998
7	1999	Vidya Dadati Viniyam	Hindi	Importance of Education	40 Mins	Karnataka Sangh, Matunga, Mumbai	13 January 1999
8	2000	B-7[24]	English	Globalization, Privatization, & Commercialization	50 Mins	UNESCO Theatre, Hannover, Germany	7 September 2000
9	2001	B-7[25]	Hindi	Globalization, Privatization, & Commercialization	50 Mins	Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai	18 January 2001
10	2002	Dhundh	Hindi	Child Sexual Exploitation	50 Mins	A.V. Room, N.C.P.A. Mumbai	21 November 2002
11	2003	Red Light	Hindi	Human Trafficking	50 Mins	Mumbai Police Gymkhana, Mumbai	16 March 2003
12	2005	Ladali	Hindi	Sex/Gender selection – Female Foeticide	60 Mins	Tata Theatre, S.P.P.A.A. Mumbai	9 June 2005
13	2006	Vishwa – The World	English	Youth Struggles Dreams & their Idols	70 Mins	Aufführung, "Kultur im Betrieb", Beiersdorf AG, Unnastraße 48, Hamburg, Germany	12 September 2006
14	2012	Chhed Chhad Kyun?[26]	Hindi	Eve-teasing and Sexual Harassment	70 Mins	Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai	28 September 2012
15	2013	Garbh[27]	Hindi	Awakening Human within Human	80 Mins	Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai	1 March 2013
16	2013	Drop by Drop :Water[28][29]	Hindi	Celebrating water's life-sustaining virtue but strongly opposing its Privatization	70 Mins	Kinder Kultur Karawane −2013, Hamburg, Germany	31 August 2013
17	2015	Anhad Naad-Unheard Sounds of Universe[30]	Hindi	Liberation of Art & Artists from Birth	90 Mins	Ravindra Natya Mandir – Dadar (W) Mumbai	29 May 2015
18	2016	Sangrash Shetkaryancha	Marathi	Plight of Farmers & Agricultural Crisis in India	60 Mins	Sindhudurg, Maharashtra	May 2016
19	2017	Nyay ke Bhanwar Main Bhanwari[31]	Hindi	Women Liberation to Challenge the Authority of Patriarchy	70 Mins	M L Bhartia Auditorium, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 3.	17 November 2017

Awards/Nominations

• UNFPA-Laadli Media Awards for Western Region for Gender Sensitivity 2006–07 – Category – 16. Theatre- Street Theatre Manjul Bhardwaj, Experimental Theatre Foundation[32]

Theaters / Workshops Conducted

Dates	Location	Name of the Theater / Workshop	In Association with
4 June 2012 15 – June 2012	Ashirwad Bhawan, Dongargarh, Chhattisgarh	Bal Rang Karyashala – "Aao Khele Natak"	The Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) Dongargarh, Chhattisgarh

Corporate Trainer

Bhardwaj is also a human process facilitator and corporate trainer. He has evolved "Theatre of Relevance" based training modules in corporate and management development. He is experimenting and implementing "Theatre of Relevance" based training modules for more than a decade in reputed public and private sector companies i.e., ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC Ltd), Central Bank of India and Reliance Energy (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group).

His concept ‘Role of theatre of Relevance in HR’ is used as pedagogical tool to learn HR process in EMPI's Udai Pareek[33][34] HR labs in EMPI Business School, Delhi.[35] He has also intervened in understanding human processes through theatre in ISABS. He is a visiting faculty in a number of institutions, academies and organizations in India and abroad.

References

1. Mukherji, Anahita (3 March 2012). "An actor and an activist". The Times of India Crest Edition. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
2. "17 years of Theatre of Relevance". www.etfindia.org. The Experimental Theatre Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
3. "About The Experimental Theatre Foundation (ETF)". www.etfindia.org. The Experimental Theatre Foundation. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
4. "Decade of theatre activism". MiD DAY Infomedia Ltd. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
5. "KinderKulturKarawane 2006 - The Power of Culture". www.kinderkulturkarawane.de.
6. Shetty, Vijay. "Manjul Bhardwaj with Nicobari Children—A report". www.etfindia.org. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
7. Dube, Darshana. "Worldwide acceptance of the concept". The Experimental Theatre Foundation's Initiative. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
8. Baumann, Till. "Metaxis. The Theatre of the Oppressed Review, No.3/2004 (to be published)" (PDF). www.tillbaumann.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
9. "" Vishwa – The World" Was performed 24 times for 41 days in all over Germany". The Experimental Theatre Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
10. International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life. "Internship Ideas". Brandeis University. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
11. Wajihuddin, Mohammed. "He directs children on the stage of life". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
12. Mukherji, Anahita (3 March 2012). "An actor and an activist". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
13. Singh, Ivninderpal. "Preparing people to perform on life's stage". The Tribune Chandigarh. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
14. "Girls break gender barriers, find identity in theatre". Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
15. "Cause & effect". Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
16. Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Workshop. "Childline 1098 Service – Profiles of Resource People". Childline India Foundation. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
17. "Theatre Creating Environmental Awareness". Indian Wildlife Club. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
18. "An unequal world". Afternoon Despatch & Courier Mumbai India. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
19. "Westfälische Rundschau - Manjul Bharadwaj". www.kinderkulturkarawane.de.
20. "KinderKulturKarawane 2006 - The Power of Culture". www.kinderkulturkarawane.de.
21. "kinder kultur karawane 2006" (PDF). www.kinderkulturkarawane.de. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
22. ""Vishwa – The World" Was performed 24 times for 41 days in all over Germany". The Experimental Theatre Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
23. "Experimental Theatre Foundation, Mumbai". www.kinderkulturkarawane.de.
24. "रंगढंग - सात छोटे पक्षी उडताहेत जर्मनीच्या दिशेने !". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
25. "Mumbai reports 1,011 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths; active tally at 5,852". Mid-day.com. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
26. "Collegians perform play to keep eveteasers at bay". DNA India. 25 September 2012.
27. "Saamana – Marathi News Paper Dt 7 March 2013". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
28. Global SOFA GLOBAL State OF Art -Ekvilib Institute – Creative caravan – The project is supported by the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Archived 2 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
29. India News Calling Aug 17, 2013 – Chandigarh Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
30. "प्रयोग वैचारिक चिंतनाचा!". Maharashtra Times. 29 May 2015.
31. Bajeli, Diwan Singh (18 August 2017). "Theatre of relevance". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
32. "UNFPA-Laadli Media Awards for Western Region 2006–07 under Theatre- Street Theatre Category". Population First. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
33. "Theatre of Relevance (Role of theatre in Management Education) Workshop by Mr. Manjul Bhardwaj".^[permanent dead link‍]
34. "Dr. Udai Pareek share his views on Theater of Relevance".^[permanent dead link‍]
35. "EMPI's Udai Pareek HR labs in EMPI Business School, Delhi".^[permanent dead link‍]