Three Arts Club Update

We have moved to Facebook and frequently update our page there. Click here to learn more about what TAC has been up to of late.

We will continue to maintain this blog to provide a platform to non-Facebook users to communicate with us. Looking forward to seeing you all at the Theatre Festival this November.

Wed, Nov 13 -  Inter School Theatre Competition  | 10:00 AM onwards
• Banjaria (DLF Sahibabad)
• Panch Parmeshwar (St Georges, Alaknanda, New Delhi)
• Refund (Cambridge School, Noida)
• Chanakya ka Swarnim Swapn (Pragyan School, Greater Noida)
• Yamraj ki Adalat (KR Mangalam World School, GK II, New Delhi)
• Raja je ke do feeng….seeng (Mayoor School, Noida)
• Beyond the land of Hattamala (Shiv Nadar School, Noida)

Click here for tickets.

Thu, Nov 14 - Parmaatma | 6:30 PM onwards
(Adapted by: Reoti Saran Sharma, Director: Ajay Manchanda)

Click here for tickets.

Fri, Nov 15 - Yeh Daag Daag Ujaala! | 6:30 PM onwards
(Writer: Anis Azmi, Director: Ajay Manchanda)

Click here for tickets.

Venue: Shri Ram Centre, 4-Safdar Hashmi Marg, New Delhi (next to Mandi House metro station).

Tickets will be available at BookMyShow and at the venue.
Nov 13: Rs. 50 (seating on first come, first served basis); Nov 14 & 15: Rs. 100, Rs. 150 and Rs. 200.
For more information call 9810220016.

Revival of Three Arts Club in 2008

Inauguration by Sohaila Kapur and Ramesh Mehta

Lighting of lamp by Ramesh Mehta

L to R: Ramesh Mehta, D.P. Sinha and Reoti Saran Sharma

L to R: Anuradha Dar, Anuradha Kapur and Ramesh Mehta

L to R: O.P. Sangar, Ved Vyas, D.V. Nanda and Anuradha Dar

O.P. Sharma and Anuradha Dar

L to R: Anuradha Kapur and Anuradha Dar

L to R: O.P. Sangar, Reoti Saran Sharma, Ramesh Mehta and Abhinav Chaturvedi

L to R: Leela Mehta, Sohaila Kapur, Ramesh Mehta and Anuradha Dar

From the archives

Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Ramesh Mehta

TAC members with important dignitaries

TAC members with fomer President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad and fomer
Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru

Preview: Uljhan

Preview: Under Secretary

Meet the Crew of Paisa Bolta Hai

Ramesh Mehta - The Social Satirist

- Sohaila Kapur

Playwright Ramesh Mehta was also an actor, director and translator. He was the uncrowned king of Delhi Theatre in the 1950s and 1960s, before the National School of Drama made a name for itself. He was one of the driving forces behind the Three Arts Club, the others being the group’s General Secretary, R.M. Kaul, and the principal of Modern School, M.N. Kapur, who was its President. He specialized in social satires and some of his plays like Under Secretary, Dhai Akhar Prem Ka, Dhong, Hamara Gaon, Faisla etc. have become milestones of modern Hindi theatre. His farce Under Secretary has broken all records of popularity and has been translated into many Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Sindhi, Bengali and Gujarati.

Ramesh Mehta was an institution in himself. His play Hamara Gaon was performed in Teen Murti House on 13 November 1954, where Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru himself was present along with his cabinet members and other Indian and foreign dignitaries. President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President Dr. Zakir Hussain, Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, Chief Minister (later Prime Minister) Ch. Charan Singh and many other dignitaries used to attend his plays. Film-stars like Prithviraj Kapoor, Moti Lal, Shobhana Samarth, I.S. Johar, Sunder etc. also used to watch his plays in Delhi and at Simla’s legendary Gaiety Theatre. In fact, Sunder performed many of Ramesh Mehta’s plays in Bombay (now Mumbai).

The greatness of Mehta lies not in the number of the plays he wrote, directed or acted in, but in the contribution he made, through the Three Arts Club, in promoting the culture of drama and inculcating the habit of theatre-going in Delhi-ites. The Three Arts Club performed numerous times for the Western Command Theatrical Society of the Indian Armed Forces. Theatrical groups were established in many industrial houses and establishments in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh etc. with his active support and guidance.

He was awarded the Chamanlal Memorial Award for lifetime achievement, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Delhi Award, Delhi Natya Sangh Award, Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2007.

The King of Comedy passed away in May this year. In commemoration, Three Arts Club and Katyayani group are holding a festival of three of his plays, Paisa Bolta Hai, Uljhan and Under Secretary, at the Shri Ram Centre, Mandi House, on Sept 28, 29 and 30, 2012.

Ramesh Mehta: A Great Hindi Theatre Personality

Famous playwright, director, actor and translator Ramesh Mehta who significantly influenced Hindustani drama expired on May 29, 2012. He was 88. Some of his works included India Today (1949), Dahej (1950), Dastoori-Damad (1950), Faisla (1951), Apradhi Kaun (1952), Zamana (1952), Hamara Gaon (1954), Uljhan (1955), Dhong (1956), Under Secretary (1958), Dhai Akhar Prem ka (1959), Roti aur Beti (1960), Bade Aadmi (1966) and Khuli Baat (1969). Most of his plays were satires on Indian society that was trying to rediscover itself after independence.

Born on August 7, 1923 in Jhang Maghiayana (now in Pakistan), Ramesh Mehta’s interest in theatre began during his stay at Dayal Singh College, Lahore but it was only when he came to Delhi and joined Three Arts Club, an amateur theatre group, that he could pursue his interest passionately. He was one of the very few theatre personalities who excelled in performing as writer, actor and director. His plays were regarded as landmarks in Hindi theatre and were translated into several languages such as Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam etc. Ramesh Mehta’s plays were performed at the Prime Minister’s House, in front of the Indian Armed Forces, at All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Ramesh Mehta was instrumental in developing theatre as an art form in Delhi. He helped in forming theatre clubs in many government departments, industrial houses and various establishments in the capital city. His contributions to the meteoric rise of Three Arts Club cannot be understated. It was due to his exemplary skills that the club could perform more than 1200 shows of 27 plays over a 40 year period, sustaining itself only on audience support. After the untimely death of general secretary R.M. Kaul in 1983, Ramesh Mehta, in an act that symbolises the benevolent character of the great man, wrapped up the activities of the theatre group and donated the club’s earnings to Rajiv Gandhi Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

Recipient of Chamanlal Memorial Award for lifetime achievement, Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi Award, Delhi Natya Sangh Award, Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Sangeet Natak Akadeni Award, Ramesh Mehta fundamentally changed the perception of theatre in Delhi and will be sorely missed. He is survived by his two daughters and daughter-in-law.

Ramesh Mehta lighting the lamp to mark the revival of Three Arts Club in 2008

Times of India - Curtain Raiser

Schedule of Theatre Festival 2011 at Shri Ram Centre

Saturday, 3 September, 2011

9.45am onwards

Name of school and play-

Ahlcon International School: Boodhi Kaki (Hindi) 

Writer: Munshi Premchand  

Director: Shalini Rastogi

Delhi Public School, Greater Noida: The Cop and the Anthem (English) 

Writer: O.Henry 

Director: Anuradha Ganguly, Babita Bhakuni, Monisha Sardana

K.R. World Mangalam School: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (English) 

Writer: Roald Dahl

Director: Rene Verma

Apeejay School Noida: Waqt ki Aawaz (Hindi)
Writer: Manjula Sharma
Director: Manjula Sharma

Mayoor School: Ek tha Gadha (Hindi) 

Writer: Sharad Joshi

Director: Monisha Goswami

Delhi Public School Noida: Veerangna (Hindi)
Writer: Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

Director: Imran 

Assistant Director: Rashima Kasal, Rupali Srivastava

DLF Public School: Anmol Bhent (Hindi) 

Writer: Tarkeshwari Mishra

Director: Devashish Tandon Assistant

Director: Swagata Ganguly

Sunday, 4 September 2011

6.30pm onwards

Three Arts Club's production Haar Gaye Bhagwaan
Based on Krishan Chander’s short story Parmatama
Writer: Reoti Saran Sharma
Director: Ajay Manchanda

Selected photos

TAC 2008-2011

Required: male artists for a hindi play

Looking for male artists, who could rehearse daily (Mon-Sat) 6pm onwards at mayur vihar (delhi), for a theatre production (Hindi play) on 4 September 2011 at Shri Ram Centre. Please contact 9810220016 for further details.

Paanch Lakh: 10am, January 20 @Kamla Nehru College, DU

The main protagonist of the play is a small shop owner, Lalita Prasad Pandey. He and his wife lead a simple life, until one day when he dreams about a 'vardaan' from Goddess Lakshmi. According to the dream or the vardaan, Lalita was going to get five lakh rupees. He narrates this dream to his wife and relatives, convinced he would win a lottery soon. A pandit also assures him of the windfall. Through a series of events, the play explores how mere coincidences further convince Lalita the dream is a true premonition. Based on this, he and his wife engage themselves in planning for the future with all the money that they are destined to get. However, as the story reaches the climax, the bubble bursts, shattering the couple initially, but eventually teaching them that destiny is shaped with one’s hard-work and sincerity, and baseless thoughts have little to do with the way one’s life shapes up. Comic at several occasions, the play offers a discussion on how beliefs and unconscious desires make us believe in irrational ideas. Dreams do come true, but how they manifest depends on how much one works towards achieving them.

Cast in order of Appearance

Lalita Prasad                                       Kundan Kumar Singh 

Sheela                                                 Nupur Jain

Doodh Wala                                        Nidhi Kant Pandey

Makaan Maalik                                   Deepak Sheopuri

Brahmin Devta                                    Prafull Sharma

Lakshmi                                              Shalini Singh

Tarun Babu                                          Kaustubh Kaushik

 

Music & Lights                                   Sanjeev Singh

Writer                                                  Ramesh Mehta

Director                                               Saurabh Bhatnagar      

Producer                                              Anuradha Dar

The Hindu, Friday, July 02, 2010

A mix of humour at theatre fest
Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Three Arts Club, one of the oldest theatre groups in Delhi, is hosting a three-day theatre festival at Shri Ram Centre here beginning Friday.

The “Summer Drama Festival-2010” has been conceptualised to showcase the talent of amateur theatre artistes. It will host a comedy play, “Dhong”, a satire with classic elements like mistaken identity, avaricious people and a complex love plot.

On Saturday, children's play “Ek Tha Budha” will be staged. The one-act play is a story of a lazy old man who is granted wishes by three fairies. The same day, another one-act play “Paanch Lakh” will be staged. It offers a humorous take on how beliefs and unconscious wants make us believe in irrational ideas.

“Aparichit” has been inspired by Albert Camus' cult literary work “The Stranger”. It portrays a man who does not conform to social norms.

URL: http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/02/stories/2010070250570200.htm

Press Release

Summer Drama Festival ’10 kicks off on Friday, July 2. The three-day theatre festival will offer a wide variety of exciting plays.

• Veteran actress, Mohini Mathur shall be conferred Raja Kaul Rangkarmi Puruskar on July 2.

New Delhi, July 1, 2010: The Three Arts Club, one of Delhi’s oldest theatre groups, is organizing a three-day theatre festival on July 2–4, 2010 at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi. A wide range of plays belonging to different genres will be staged.

The festival opens with Dhong, a play written in 1956 by Ramesh Mehta but still very relevant today. A satire, with all the classic comedy elements – mistaken identity, avaricious people and a complex love plot – it attempts to unmask people who wear a dhong in their hearts.

On Saturday, two one-act plays: Ek Tha Budha and Paanch Lakh will be staged. The former, a children’s play, is a story of a lazy old man who is granted wishes by three fairies. The play is filled with plenty twists and turns.

The second one, Paanch Lakh, will offer a humorous take on how beliefs and unconscious wants make us believe in irrational ideas.

The festival will close with Aparichit. Based on Camus’ cult literary work, The Stranger, this is a dramatic story of a man, who does not conform to social norms. Coinciding with the 50th death anniversary of Nobel laureate Albert Camus, Aparichit will revisit one the most renowned novels (L’Etranger or The Stranger/The Outsider) of the last century. The play seeks to explore what Camus termed as “nakedness of man when faced with the absurd.”

To sum up, the schedule for the festival is:

July 2 @ 7.30pm
Dhong (Comedy/satire)
Writer: Ramesh Mehta
Director: Saurabh Bhatnagar
Producer: Anuradha Dar

July 3 @7.30pm
Ek Tha Budha (Children's play)
Writer: Ramesh Mehta
Director: Shalini Singh
Producer: Anuradha Dar

July 3 @8.15pm
Paanch Lakh (Comedy)
Writer: Ramesh Mehta
Director: Saurabh Bhatnagar
Producer: Anuradha Dar

July 4 @7.30pm
Aparichit (Drama)
Writer: Abhishek Kumar
Director: Shalini Singh and Abhishek Kumar
Producer: Anuradha Dar

The theatre festival will also see Mohini Mathur, veteran actress being conferred with the Raja Kaul Rangkarmi Puruskar. The 77-year-old actress has performed in various Three Arts Club’s productions including the widely popular Dhong, Bade Aadmi and Under Secretary during the 60s and 70s. The Raja Kaul Rangkarmi Puruskar was instituted in 2009 in the memory of R.M. Kaul, founder member of Three Arts Club, to honour artiste who have significantly contributed to the theatre movement in Delhi. Previously, the award was conferred to Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Ramesh Mehta.

Founded in 1943, the Three Arts Club is a theatre group that has entertained and enthralled audiences for 40 years. It is credited with an important role in establishing the culture of drama in Delhi. Luminaries such as Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Shri Charan Singh, and many more have graced its plays. The Club also has the distinction of being one of the first ones to give a platform to women on the Delhi stage. In 2008, the Three Arts Club was revived by Anuradha Dar on the 25th death anniversary of founder member, R.M. Kaul.

Curtain raiser: Times of India (Saturday, June 19, 2010)

The Hindu, Metro Plus, Delhi. Date:14/05/2009

Three cheers! curtain raiser

Nandini Nair talks to Anuradha Dar of the Three Arts Club

Sepia Times (from left) Bhushan Sethi, Ramesh Mehta, Uma Sahay and Om Sharma in an undated photo of a Three Arts Club production

It was the year that Mahatma Gandhi was arrested. The same year Casablanca released. In 1943, a group of government employees also decided to start an amateur theatre group in the hill station of Shimla. Three Arts Club, like the B ritish government, would follow winter, from Shimla to Delhi and back. Founded by Om Sharma, R.M. Kaul and Devi Chand Kayasth, it is said to be one of the oldest theatre groups of the country. It entertained both king and commoner. If Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Zakir Husain and Charan Singh were part of its audience, so were the clerks and office secretaries.

Last year on R.M. Kaul’s 25th death anniversary, the group made a successful comeback at Shri Ram Centre after a gap of 25years. Proving that last year’s festival was no blip on the stage, it returns with its Summer Drama Festival, over this weekend. This year an award, instituted in the name of Raja Kaul (as R.M. Kaul was affectionately called), will be presented to Ramesh Mehta, playwright, actor and director who was also conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2008. He became the group’s pillar when he joined in 1948. M.N. Kapur, who was Modern School’s principal for 30 years, was also responsible for “taking Three Arts Club to a new height,” says Anuradha Dar, daughter of R.M. Kaul who blew life back into the group.

Flipping through black and white photos curling at the edges, she points out the famous actors and leaders of the day. In a particularly telling photo, M.N. Kapur introduces Nehru to his daughter, a small girl with a bright face. She grew up to be Anuradha Kapur, Director National School of Drama.

Today, Dar cannot recall why it was called Three Arts Club. “I haven’t been able to find the genesis of the name,” she says, adding, “Maybe it was because of the three people who started it. I don’t know.” Instead of trying to trace faded meanings, the group has its own interpretation. Today, Three Arts Club stands for music, dance and drama.

Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Future Perfect Anuradha Dar

Vivid memories

Her recollections of the group’s heyday, however, are still vivid. She recalls people rehearsing at home and sets strewn across the garden. She remembers the constant stream of tea and pakoras being served to tired actors. She adds, “As kids, we (her siblings and Mehta’s children) used to distribute brochures in the auditorium.”

The group has taken from the past but has not been hemmed in by it. Following the group’s principles, this year too they have focused on amateur talent. Saurabh Bhatnagar, who acted last year in “Bade Aadmi” has directed all three productions this year. He says, “We welcome new people. I’ve found old people are tough to mould. They are more set in their ways. It’s easier for me to work with newcomers.”

Satire and comedy used to be the groups’ forte. Today, they have also branched into social themes. The plays at the upcoming festival include “Ek tha Raja” a comic fantasy written by Badal Sarcar, “Bade Aadmi”, a Ramesh Mehta comedy and “Mundan” a drama on AIDS awareness by Dr. Jitendra Sahay. If “Ek tha Raja” is a light caprice about a king going broke, “Mundan” aims to break stereotypes on AIDS.

Gandhi-ism is struggling to find a modern context. Casablanca has not found a new audience. But Three Arts Club is once again ready to take the stage.

May 15: Ek Tha Raja (Comic Fantasy) Writer: Badal Sarcar Hindi Adaptation: Ravindra Nath Bahoray Director: Saurabh Bhatnagar

May 16: Bade Aadmi (Comedy) Writer: Ramesh Mehta Director: Saurabh Bhatnagar

May 17: Mundan (Drama, AIDS Awareness) Writer: Dr. Jitendra Sahay

Director: Saurabh Bhatnagar

Entry is free For invites call 9999311612

Venue: Shri Ram Centre, Time: 7:30p.m.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2009/05/14/stories/2009051450320100.htm

TAC performs at HT-Pace Teachers' Meet

TAC performed at the HT Pace Annual Teachers' Meet, before almost 600 teachers from schools across Delhi and NCR at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi on March 25, 2009.

Check out the photos

HT PACE TEACHERS MEET 2009-Folder1

and

HT PACE TEACHERS MEET 2009-Folder2