Padma Shri Award
Sabitri Heisnam, Dr. Jayanta Kumar honoured:
Veteran theatre actress Sabitri Heisnam and renowned figure in the field of medicine Dr. A. Jayanta Kumar Singh from Manipur were among those 71 named for India's civilian honour of Padma Shri for the year 2008 announced ahead of the country's Republic Day.
Born in 1946, Sabitri Heisnam is a veteran theatre actress from Manipur whose outstanding works are a proof of her lifelong commitment to theatre and performance. She is the wife of the internationally renowned theatre director Kanhailal Heisnam but it would be proper to say that she is a name equally well- known and respected as her husband among the connoisseurs of theatre.
Sabitri was first introduced into the field of performing arts by her aunt, C. Gouramani Devi who was a distinguished actress in her own right. She began her acting career at the age of seven and toured the villages in Manipur as a child artiste in Elangbam Joychandra’s traveling opera troupe called National Touring Drama Company, performing the role of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nimai Sanyas for over 1000 shows. She began her professional career in Manipuri theatre during the 1960’s.
Her association with Kanhailal and his experimental mode of presentation in his theatre brought out the best in her and through it she was able to carve a niche for herself in the world of theatre. At the same time Sabitri remains the centre of Kanhailal’s theatrical world. From playing a mother bird in Pebet to essaying the role of Draupadi in his 2000 production of the same name, Sabitri has shouldered most of Kanhailal’s well-known plays like Pebet (1975), Memoirs of Africa (1985) and Draupadi (2000).
Sabitri Heisnam is one of the most accomplished woman artists in the contemporary Indian theatrical scene. Her role in the plays Pebet as the mother of the young pebet fledglings and the production Draupadi has won numerous critical acclaims from throughout the world. Sabitri is one of the finest actresses we have today in the world of Indian theatre. For her contribution in theatre, she was conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1991.
Her husband Heisnam Kanhailal also got the same honour of Padma Shri in the year 2004for his contribution to theatre in the country.
Sabitri who is currently in Delhi for teaching the second-year students of National School of Drama said this evening, “I am very happy to learn that I have been among the list of the Padma Shri Awardees for this year. I am now in Delhi for theatre and I will work for theatre till my last breath”.
Dr. A. Jayanta Kumar Singh will be the first one in the field of medicine from Manipur to get the country’s civilian honour.
Source: The Imphal Free Press
Veteran theatre actress Sabitri Heisnam and renowned figure in the field of medicine Dr. A. Jayanta Kumar Singh from Manipur were among those 71 named for India's civilian honour of Padma Shri for the year 2008 announced ahead of the country's Republic Day.
Born in 1946, Sabitri Heisnam is a veteran theatre actress from Manipur whose outstanding works are a proof of her lifelong commitment to theatre and performance. She is the wife of the internationally renowned theatre director Kanhailal Heisnam but it would be proper to say that she is a name equally well- known and respected as her husband among the connoisseurs of theatre.
Sabitri was first introduced into the field of performing arts by her aunt, C. Gouramani Devi who was a distinguished actress in her own right. She began her acting career at the age of seven and toured the villages in Manipur as a child artiste in Elangbam Joychandra’s traveling opera troupe called National Touring Drama Company, performing the role of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nimai Sanyas for over 1000 shows. She began her professional career in Manipuri theatre during the 1960’s.
Her association with Kanhailal and his experimental mode of presentation in his theatre brought out the best in her and through it she was able to carve a niche for herself in the world of theatre. At the same time Sabitri remains the centre of Kanhailal’s theatrical world. From playing a mother bird in Pebet to essaying the role of Draupadi in his 2000 production of the same name, Sabitri has shouldered most of Kanhailal’s well-known plays like Pebet (1975), Memoirs of Africa (1985) and Draupadi (2000).
Sabitri Heisnam is one of the most accomplished woman artists in the contemporary Indian theatrical scene. Her role in the plays Pebet as the mother of the young pebet fledglings and the production Draupadi has won numerous critical acclaims from throughout the world. Sabitri is one of the finest actresses we have today in the world of Indian theatre. For her contribution in theatre, she was conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1991.
Her husband Heisnam Kanhailal also got the same honour of Padma Shri in the year 2004for his contribution to theatre in the country.
Sabitri who is currently in Delhi for teaching the second-year students of National School of Drama said this evening, “I am very happy to learn that I have been among the list of the Padma Shri Awardees for this year. I am now in Delhi for theatre and I will work for theatre till my last breath”.
Dr. A. Jayanta Kumar Singh will be the first one in the field of medicine from Manipur to get the country’s civilian honour.
Source: The Imphal Free Press