City theatre actor wins Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar
Vipin Kumar, a city based actor and theatre person, has been conferred the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the year 2023 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, for his contribution to Indian theatre. Vipin holds a Master’s degree in Acting from the National School of Drama, New Delhi and has been active in national theatre circuit since last seven years.
He has worked with renowned directors from India and abroad, including M.K. Raina, Bhanu Bharti, Tripurari Sharma, Waman Kendre, Chitaranjan Tripathi and French director Christophe. Vipin received the award on November 22, at the Ambedkar Bhavan in Delhi, in presence of Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Uma Nanduri, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture; Joravarsinh Jadav, Vice-Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi; Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi; and Shri Raju Das, Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Mentored by renowned theatre persons of Amritsar, Rajinder Singh and Neeta Mohindra , Vipin has acted in Hindi, Punjabi, English, and French plays. He has also translated two plays by Punjabi theatre thespian Kewal Dhaliwal into Hindi.
A believer of quality over quantity in terms of acting on stage, Vipin Kumar has been part of over 50 plays, including highly acclaimed productions “Hatyaa Ek Aakaar Ki”, “Aatal Yaatra”, Girish Karnad’s classic “Bali”, “Nirjan Karaavas”, “Ramanujan”, and “Ek Aur Dronacharya”, which have established him as a versatile actor. Working for promotion of theatre and its various forms, Vipin is also an educator, working with various universities and theatre groups across India. Dedicating his win to the cause of theatre as a medium of masses and freedom of expression, Vipin shared that such national recognitions push artistes to push the boundaries and innovate.
