Danish Hussain

Early Life

Before carving a mark on the cultural and artistic realm of our nation, Danish Hussain started his career as a banker, which was roughly 16 years ago. He spent his evenings in the theatre after the day’s work, a life which lasted for three years. He eventually quit the job and started doing theatrical plays, after which a series of powerful encounters sky-rocketed him through various phases of the genre, eventually paving the way for his success and triumph in theatricality.

Career as a theatre artist

He performed his first two major plays with Barry John Barry John can be considered to be the “Alchemist” >> Read More... , which granted him instant recognition from other artists, who invited him to their shows. While working with M.S. Sathyu in DaraShikoh, he was introduced to Habib Saab by actor Humayun Abbasi. During 2004-05 he was a regular member of the Agra Bazaar troupe, playing big and small roles like that of a shayar, shohda, patangwala and a crowd member. Along the journey, he met the scholar cum filmmaker  Mahmood Farooqui Mahmood Farooqui, born on 13th March 1978 (age 38) >> Read More... , who introduced him the mesmerising art of narration known as Dastangoi, a 16th-century Urdu oral storytelling art form. Along with Mahmood, he revived this art form and went on to perform on a global scale, bringing to attention the forgotten art of Indian Culture. He performed at the Prithvi Festival for the first time in 2006, after which he was invited to perform Dastangoi in the Motley festival, which was well-received by the audience. Following the success of the event, he became a regular in the Fest, and the art was revolutionised. During his course of work, he starred alongside the many geniuses of Indian Theatre arts, namely RajinderNath, M.K. Raina, Barry John, M.S. Sathyu, Sabina Mehta Jaitly and SohailaKapur, and also starred in plays such asManto, Panchi Aise Aate Hain, Jaat Hi Poocho Sadhu Ki,Mirzabagh, Agra Bazaar, Rumi: Unveil The Sun, A Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and The Crucible. He also worked in collaboration with Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah is an experimental actor and asso >> Read More... , who played a major part in sculpturing the actor in Danish. His plays namely: Dastan-e-Choubuli, EK PUNJAB YE BHI and Chinese Coffee were staged by The Hoshruba Repertory, Hussian’s Theatre Company. The Hoshruba Repertory was founded in 2012 and staged many of Hussain’s critically acclaimed plays. Along with Mahmood Farooqui, he performed Dastangoi at the Ali Institute organized by the Faiz Foundation. A man of diverse talents, Danish had donned the role of a poet, an actor, theatre director, and a columnist and till date remains an optimist, who dedicates his entirety to the art and take part in its everlasting charisma and impact on the lives of the holy family.

Achievements

He bagged many awards, which includes the Best Actor in A Supporting Role award for Rumi: Unveil TheSunat the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards of 2008, Akademi’sUstadBismillah Khan YuvaPuraskar in 2010 alongside Mahmood Farooqui for Dastangoi, the prestigious SangeetNatakAkademi award (which he returned to the Academy) and many more.