Avtar Sahni

Avtar Sahni is one of Indian’s foremost theatre personalities. He has directed and acted in several leading dramatic productions throughout his career. Sahni comes from the town of Ambala, Haryana. His fervor for the finer arts, particularly in the line of theatrics, secured him a spot in the prestigious National School of Drama. He graduated in 1984 with a specialization in direction and spent the following year studying ‘Interaction between traditional performing arts and modern theatre' in Manipur under a fellowship grant. He founded the group ‘ART’ - Actor’s Repertory Theatre in the year 2004. The theatre troupe sought to add unique features to the Indian drama scene and create a platform for artists to showcase their talents.

He has directed over 45 plays with various theatre groups all around the country, some of his more prominent ones being, ‘Nagin Tera Vansh Badhe,’ ‘Mandra Gola,’ and ‘Rashomon.’ He has also worked in commercial Bollywood movies like ‘ Sunday Click to look into! >> Read More... ,’ ‘Do Dooni Char,’ ‘The Accidental Prime Minister,’ and ‘ Highway Click to look into! >> Read More... .’ Sahni became particularly famed for his skills with light design and art. He won the 2017 Sangeet Natak Academy Award for his work in technical light design.

Sahni continues to be a highly sought after figure in theatrics, and he has headed several acting workshops and theatre festivals. He was even responsible for light design at the 2010 Commonwealth games held in New Delhi.