| A prolific performer and an able administratorA prolific performer and an able administrator |
An accomplished musician and actor, Kamal Tewari credits his success to his family, who provided him with an early grounding in the arts, writes Munish Dhiman.
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13th Apr 2013
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Kamal Tewari | PHOTO: Vinay Kumar
amal Tewari, Chairman, Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi is a man of many hues. Be it scoring music, acting, writing, singing, or simply putting together an event, he has consistently lived up to expectations. Coming from Nurmahal, Jalandhar district, Tewari has come a long way in materialising his dream of contributing towards the promotion and preservation of Indian traditions and cultures.
Tewari credits his success to his family and friends, who extended their support during his formative years. He says, "I never felt the initial hiccups of learning as I was born in a family of learned people, who excelled in one field or the other. I inherited this familial tradition of intellectual involvement. My grandfather was an erudite scholar, who had mastered 14 languages. He was a great shayar too. My father was a dedicated musician, who could handle any musical instrument with equal proficiency, while my mother was a singer." Tewari further says, "Whatever little I have learnt about art, music, poetry, literature I owe to my family, especially my parents."
Tewari learnt the nuances of music from his father and mentor. Later, he was trained under the tutelage of Late Pt. Girdhari Lal and Late Pt. Amarnath Chawla, helped shaping the musician in him. Tewari then joined the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya where he augmented his musical skills. It was the outcome of his unyielding dedication and hard-work that bagged him the top spot at a national-level music event. Tewari recalls the iconic ghazal singer Jagjit Singh was his senior at college, where they performed together at various musical concerts.
Besides singing, Tewari also nurtures a keen interest in acting. He started playing minor roles at local Ramleela performances from a very young age. After completing his Intermediate, he came to Chandigarh and did a post graduation in ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology. He later joined the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University.
Immediately after the completion of his course, Tewari was roped in to compose music and act as a narrator for a production of Bertold Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He composed 30 songs for the translated version of the play, named Parai Kukh. "By far, it was one of the greatest achievements of my life, for the music was documented at the Bertolt Brecht Museum in Germany." Today, he has composed music for more than 60 theatre productions and a host of TV shows, films, serials and documentaries.
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e has also served as an actor in the Punjab Drama Repertory Company and National School of Drama Repertory Company, New Delhi. Tewari has the honour of having working with some great thespians, including M. K. Raina, Ebrahim Alkazi, Mohan Maharishi, Amal Allana, Nissar Allana and has worked on productions of various iconic plays including Andha Yug, Agra Bazaar, Muktdhara, Lok Udaasi, Karmawali, Muaafze, Mother Courage, Exception and The Rule, Blood Wedding, etc. Being a polyglot, he has acted in multi-lingual plays including Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Punjabi and German. Tewari has also acted in various movies like Blue Umbrella, Omkara, Jab We Met, Ek Noor, Pehla Sitara and Mausam.
Tewari joined the Department of Culture Affairs, Haryana in 1980, from where he retired as the Additional Director in the year 2005. Going down memory lane, he recounts, "I was lucky to have bagged a job that I was passionate about and my first major assignment was to choreograph the Haryana section of the opening ceremony of the Asiad 1982, where 300 individuals performed. It was a challenge as during those times parents would be reluctant to send their girls even to schools. During my long stint in the department, I worked extensively for the promotion of literary, visual and performing art forms to the international level." Tewari has widely travelled across the world, and led a number of delegations for theatre as well as cultural activities the world over.
Tewari's endeavours and accomplishments in the field of art speak for themselves. When he joined the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, the grant-in-aid allocated was 2 lakh, which now has escalated to a whooping 40 lakh. Today, dozens of theatre festivals are being organised the year round, with the aim of promoting art and culture in the city. He started various cultural events in Haryana, which are major crowd-pullers, including the Suraj Kund Craft Mela, the Geeta Jayanti Cultural Festival, etc. He also conceptualised and establisehd the Multi-Art and Culture Complex at Kurukshetra.
A recipient of many a national and state level awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Punjabi Akademi Award, Balraj Sahani National Award, Haryana Kala Rattan and Haryana Gaurav Samman, Tewari believes, "The awards and appreciation are indeed necessary for an artist as these inspire a performer. One must attach importance to honours and accolades but must stay grounded and attached to your roots."
As an honorary member of a few national-level organisations/institutions in advisory capacity, Tewari sees a great potential in Indian theatre, as he concludes, "When we started theatre in Chandigarh, hardly some 100-150 people would come to see us perform, but today even a 850-capacity auditorium falls short during various events. This indeed is a positive sign for theatre and its appeal. It is a great pity that, compared to education, sports, and medicine, the allocated budget for carrying out multifarious cultural activities is bare minimum. We can only protect, preserve and promote our culture, provided we have the infrastructure, planning, budget and, above all, a team of dedicated and intelligent staff."
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