Amal Allana
| Amal Allana | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 14, 1947 Mumbai |
| Alma mater | National School of Drama |
| Occupation | Theatre director, educator |
| Years active | 1971–present |
Amal Allana (born 14 September 1947) is an Indian theatre director, scenic designer and costume designer and presently she is in her second consecutive term as the Chairperson of National School of Drama, India's premier institute of Theatre training, she also runs the Dramatic Art and Design Academy (DADA), New Delhi, with her husband Nissar Allana, which they co-founded in 2000.
As a theatre director, she has directed over 55 plays in Hindi, including notable plays like, Aadhe Adhure (Mohan Rakesh), Khamosh, Adalat Jari Hai (Vijay Tendulkar adaptation of 1956 short-story, 'Die Panne' (Traps) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt), Ashadh Ka Ek Din (Mohan Rakesh), Tughlaq and Hayavadana (both by Girish Karnad), Mahabhoj (Mannu Bhandari) (1982), King Lear, Himmat Mai (Mother Courage), Nati Binodini (2006) and Begum Barve (Satish Alekar), many of which are known to have set trends in Indian theatre.
She was awarded the 1998 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Direction, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama
Born in 1947 in Mumbai to Ebrahim Alkazi, noted theatre director and the first director of the National School of Drama; while her father was of Arab descent, her mother Roshan Alkazi, belonged to the Gujarati Ismail Khoja community and did the costumes for almost all of her father's plays. She grew up in a household steeped in theatre and overlooked by her grandmother, a staunch Gandhian, and frequented by artists, writers and theatre personalities, further home was where her father did most of his play rehearsals. Incidentally, theatre director Alyque Padamsee is her maternal uncle, and her brother Feisal Alkazi is also a theatre director. After completing her schooling, she skipped college and straightaway joined the National School of Drama, Delhi as graduation was not a necessary qualification then. Here she studied under her father and graduated in 1968, majoring in Direction, and also winning the Girish Gosh Award for Best Director and the Bharat Purushkar for the best all-round student.
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