Tick on talent

Eminent singer and Zee Sa Re Ga Ma winner Rinku Kalia, Sarangi maestro Vinod Pawar and noted ghazal singer Kanwar Jagmohan will be awarded the ‘Kala Pratibha Awards-2024’ by the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi (CSNA). It’s for the first time in the 44-year history of CSNA that such awards have been announced. Akademi President Sudesh Sharma said, “Tricity artistes gave a very enthusiastic response to the announcements in July and sent applications to the Akademi, out of which a committee selected the names of winners.”

As many as 11 awards have been announced by the Akademi, out of which one CSNA Kala Vibhuti Award (Life Time Achievement Award), one Kala Parikh Award (Art Promoter Award) and three each in dance, music and acting, Kala Pratibha Awards, will be given. Sharma said, “The selection of CSNA Kala Vibhuti Award and Kala Parikh Award was decided unanimously by the General Body of the Akademi.”

The first CSNA Kala Vibhuti Award of the year 2024 will be given to Veena Dhir in view of her lifelong work dedicated to art. “Apart from exhibiting excellence in acting, dance and singing, Veena has also given training in these disciplines in various educational institutions. Playing the lead role in the Haryanvi feature film Bahurani, she has also acted in many serials on Doordarshan. Despite being established in the film world, she did not leave the stage and despite her deteriorating health, she is still associated with theatre,” said Sharma.

Kala Parikh Award (Art Promoter Award) for 2024 has been given to Impact Arts, whose founder is the famous theatre and Punjabi film artist Baninderjit Singh Banni.

In the category of the first CSNA Kala Pratibha Awards in the field of drama, senior director Umesh Kant has been selected in the direction category, famous artiste Abhishek Sharma in the acting category and Subhashish Niyogi in the lighting, make-up, set, furnishings, music, costumes, puppetry and craft category.

In the dance field, in the category of the first CSNA Kala Pratibha Awards, Tarsem Chand Kalehari was selected in the folk dance category, Gaurav Sharma in the modern dance category and the famous kathak dancer and director Amit Gangani in the classical dance category.

“All these artistes have been working in their respective fields for many years and apart from exhibiting their art, they are also educating the new generation,” added Sharma. All these winners will be given awards during a grand function, the date for which will be formally announced by the Academy in due course.