Another feather in the cap for late Ratan Thiyam

NEW DELHI, Nov 16

Manipuri theatre icon Ratan Thiyam will be posthumously honoured with the Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement 2025 at a ceremony hosted by the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK) at Kamani Auditorium on Monday, officials said. The honour recognises his decades-long contribution to expanding the aesthetic, spiritual and philosophical boundaries of modern Indian theatre, they added.

The award ceremony, instituted in 2010 to acknowledge artists who embody lifelong dedication to the arts, will begin at 6.30pm on November 17, which is also the birth anniversary of SBKK founder Sumitra Charat Ram. This year’s ceremony returns to Kamani Auditorium, a space envisioned by Ram as a democratic cultural stage for all.

“Recognising his role in shaping the theatre world and the universality he created through his lenses, the lifetime achievement award is being given to Ratan Thiyam, which will be received by his son Thawai. We have honoured several personalities for their contribution to the world of music and dance, but this is the first time that a theatre personality is being awarded,” said Minaakshi S Dass, trustee of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra.

Thiyam, who passed away on July 23 this year, had accepted the honour and confirmed his presence for the ceremony.

His son Thawai Thiyam will now receive the award on his behalf. Organisers said his wife is also expected to attend the ceremony, marking an emotional moment for the theatre community.

A playwright, director, designer, actor and philosopher, Thiyam spent more than five decades reshaping the vocabulary of contemporary Indian theatre. As founder of the Chorus Repertory Theatre in Imphal (1976), he developed a performance idiom that fused Manipuri dance, martial arts, ritual, music and visual design while remaining universal in emotional and spiritual resonance.

Thiyam’s work often stood at the intersection of classical Indian philosophical ideas and modern existential concerns. His staging of Chakravyuha, a retelling of Abhimanyu’s entrapment, remains one of Indian theatre’s most celebrated productions, touring internationally and expanding global perceptions of Indian performance. Works such as Uttar Priyadarshi, Andha Yug, and Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama were marked by sweeping choreography, bold tableaux, dramatic stillness and luminous costumes.

A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, Thiyam became one of India’s most recognisable cultural ambassadors across Asia, Europe and the Americas. Even as he gained international stature, he remained deeply rooted in Manipur, responding to the region’s socio-political unrest with meditations on peace, identity and the human condition.

Organisers said honouring Thiyam through an award named after Sumitra Charat Ram creates a symbolic arc between two cultural architects — Ram, who believed the arts were civilisational, and Thiyam, who defended artistic expression while nurturing young performers and preserving traditional knowledge systems.

After the award is presented by SBKK chairperson Shobha Deepak Singh, audiences will witness a staging of Kanupriya, Thiyam’s adaptation of Dharamvir Bharati’s poem, performed by the Chorus Repertory Theatre. His translation, adaptation, design and direction foreground Radha’s lyrical anguish as she recalls her bond with Krishna, weaving intimate emotion with cosmic yearning. The event will also include an exhibition of previously unseen photographs of Thiyam’s productions shot by Shobha Deepak Singh.

The Hindustan Times