Vijaya Mehta to be conferred with lifetime award

Veteran Indian film and theatre director Vijaya Mehta will be conferred with a lifetime achievement award by the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) Festival 2018. The announcement, along with the unveiling of the shortlisted plays, was made at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Mehta is a noted Indian film and theatre director and actor noted for her association with parallel cinema. She is a founder member of the Rangayan Mumbai-based theatre group with playwright Vijay Tendulkar and actors Arvind Deshpande and Shreeram Lagoo.

She studied theatre with Ebrahim Alkazi in Delhi and with Adi Marzban in Mumbai. She was awarded the 1975 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Excellence in Direction and in 1986 she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Rao Saheb (1986).

In previous years, the META Lifetime Achievement Award has been conferred on several stalwarts of Indian theatre, including the late Zohra Sehgal, the late Badal Sarkar, the late Khaled Chowdhary, the late Heisnam Kanhailal, Alkazi, Girish Karnard, Ratan Thiyam and Arun Kakade.

The announcements come ahead of the week-long Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) and Festival to be held from April 13 to 18. The 10 shortlisted plays will be performed for jury members as well as theatre lovers in the capital.

“META remains India’s most definitive platform to recognise theatrical talent. For more than a decade, it has brought together the very best of theatre productions from across the country. There is a multitude of talent in this art form which is the source code of all performing arts. The Mahindra Group is proud to present META each year as an inclusive, empowering, and prestigious canvas,” said Jay Shah, head, cultural outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

The most comprehensive awards for theatre in India, META will present awards in 13 competitive categories, in addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award.