Theatre veteran, ex-National School of Drama professor Tripurari Sharma passes away

Well-known playwright and former National School of Drama professor Tripurari Sharma passed away on Sunday after a prolonged illness, her friend and actor Amitabh Shrivastava said.

Well-known playwright and former National School of Drama professor Tripurari Sharma passed away on Sunday after a prolonged illness, her friend and actor Amitabh Shrivastava said. She was 67.

According to Shrivastava, who was Sharma's batchmate at the National School of Drama, she was suffering from a lung-related ailment since 2017 and had gone to Secunderabad for treatment where she died on Sunday morning.

''She was not keeping well for the last couple of years now. One of her lungs was not functioning at all because of this her family took her to Secunderabad for a lung transplant. However, I believe that just could not happen and this morning she passed away,'' Shrivastava told PTI.

Born in 1956, Sharma, who did her graduation in English literature from Delhi University and completed her diploma in Direction from NSD in 1979, has written and directed several plays including ''Bahu'', ''Birsa Munda'', Aks Paheli'', ''Banjh Ghati'' and ''Kath Ki Gadi''. She also wrote scripts for critically acclaimed films like ''Mirch Masala'' and ''Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa''. Some of her plays have been translated into English, Urdu, Gujarati and French.

''She was the most intelligent student in our batch. Was very soft-spoken, had a beautiful smile, and wrote and directed a lot of plays. Her death is a big loss to the theatre world,'' Shrivastava said, expressing his condolences to the family. Besides directing Mohan Rakesh's ''Adhe Adhure'', Lorca's Birjees ''Qadar ka Qunba'' and Anton Chekov's ''Cherry Orchard'' for the National School of Drama Repertory, Sharma also taught acting at her alma mater from mid 90s till 2018.

Having represented India in the first Women Playwright's Conference in the USA in 1988, Sharma was also honoured with several awards including the Safdar Hashmi Award (UP Sangeet Natak Akademi), Delhi Sahitya Kala Parishad Award and Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2013.

She is survived by her husband and son.

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