A National School of Drama Alumni, Vasant Josalkar was a director of the Theatre Art Faculty of
Kala Academy and the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Academy Award, among other
honours and achievements. The Pernem native was residing in Saligao where he
passed away after a brief illness
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One of Goa’s brightest stars in theatre and a Goan who has made
significant contribution and has helped shape the state’s art and culture
space, passed away on Thursday, January 10.
A veteran Goan theatre personality, Vasant who was residing in
Saligao, expired after a brief illness.
Born on 8 January 1947 in Varkhand village in Pernem, Vasantwas
a well-known actor in the Marathi and Hindi theatre. He was drawn into theatre
by way of the traditional Sangeet Natak, taking part in performances in his
village together with his father and his brother. Later, he attended the
National School of Drama, New Delhi, taking a diploma in stagecraft in 1976. He
joined the NSD Repertory Company the following year and worked there up to
1986, acting in various successful productions. In 1987, Josalkar moved back to
Goa to work for the Goa Kala Academy, and served the Academy as Director up to
2000. He was an independent actor since that time.
Josalkar’s plays with the NSD Repertory include productions such
as ‘Mukhyamantri’ (1979), dramatized from ChanakyaSen’s novel and directed by
Ranjit Kapoor; BasamSabnis’s ‘Saiyan Bhaye Kotwal’ (1980) directed by Usha
Banerjee; and Rameshwar Prem’s ‘Charpai’ (1975) directed by Manohar Singh. He
is remembered for his role in Shirwadkar’s ‘Natsamrat’ (1986) directed by Kirti
Jain and presented by Sambhav in Delhi; and Athol Fugard’s A Place with the
Pigs (1993), in English, directed by Gyanesh Moghe in Goa. As Director of the
Goa Kala Academy, Josalkar had directed and designed a number of productions
including Mohan Rakesh’s Ashad ‘Ka Ek Din’ (1993) and ‘AadheAdhure’ (1997),
Chintamani Khanolkar’s ‘Ek Shoonya Bajirao’ (1995), and Vijay Tendulkar’s
‘Kamla’ (2007), besides dramatic renderings of several short stories. He has acted
also in television serials and films.
For his services to theatre, Josalkar was awarded he Rang
Samrnan (2009) by the Kala Academy of Goa. The Directorate of Art and Culture,
Goa, had also honoured him with its Kala Gaurav award (2010).
Josalkar
further received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Indian
theatre as an actor.
