Jalabala Vaidya death shocked the nation as the noted theatre actress passed away at 86, battling a respiratory illness. Keep reading to learn more.
Vaidya, born on August 12, 1936, was one of India’s leading stage actresses. She was most renowned for her one-woman performance of The Ramayana.
To detail, The Ramayana was her husband Gopal Sharman’s contemporary dramatic interpretation of the Sanskrit epic.
The very show, subtitled ‘the epic; as a play in English,’ is the only Indian production staged on Broadway.
In 1968, Vaidya began her career in theatre with a production called ‘Full Circle,’ a selection of poems and stories that were dramatized.
This production was an immediate hit during its first tour in Europe. She was also the co-founder of The Akshara Theatre, a non-profit arts institution in New Delhi, India.
The institute was founded by Jalbala, her husband, Gopal Sharman, and their daughter, Anasuya Vaidya, also a theater director.
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Legendary Theatre Actor: Jalabala Vaidya Death And Obituary
Jalabala Vaidya, the legendary theatre actor and co-founder of the iconic Akshara Theatre in the capital, passed away in New Delhi on April 9, 2023.
She received several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Tagore Award, the Delhi Natya Sangh Award, and the Andhra Pradesh Natya Akademi Honour.
In addition, the theater actress garnered Honorary Citizenship in the City of Baltimore in the USA.
In February, she was also awarded the Varisht Samman by the Delhi Government for her lifelong contributions to the performing arts.
Vaidya has been married twice. She was previously married to well-known journalist and columnist C.P. Ramachandran for a brief time.
However, soon after, she met and married her lifelong partner in the arts and life, poet-playwright Gopal Sharman.
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Jalabala Vaidya Died Battling With Respiratory Illness
According to her daughter and theatre director, Anasuya Vaidya Shetty, Jalabala Vaidya was battling respiratory ailments before passing at 86.
Vaidya was born in London to Indian author and freedom fighter Suresh Vaidya and English classical singer Madge Franckeiss.
She began her journalism career and wrote for several national newspapers and magazines in Delhi.
Vaidya is survived by her husband, daughter, and three grandchildren, who are Nisa Shetty, a singer-actor; Dhruv Shetty, an actor; and Yashna Shetty, a writer.
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Jalabala Vaidya: Career And Achievements
Jalabala Vaidya’s performances of The Ramayana received outstanding reviews from major Indian and international newspapers.
She performed in over 35 cities and towns across India, on Broadway, the West End, at UN Headquarters, and National Arts Centres in different countries.
Along with Sharman, she co-founded the Akshara National Classical Theatre in New Delhi.
Sharman designed and built the theatre, an exquisite arts complex and a beloved hub for theatre performances.
Vaidya played the lead role in more than 20 plays, including Full Circle, Gitanjali, The Ramayana, Let’s Laugh Again, The Bhagavad Gita, and The Cabuliwala.
Vaidya was not only an actress but also a director, and she directed various plays at the Akshara Theatre, as well as its highly successful dramatized book-reading series.
Recently, she presented another version of The Ramayana, where she continued to perform the opening and closing acts of the play.
It was supported by a group of young actors from the Akshara Repertory, all trained by Vaidya
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