Draft:Sudhanva Deshpande
Sudhanva Deshpande | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Permanent Invitee to Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| Assumed office 6 April 2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 December 1968 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party |  Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Residence(s) | J–147, R.B. Enclave, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi – 110063, India |
| Occupation | Actor, Editor, Politician |
Sudhanva Deshpande (born 26 December 1968) is an Indian actor, theatre director, editor, writer, and a communist politician. A long-standing member of the left-wing theatre group Jana Natya Manch (Janam), he has been its actor, director, and playwright since 1987. He is the managing editor of LeftWord Books, a left-leaning publishing house, and the executive director of Studio Safdar, a theatre and cultural space in New Delhi. In April 2025, he was appointed as a Permanent Invitee to the Central Committee of the CPI(M). He is also a core team member of Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre (SMART), India’s premier theatre management training programme.[1][2]
Over a career spanning more than three decades, Deshpande has acted in, directed and devised hundreds of street and proscenium productions, led workshops and lectures worldwide, co‑directed documentary films, and taught at several leading Indian institutions.
Career Jana Natya Manch (Janam) Association: Joined Janam in 1987 and remains active as actor, director and playwright.
Performances: Has appeared in over 8,000 performances of more than 60 distinct street plays.
Direction & Writing: Directed more than 30 street plays and conceptualized and written dozens of street and proscenium productions on contemporary political and social issues.
Notable Works: Created the agit‑prop street play Yeh Dil Maange More, Guruji! in response to the 2002 anti‑Muslim pogroms in Gujarat.
Studio Safdar and SMART Studio Safdar: Serves as Executive Director of Studio Safdar, an experimental theatre space in Shadipur, Delhi, that supports new and risky work by emerging and established artists.
SMART: Core team member and instructor for SMART (Strategic Management and Resource Training), India’s only capacity‑building programme specifically designed for theatre groups and institutions.
Publishing and Editorial Work LeftWord Books: Managing Editor since 1999 at LeftWord Books, an independent left‑leaning publishing house based in New Delhi.
May Day Bookstore & Café: Proprietor and barista at May Day Bookstore & Café since 2012, an adjunct space for political and literary gatherings.
Documentary Film Co-Directed Films:
A documentary on Habib Tanvir, the legendary Indian theatre director and founder of Naya Theatre.
A documentary on the history and work of Naya Theatre itself.
Teaching, Workshops and Lectures Institutions Taught At:
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
International Engagements: Has lectured and conducted workshops in India, Palestine, South Africa, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
https://studylib.net/doc/13391010/sudhanva-deshpande-is-an-actor-and-director-with-jana-nat...
https://www.intellectbooks.com/sudhanva-deshpande
https://www.studiosafdar.org/staff
https://khojstudios.org/person/sudhanva-deshpande-2/
Category:1968 births
Category:Living people
Category:Indian communists
Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians
Category:Indian theatre directors
Category:Indian male actors
Category:Indian writers
Category:Indian editors
Category:People from New Delhi
Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Category:21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights