- Mallika Sarabhai
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Mallika Sarabhai 
Mallika Sarabhai during Saarang 2011, Indian Institute of Technology MadrasBorn May 9, 1954
Ahmedabad, GujaratOccupation Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer Years active 1969 - present Height 5' 6" Children Revanta and Anahita Website Mallika Sarabhai Mallika Sarabhai (Malayalam: മല്ലിക സാരാഭായ്, Gujarati: મલ્લિકા સારાભાઇ) (born 9 May 1954) is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.[1]
Contents
Early life
Mallika Sarabhai was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in 1954 to Vikram Sarabhai and Mrinalini Sarabhai. She completed her MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 1974 and Doctorate in Organisational Behaviour from the Gujarat University in 1976.[2] She is a noted choreographer and dancer and has also acted in few Hindi and Gujarati films.[3]
Career
She started to learn dancing when she was young, and started her film career in parallel cinema, when she was 15. Mallika played the role of Draupadi in the Peter Brook's play The Mahabharata. Mallika has won many accolades during her long career, the Golden Star Award being one of them, which she won for the Best Dance Soloist, Theatre De Champs Elysees, Paris 1977. As well as a dancer, Sarabhai is a social activist. She, along with her mother, manages the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts located at Ahmedabad.[4]
Theatre for awareness
In 1989 she performed hard-hitting solo theatrical works, Shakti: The Power of Women. After it she directed and acteded in numerous productions reflecting current issues and awareness among people.[5]
Mallika Sarabhai also wrote the script for the play Unsuni based on Harsh Mander's book Unheard Voices. Arvind Gaur later directed it as a play, with the same name. Darpana Academy has launched the people awareness movement through its production Unsuni which travels all over India.[6][7]
In 2009 Mallika Sarabhai acted in Bertolt Brecht's Indian adaptation of The Good Person of Szechwan ( Ahmedabad ki Aurat Bhali-Ramkali) directed by Arvind Gaur in 34th Vikram Sarabhai International Art Festival.[8]
Personal life
"I have always done things without hiding them," says Mallika, remembering her college days, which saw her wearing mini-skirts, dating men, even going in for a live-in relationship. She recalls her mother’s horror when she first started living with somebody, “I explained to her why it was important for me to find out if I wanted a permanent commitment or not."[9]
Mallika met Bipin Shah during her college days and eventually married him. They were divorced seven years later. They have two children, a son, Revanta and a daughter Anahita.[10] Bipin and Mallika co-founded Mapin Publishing in 1984 and continue to run it together.[11]
Political career
Election voting symbol
On 19 March 2009, Mallika Sarabhai announced her candidature against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, as an independent candidate. A Congress spokesperson made it clear that she was not the Congress's candidate, nevertheless there was speculation that the Congress high command had asked the Gujarat state unit to support her candidature. In a reply to a question, she said she had neither personally approached the Congress nor did it offer to make her its candidate for the 2009 election, however in the past she had received many offer from the Congress to contest election, the first being in 1984 from Rajiv Gandhi.[12] She described her candidature as a Satyagraha against the politics of hatred.[13] She eventually lost to L K Advani by a huge margin and forfeited her election deposit in the process.[14]
During BJP chief minister's sadbhavna(harmony) fast ( from 17-19 Sept 2011) , she protested against the Chief Minister Narendra Modi
Awards and honours
- Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian award in India, 2010
- Crystal Award by World Economic Forum, 2008 .
- Theatre Pasta Theatre Awards, 2007.
- Nominated as one among 1000 women for Nobel Peace Prize ,2005.
- Indian for Collective Actions Honour Award, 2004.
- Kala Shiromani Purskar, Institute of Economic Studies, 2004.
- Woman of the Year, Indian Merchants’ Chamber(IMC), 2003.
- Knight of the Order of Arts & Letters, French Government, 2002.
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative Dance, 2000.
- Chevalier des Palmes Academiques, French Government, 1999.
- Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, Sheesha, 1984.
- Best Film Actress Award for, "Mena Gurjari", a Gujarati film, by Govt.of Gujarat, 1975.
- Film Critics Award for Best Actress, Muthi Bhar Chawal, 1974.[15]
Gallery
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Mallika Sarabhai, Saarang 2011, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
See also
- Indian women in dance
- Sarabhai family
- Vikram Sarabhai
- Mrinalini Sarabhai
- Jan Lokpal Bill
References
- ^ International encyclopedia of dance: a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc
- ^ indobase Dances of India
- ^ The Hindu : National : Mallika Sarabhai to contest against Advani
- ^ Welcome to the world of Darpana
- ^ Mallika Sarabhai - About
- ^ Mallika Sarabhai - Choreography
- ^ Asmita Theatre - Harsh Mandar’s Unsuni, scripted by Mallika Sarabhai
- ^ Sarabhai art fest from Monday - Times of India
- ^ ‘The fact that I am standing, Mr. Advani, means the world is watching’
- ^ Narthaki - you gateway to world of Indian Dance
- ^ The Tribune - Magazine section - Saturday Extra
- ^ Express India - Danseuse Mallika Sarabhai troops into Advani bastion in Gandhinagar
- ^ Poll dance: Mallika to contest against LK from Gandhinagar - Times of India
- ^ The Hindu - National - Modi magic fails to work
- ^ Mallika Sarabhai << Indian Classical Dance - A Blog by Soumya
External links
- Mallika Sarabhai's personal website
- Welcome to World of Darpana
- Mallika Sarabhai at TED Conferences
- Mallika Sarabhai at the Internet Movie Database
- Works by or about Mallika Sarabhai in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Further reading
- India’s 50 Most Illustrious Women (ISBN 81-88086-19-3) by Indra Gupta
Categories:- 1953 births
- Living people
- Indian actors
- Malayali people
- Indian civil rights activists
- Indian female singers
- Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumni
- Indian human rights activists
- Indian women activists
- Indian women's rights activists
- People from Gujarat
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan
- Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- Kuchipudi dancers
- Indian classical dancers
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