Ex-dean of MSU gets award for his research in theatre

Vadodara: Former dean of M S University’s Faculty of Performing Arts Dr Mahesh Champaklal was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi national award 2020 by President Droupadi Murmu for his outstanding contribution in the field of theatre research.
Champaklal, was conferred the award at a ceremony held in New Delhi on February 23. He is the first Gujarati to get the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in scholarship.
It is after a gap of almost 15 years that Gujarati has bagged the national award. The last recipient of the award from Gujarat was professor Markand Bhatt, who had received the award for his contribution to the field of performing arts.
Retired professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Dramatics, Champaklal, is currently working as a Tagore fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla.
Champaklal was associated with the professional Gujarati theatre in Mumbai from 1973 to 1981. He was conferred upon the Gaurav Puraskar by Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Akademi and felicitated with the best translation award by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi and Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, Gandhinagar for the Gujarati translation of Girish Karnard’s ‘The Fire and the Rain’.
Champaklal has researched, authored and published four books in Gujarati on Bharata’s Natyashastra and three books in Gujarati on theatre criticism which were acknowledged and awarded by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad and Gujarati Sahitya Akademi.
In 2014, he was honoured with fellowship at the IIAS, Shimla and also with the senior fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, government of India in 2019.
“It is an honour for me to become the first theatre researcher from the state to be bestowed upon this national award,” said Champaklal, who post his retirement from MSU, has dedicated ten years to research.