Two months after his play on Tamas was cancelled, theatre artiste Tripathy is NSD director

When Tripathy addressed a press conference on the day of his appointment at the institute from where he graduated in 1996, he promised that Tamas would be staged. “Bilkul hoga (It will happen for sure). The novel by Bhisham Sahni (on which the play was based) is very nationalistic. The story deals with a time when we were being given freedom by dividing the country. I read the novel when I was 15 or 16 and realised that I wanted to make a play on it. Around 20-25 years later, when NSD Repertory asked me to do the play on Tamas, I agreed. Everything was going fine but, then, there was some confusion which will surely go away with time,” he said.

NSD has been the training ground of some of India’s most powerful performers, including actors Naseeruddin Shah, Rohini Hattangadi, Pankaj Kapur, Raghubir Yadav, Pankaj Tripathi, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

“This is the age of Artificial Intelligence. This is a golden time for NSD and for live art. There is a lot of potential. We have to move along with science and technology,” Tripathy said. (Credit: Pallavi TO)

In recent years, the school has drawn criticism on several grounds, including not having a regular director for five years. In 2022, the NSD Students’ Union issued a letter to chairperson Paresh Rawal on this concern and shared their fears that NSD seemed to have “lost its vision in theatre training and academics”. The student body had pointed out that several faculty positions were vacant. “We are happy now that NSD has a director,” said Junaid Rather, former president of the students’ union, who passed out this year.

Tripathy is aware of the challenges facing the school and the world of theatre in general. But he is also positive about the future. “This is the age of Artificial Intelligence. This is a golden time for NSD and for live art. There is a lot of potential. We have to move along with science and technology,” he said.

Tripathy’s appointment to a post that has previously been held by doyens of theatre such as Ebrahim Alkazi, BV Karanth, Mohan Maharishi, Ratan Thiyam, and Ram Gopal Bajaj has brought hope to many students along with senior and amateur practitioners of theatre. “He was in the second year at NSD when I told him that ‘you will go very far’. He is an actor, director, composer, and a wonderful singer. He is a master and student of various aspects of theatre,” said Bajaj about Tripathy, his former student.

Tripathy comes with a stellar CV, which includes winning several awards for theatre and films. He has performed with the NSD Repertory, the Shri Ram Centre Repertory, and numerous other groups and companies. His memorable plays include Taj Mahal ka Tender with the NSD Repertory. His Odia film, Dhauli Express (2007), which follows a young singer into the world of crime, won the Odisha State Film Award for Best Film, among others. Another film, Courtroom Nautanki, was a part of the Indian Panorama of IFFI in 2010.

On OTT platforms, he was a part of Sacred Games, where his character ‘Trivedi’ made him a familiar face.