The Man who Rewrote the Ramayana

Gopal Sharman, playwright, poet, musician, filmmaker and carpenter of an auditorium, leaves behind an applauding audience.

4 min readJun 27, 2016 12:20 AM IST

Gopal Sharman.

All his life, Gopal Sharman was fascinated by the Ganga. In the river of stories, he traced currents that nurtured life, healed the body and carried away the dead. Last month, the playwright, who had won the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Tagore Award, the Delhi Natya Sangh Award and the Andhra Pradesh Natya Akademi Honour, among others, began work on a new script that would capture the myriad facets of the Ganga in a vessel of earthy humour. Sharman had written only a few pages when he took ill and passed away on June 16. He had celebrated his 80th birthday a few months ago.

Few theatre people, who came of age in the 1960s, had managed to be relevant in the present century or picked up new followers for their plays among millennials. Akshara, an intimate theatre that Sharman founded with his wife and fellow performer Jalabala Vaidya, is among the busiest in Delhi, with almost every evening featuring an in-house play or a visiting production. “The basis of an idea is the word and the smallest unit of a word is the letter or akshara,” says Vaidya, about the theatre whose intricate woodworks Sharman had crafted with his own hands.

The play that Sharman is most identified with is The Ramayana, a solo that is performed by Vaidya, which was created for the Royal Shakespeare Society’s World Theatre Season in London — the highest recognition that a play could get in the sixties. Unlike most retellings of the epic, Sharman’s Ramayana cast Rama and Sita in the shadow of the war, its violence impacting their lives and relationship. Vaidya says that Sharman would lie down on the floor in a darkened room and let his imagination run as he narrated, and she would write it all down. The Ramayana played on Broadway, the West End, the United Nations Headquarters, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Arts Centres from Fiji to Canada, among others. In India, it has had more than 2,000 shows and continues to be performed every year at Akshara.

The volume and variety of the plays that Sharman wrote and directed — from The Bhagwad Gita to In Goethe’s Magical World to Alice & Humpty Dumpty — often shadowed his natural ability as an actor and his career in films. One of Sharman’s earliest plays was called Larflarflarf that made fun of the politics of post-Independent India. His last appearance on stage was on April 13, 2016, when he played the part of the British Presiding Magistrate in the play An English Prison: Suresh Vaidya vs The British Government. Sharman had produced and co-anchored a popular television series of the 1980s, titled India Alive, as well as directed documentaries such as The Kashmir Story, Music Alive, The Sufi Way and My Life Is My Song.

Sharman trained in Hindustani classical music and one of his books is Filigree In Sound: Form and Content in Indian Music. He may have remained a writer and critic of the arts if Dr Radhakrishnan, then President of India, had not had a cataract operation. “He was asked to lie in bed and could not read,” recalls Vaidya. It was arranged for select pieces to be read out to him, creating the first dramatic reading of Sharman’s writings called The Full Circle. After an impressive performance in 1968, the piece travelled to Rome and Yugoslavia, among others, and Sharman never left the theatre again.

Dipanita Nath

Dipanita Nath is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. She is a versatile journalist with a deep interest in the intersection of culture, sustainability, and urban life. Professional Background Experience: Before joining The Indian Express, she worked with other major news organizations including Hindustan Times, The Times of India, and Mint. Core Specializations: She is widely recognized for her coverage of the climate crisis, theatre and performing arts, heritage conservation, and the startup ecosystem (often through her "Pune Inc" series). Storytelling Focus: Her work often unearths "hidden stories" of Pune—focusing on historical institutes, local traditions, and the personal journeys of social innovators. Recent Notable Articles (December 2025) Her recent reporting highlights Pune’s cultural pulse and the environmental challenges facing the city during the winter season: 1. Climate & Environment "Pune shivers on coldest morning of the season; minimum temperature plunges to 6.9°C" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on the record-breaking cold wave in Pune and the IMD's forecast for the week. "How a heritage tree-mapping event at Ganeshkhind Garden highlights rising interest in Pune’s green legacy" (Dec 20, 2025): Covering a citizen-led initiative where Gen Z and millennials gathered to document and protect ancient trees at a Biodiversity Heritage Site. "Right to breathe: Landmark NGT order directs PMC to frame norms for pollution from construction sites" (Dec 8, 2025): Reporting on a significant legal victory for residents fighting dust and air pollution in urban neighborhoods like Baner. 2. "Hidden Stories" & Heritage "Inside Pune library that’s nourished minds of entrepreneurs for 17 years" (Dec 21, 2025): A feature on the Venture Center Library, detailing how a collection of 3,500 specialized books helps tech startups navigate the product life cycle. "Before he died, Ram Sutar gave Pune a lasting gift" (Dec 18, 2025): A tribute to the legendary sculptor Ram Sutar (creator of the Statue of Unity), focusing on his local works like the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue at Pune airport. "The Pune institute where MA Jinnah was once chief guest" (Dec 6, 2025): An archival exploration of the College of Agriculture, established in 1907, and its historical role in India's freedom struggle. 3. Arts, Theatre & "Pune Inc" "Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak were not rivals but close friends, says veteran filmmaker" (Dec 17, 2025): A deep-dive interview ahead of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) exploring the camaraderie between legends of Indian cinema. "Meet the Pune entrepreneur helping women build and scale businesses" (Dec 16, 2025): Part of her "Pune Inc" series, profiling Nikita Vora’s efforts to empower female-led startups. "How women drone pilots in rural Maharashtra are cultivating a green habit" (Dec 12, 2025): Exploring how technology is being used by women in agriculture to reduce chemical use and labor. Signature Style Dipanita Nath is known for intellectual curiosity and a narrative-driven approach. Whether she is writing about a 110-year-old eatery or the intricacies of the climate crisis, she focuses on the human element and the historical context. Her columns are often a blend of reportage and cultural commentary, making them a staple for readers interested in the "soul" of Pune. X (Twitter): @dipanitanath ... Read More

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