Habib Tanvir

Habib Tanvir (1923–2009) was a pioneering Indian playwright, theatre director, poet and actor. One of the most celebrated figures in Urdu and Hindi theatre, he was most known for his work with indigenous people of Chhattisgarh, at the Naya Theatre, a company he founded in 1959 in Bhopal. He won several national and international awards, including the Kalidas Samman in 1990, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1996, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002. Between 1972 and 1978, he was a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament. His play Charandas Chor won him the Fringe Firsts Award at Edinburgh International Drama Festival in 1982; and in 2007, it was included in the Hindustan Times’ list of ‘India’s 60 Best Works since Independence’.