Raj Bharti
Balwinder Pal Singh is an esteemed theatre actor from our State who has participated in many international and national theatre festivals all over the country. Hailing from far flung area of District Udhampur (Block Pancheri Village Digi, Lander) he completed his schooling from Army Public School Udhampur and then his B.E. from Govt. College of Engineering and Technology in Electronics and Telecommunication. Being an introvert child, he actively participated in debates and declamation to overcome his fear of public speaking and stage during school and college days. Also an active sportsman, he was captain of his school and college Basketball Team. Having an Army background he always emphasized on discipline and hard work as an important tool for success.
He started his journey as an actor in 2009 from Natrang where he attend numerous workshop conducted by FTII and NSD alumni. There he participated in more than 100 plays and various Nukkad natak all over the districts of J&K state. After few years in Natrang, he associated himself with ALG Group under the guidance of Padam Shree Moti Lal Kemmu Ji and did major roles in most of his plays like Nagar Udas, Tota Aur Aiana and Bhand Dhuahee. Bhand Dhuahee and Tota aur Aaina were staged in International Theatre Olympiad 2018 in Jaipur and Varanasi respectively. He says “Moti Lal Kemmu was very a intellectual man and great writer of our State. He had lot of influence in my life in making me better actor and more importantly the better person”. Meanwhile he acted in many plays as a lead, some of which are; As Brutus in Julius and Caesar written by William Shakespeare, As Bikash Roy in Court-martial written by Swadesh Deepak, As Bhoothnaath in Mahanagar ka Tehlua written and directed by Rajneesh Gupta, as Madhav in Tandav written and directed by Rajneesh Gupta, the play Kirayedar which bagged second best production in annual drama festival 2016, he played the male protagonist “Hamid”. The play was based on famous Radio Play of Rajinder Singh Bedi “Nakel-e-Makani”. He also acted in “Mahanagar ka tehlua” which was adopted from famous Bengali novel “Sahab Biwi Aur Ghulam” by Bimal Mitra. The novel was converted into a play by Rajneesh Gupta and the lead of the novel “Bhoothnath” was done by him. He said “It took him almost one year to prepare for a character Bhoothnath for which he also learned to play Tabla for six months”. He also said “so far the most challenging character I did was of Madhav of play Tandav for which I had to undergo six months rigorous training to learn the most difficult dance form Tandav and the whole play was in verse. I received huge response from public for that play and the play established me as most serious and hardworking actor of the state”.
He also had strong liaison with legend of our state Late Prof Rita Jitendra with whom he read many plays on stage the most memorable of which was on the biopic of Bharat Ratna Aruna Asaf Ali in which he played the character of her husband and freedom fighter Asaf Ali. The play reading was huge success in MIER college. Respectfully, he expresses his gratitude “Prof Rita Jitendra and Brijmohan played an important role in my journey as an actor as they helped me with the diction of different languages and made me realize how important it is to have the perfect diction for a Actor”. Recently he also did major role in two plays written by Addl Commissioner Income Tax S K Sharma “Satayata Ki Udaan” and “Tootteh Rishtey Khalakti Sarahdein” under the banner Viraaj Kala Kendra which is an NGO and works for the empowerment of women and poor children. He received lot of accolades from both the critics and his audience for playing every character with fitnesse and for which he also got merit award in acting for consecutively four years from Cultural Academy J&K in Annual Drama Festival.
Besides stage plays he is also an approved drama artist from all India Radio (AIR) where he has read numerous plays over the year. He has done voice over for many projects including documentary on accession of J&K with India which was released worldwide and few documentaries which were made by Konkan Railways and are now part of curriculum of top engineering colleges.
Currently he is serving as a Sub Inspector in J&K Police and was also rewarded with DG reward last year for his contribution in art. On being asked about his passion for theatre he say “Theatre has always been a passion for me and keeps me motivated and optimistic in life. On my journey so far I would like to thank my family and my friends who always supported me with all my endeavors.
And my special thanks to J&K Police and Cultural Academy J&K for providing with opportunities and creating an atmosphere where youngsters like me can groom their talent. Working for the betterment of Nation by providing my services either as an actor or police officer has always been my aim”. In last, the concluded by saying “with hard work, strong determination and positive bent of mind one can achieve anything. The more you will sweat in training lesser you will bleed in war has always been my motto.”
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