Charandas chor by habib tanvir biography

Indian actor

Habib Tanvir (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009^[2]) was one of the most popular Indian Urdu playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor.^[2] He was the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar (1954) and Charandas Chor (1975).

A pioneer in Urdu and Hindi theatre, he was most known for his work with Chhattisgarhi tribals, at the Naya Theatre, a theatre company he founded in 1959 in Bhopal. He went on to include indigenous performance forms such as nacha, to create not only a new theatrical language, but also milestones such as Charandas Chor, Gaon ka Naam Sasural, Mor Naam Damad and Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna.^[3][4][5]

For him, true "theatre of the people" existed in the villages, which he strived to bring to the urban "educated", employing folk performers as actors alongside urban actors.^[6] He died on 8 June 2009 at Bhopal after a three-week illness.^[7][8