1. Jaishankar Bhudhardas Bhojak, better known by his theatre name Jaishankar Sundari, was an Indian actor and director of Gujarati theatre.
22 Facts About Jaishankar Bhojak
1. 2.
Jaishankar Bhojak retired from acting in 1932 but returned to theatre direction and teaching in 1948.
3.
Jaishankar Bhojak was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1951 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971.
4.
Jaishankar Bhojak was born in the family of Bhojak, in Undhai near Visnagar on 30 January 1889 to Bhudhardas and Krishna.
5.
Jaishankar Bhojak was trained in performing arts and singing by his grandfather, Tribhuvandas who himself was trained by Ustad Fakhruddin.
6.
Jaishankar Bhojak was trained in music by Pandit Vadilal Nayak.
7.
Jaishankar Bhojak's father conducted rituals and performed in Jain temples.
8.
Jaishankar Bhojak started his career by joining Dadabhai Thunthi's Urdu performing art company in Calcutta in 1897.
9.
Jaishankar Bhojak worked in a chorus of girls for a salary of six rupees a month.
10.
Jaishankar Bhojak returned to Bombay and joined Chotalal Kapadia's Mumbai Gujarati Natak Mandali in 1901.
11.
Jaishankar Bhojak mainly performed as a female impersonator as females were not allowed in theatres in those times.
12.
Jaishankar Bhojak played role of Desdemona as a female impersonator in Saubhagya Sundari, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello by Parsi theatre in Bombay.
13.
Jaishankar Bhojak performed female lead opposite Bapulal Nayak several times including in Jugal Jugari, Kamlata, Madhu Bansari and Sneh Sarita, Vikrama Charitra.
14.
Jaishankar Bhojak was active in Ahmedabad from 1948 to 1964 as the director and teacher in theatre.
15.
Jaishankar Bhojak joined Gujarat Vidhya Sabha in 1948 in Ahmedabad to perform in Ramanbhai Neelkanth's Raino Parvat in 1950 on the occasion of its centenary.
16.
Jaishankar Bhojak revived Bhavai, the traditional performing art form, by directing Mithyabhiman, a satirical play by Dalpatram.
17.
Jaishankar Bhojak trained several actors including Jaswant Thaker, Dina Pathak, Pransukh Nayak and Kailash Pandya.
18.
Jaishankar Bhojak died on 22 January 1975 at Visnagar, Gujarat.
19.
Jaishankar Bhojak received the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1951; which is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature.
20.
Jaishankar Bhojak was felicitated by Gujarat Rajya Sangeet Nrutya Akademi in 1967.
21.
Jaishankar Bhojak was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, by the Government of India in 1971.
22.
Jaishankar Bhojak's oil painted portrait was unveiled by the Kala Mandal of Morbi and adorns the halls of the Kala Mandir in Saurashtra.