About Us

Virendra J. Ganvir  Founder and President

Virendra J. Ganvir is a well-known Dramatist in Ambedakarite Buddhist theatre with plenty of experiences in his field. To carry forward the Ambedkarite movement, he established Bahujan Rangbhoomi on 14th of April, 1990. He wrote his first play when he was 12 years old. Thereafter, he organised and performed thousands of plays based on Dr. Ambedkar's thoughts in various parts of the country. He wrote and directed 70 plays with their successful presentation. Moreover, his books like Chale Hum Prabuddha Bharat ki Aur (चले हम प्रबुद्ध भारत की ओर...) is published by Blue World Series, and Naga Re Ba-Ba Shala (नग र बाबा शाला) is published in Mukt-Bal Vishwa: Collections of Children Play, 2009. He shares his knowledge and experiences by writing, directing and organizing events in the field of art. Where he teaches theater, proscenium play, one act play, folk play, street play, musical play, mega drama, and child play. Also, he won hundreds of awards for his artistic direction, scripts and acting from State Government of Maharashtra. 

SOME OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS ARE:

• Received Smita Smriti Award for Best Theatre Dramatist in 2017.
• Guru-Shishya Scholarship of CCRT, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi for his notable contribution in the field of arts. 
• Best Theatre Child Play Dramatist Award (in the year 2009) from Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Parishad, Mumbai. 
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Rangakarmi Award, 19th of Oct 2006, Scientific Hall, Nagpur (Cast Tribe Karmachari Kalian Mahasangh, Mumbai).
• Senior Theatre Artist Award, 2005, World Theater Day (Maharashtra Kamgar Kalian Kendra, Mumbai).
• Dalit Rangkarmi Movement Award byTathagath Siddharth Buddha Birth Festival Samiti, Nagpur.
• Won First Prize in Maharashtra for Child Play “Naga Re Baba Shala” written by him. It created history as for the first time any play from Nagpur received this honour.  
• Senior Theatre Artist Award, 3rd of Nov 2009, World Theater Day by Maharashtra Kamgar Kalian Kendra, Nagpur.
• Dr. Babsaheb Ambedkar Rangakarmi Award, 2013, Patrakar Bhawan Hall, Nagpur by Caste Tribe Karmachari Kalian Mahasangh, Nagpur.

Artists under his guidance and training are working in famous institutes like JNU (Delhi), MFA (Nagpur), MTA (Mumbai), Pruthvi Theatres (Mumbai), etc. Some of them are also working in films and TV serials. He contributed for the betterment of humankind through his work in the field of arts whereby he conducted 25 workshops in various parts of the country like Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. These workshops dealt with the issues of Tribes, child labour, women, health issues like HIV AIDS and other social issues pertaining to society.    

  

Surendra B. Wankhede  Secretary Surendra B. Wankhede is an enthusiastic theatre activist in the field of performance research, direction, child play, acting and conducting camps as well as workshop on acting. He did MFA in Drama from RTM, Nagpur University. Currently, he is pursuing an integrated course on MPhil/PhD in Theatre and Performing Arts, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Since 2000, he was awarded by Maharashtra State Government for his outstanding work in the field of acting, set design and stage craft. He wrote numerous articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals on Buddhist theatre, Ambedakarite folk-performances, etc.  He also worked as a casual comparer in All India Radio (2009-2011), Nagpur. His child play Footpath is published in Mukta Bal Vishwa: Collections of Child Play in 2009. Moreover, he acted with Ajay Devgun and Dayanand Shetty in Singham Returns in a Rohit Shetty's Film.

His few achievements are mentioned below:

• He was honoured with a national award of the Best Children Theatre Dramatist Award (2012) from Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Parishad, Mumbai.
• Guru-Shishya Scholarship of CCRT, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi for his notable contribution in the field of arts. 

He spreads social awareness in India through Ambedkarite Buddhist Theatre by organizing theatre camps as well as workshops in tribal belts and slum areas. Further, he attended several national and international conferences on social theatre and presented papers on modern Buddhist theatre.