Drama School Mumbai

Drama School Mumbai was founded in 2013 to forge a new generation of theatre-makers; actor-creator-entrepreneurs who are professionally trained to perform and create work to a higher global standard of storytelling. Our alumni are all highly active – founding theatre groups, acting in award-winning plays, working in films as well as applying their craft in education and corporate-training.

We work with a faculty comprising of the best theatre practitioners, actors, playwrights, directors, theatre designers and producers.

Armed with fundamental skills in performance, direction and producing, our graduates embark on making their own livings and careers in the theatrical arts, contributing to a gradual development of the sector with work that aims to be of a higher standard for all audiences.

Drama School Mumbai also works to promote the awareness of theatre and its processes to a wider audience interested in exploring and understanding the medium for themselves through shorter workshops, lectures, and regular presentations of work created by the students and faculty.

A Note From Heads of School

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. – Warren Bennis, American scholar

We are going through a time of tremendous flux. Whether it is the rapidly fluctuating economic landscape or the burgeoning rhetoric of discrimination and difference, we find ourselves asking fundamental questions about what drives our art. As a school, we hope we can further this dialogue: to ask why we are telling the stories we’re choosing to tell; to question the traditions we have been taking for granted; to figure out what kind of theatre belongs to our time.

Theatre education comes with a lot of opportunities, and at DSM, we like to focus on:

Pursuing excellence in everything we do, while learning, unlearning and relearning.
Imparting quality education through various programmes
Producing actors, creators and entrepreneurs
Providing a safe and brave space to one and all
Creating an environment which balances work and life.

One of the things that makes the DSM an exciting institution to join is that it is not stuck in its ways. It feels like an ever-growing, ever-adapting organism. In the past, the DSM has been asked about its focus. Whether it is a school that primarily focuses on training actors and whether the theatre-making aspect of the training is as involved. Over time, that has been shifting. The DSM is becoming a fertile testing ground for students to make rigorous, experimental and provocative work. We hope to take this further.

Our motto here is to aid each one to become creative and a great storyteller which further enables them to lead their life independently such that they will be able to face any kind of difficulty coming their way.

With the help of the entire team, we hope we can drive the pedagogy towards a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach. To not only build competence and skill but to also facilitate the process of discovering students’ artistic voices. To prepare them to participate vigorously and generously in a global community of the performing arts.

With this in mind, we would like to invite each and everyone with open hands, to come and take this opportunity and be a part of this revolution, where we can enkindle one and all towards learning theatre, and also embrace every individual who aspires to bring change in the society through their imagination and storytelling.

– Irawati Karnik (Academic Head) and Ekta Doshi (Executive Head)

Board

Shirin Bharucha

Shirin Bharucha is a senior lawyer and has worked with the legal department at Tata Group for many years. She is actively involved with various trusts that work for the urban renewal of Mumbai city. Most significantly, she was part of the team that restored Oval Maidan, the Horniman Circle Garden, and the Kala Ghoda Art District.

She is managing trustee at the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI). UDRI which supports interaction between architects, urban designers, and professionals in urban economics, sociology, planning, conservation, and history.

Mini Bhatia

Jeroo Mulla

Jeroo Mulla has been the Head of the Sophia Institute of Social Communications Media as well as Head of the Social Communications Media Department, Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai. She has been teaching film appreciation, photography and the Fundamental Concepts of Communications, and supervising student documentaries at the Sophia Polytechnic for over thirty years.

She was appointed to the Film Censor Board as an Advisory Panel member in 1987. She was awarded a Fellowship and Gold Medal by the Association of Business Communicators of India. She is currently on the advisory board of WIFT (Women in Film and Television) as well as the Asia Society for their New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters.

Jeroo Mulla is also an accomplished Bharatnatyam exponent who has trained under the renowned guru Acharya Parvatikumar. She continues to teach film and photography as visiting faculty at Sophia Polytechnic and at various other media institutes. She is also a media consultant and on the advisory boards of the Xavier’s BMM course and the Haridev University of Communications in Jaipur.

Shernaz Patel

Shernaz Patel is one of India’s leading actors with a vast oeuvre critically-acclaimed theatre productions and films. In 2001, she was awarded the Charles Wallace scholarship which enabled her to do a Masters in Acting from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

She has worked with leading directors like Nasseruddin Shah, Vijaya Mehta, Toni Patel, Lillete Dubey, Rahul Da Cunha as well as Rehaan Engineer. Some of her well-known productions include plays like Arms and the Man, Letters to my Daughter, Love Letters and The Class of ’84. Besides being a practitioner,

Shernaz is also a keen supporter of the cause of theatre. In 1993, she formed the theatre company, Rage along with theatre veterans Rahul Da Cunha and Rajit Kapoor. The company has not only produced famous productions like I am not Bajirao but is also involved in the pursuit of encouraging original Indian plays in English.

Rage’s Writer’s Bloc festival now takes place annually in collaboration with the British Council. Through it, selected writers go through a residential workshop and their plays are then taken on by various directors to be professionally produced. Most recently, Shernaz was Head of Acting at Whistling Woods International School.

Tasneem Fatehi

Tasneem is a graduate in English Literature from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She has over two decades experience teaching Drama. She ran a center for children teaching the Trinity College, London Programme in Speech & Drama and Performance, and directed several children’s plays.
She currently heads Theatre Professionals Education and empowers schools and teachers with tools and methods of Drama to make learning more experiential.

Tasneem started her work in theatre, working with several theatre companies as a Production Manager. She co founded Theatre Professionals starting with managing the Acting Workshop Programme and the Intensive Drama Program which eventually gave birth to the Drama School Mumbai.

Bhavna Thakur

Bhavna Thakur has had a successful year of career in corporate finance. She started off as an M&A and capital markets lawyer at Davis Polk and Wardwell, New York and then Paul, Weiss, London.

She has worked as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and India. More recently she was the Head of Equity – Capital Markets Origination at Citi Group, India. She has taken public companies like Just Dial, Coal India, and LT Finance, with massive success. She has deep experience working with senior management teams, PE & VC groups & Government institutions.

Her core experience and ongoing interests lie in emerging markets, technology, finance and seeding women high-growth entrepreneurs. She has also been an angel investor with Indian Angel Network, Mumbai.

Bhavna is a theatre enthusiast and used to run a non-profit theatre company called Alter Ego in New York that staged Off-Off Broadway shows between 2002 and 2007.

Sanjoy K. Roy

Sanjoy K. Roy is the Managing Director of Teamwork Arts. Teamwork Arts produces over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals, including the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards and the annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.

He is a founder trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust that provides support services for street and working children in the inner city of Delhi. Over 55,000 children have benefited from education, training, and residential services over the past 30 years through Salaam Balak.

The White House recently presented him the US President’s Committee of Arts and Humanities Award for an International Organisation. He is an advisor for arts and diversity for numerous government and non-governmental organizations across the world.

Jehan Manekshaw

Jehan Manekshaw is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Theatre Professionals Eduction. He is also a Co-Founder and Head of School at Drama School Mumbai.

For Theatre Professionals, Jehan has co-designed and developed strategic Drama-in-Education programmes for schools. Jehan also oversees multiple workshops and residencies for drama specialists and drama educators to advance the practice of applied drama.

He has taught as guest faculty at Ninasam Theatre Institute, Karnataka, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Shinshu University, Japan, and National School of Drama’s T.I.E division in Agartala.

He also has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, UK, and Japan. As Head of the Drama School Mumbai, Jehan leads pedagogy and course design for the faculty and guest faculty team.

Jehan is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for his work towards the advancement of the practice of theatre in India.

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Niloufer Sagar

Niloufer Sagar has over two decades of experience working in arts management both in India and abroad. Her specializations are theatre productions, festival management, and site-responsive work.

She currently works with various artists including Terence Lewis and his dance company and theatre-maker Yuki Ellias. She has also been associated with British Council, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, Jindal Arts Centre, and theatre companies Masque and Rage.

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Tushar Pandey

Tushar is an actor, director and teacher, practising performance since 2003. He was Inlaks Shivdasani International Scholar and specilizes in Lecoq’s Pedagogy.

Tushar has presented his work in at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as in England, Greece, Dubai, China, and India. His film credits include several Hindi films including the critically acclaimed Pink, and Beyond Blue which premiered at Marche du Film (Cannes Film Festival, 2015).

He received a special mention as Best Actor at a festival in Rome; December 2015. Tushar is also guest faculty at National School of Drama, Delhi

Brian Tellis

Executive Team

Jehan Manekshaw

Director

Jehan Manekshaw is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Theatre Professionals Eduction. He is also a Co-Founder and Head of School at Drama School Mumbai.

For Theatre Professionals, Jehan has co-designed and developed strategic Drama-in-Education programmes for schools. Jehan also oversees multiple workshops and residencies for drama specialists and drama educators to advance the practice of applied drama.

He has taught as guest faculty at Ninasam Theatre Institute, Karnataka, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Shinshu University, Japan, and National School of Drama’s T.I.E division in Agartala.

He also has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, UK, and Japan. As Head of the Drama School Mumbai, Jehan leads pedagogy and course design for the faculty and guest faculty team. Jehan is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for his work towards the advancement of the practice of theatre in India.

Irawati Karnik

Academic Head

Irawati Karnik is a writer, playwright, screenwriter, translator, dramaturg and actor based out of Mumbai. She writes in Marathi, Hindi and English.

Irawati began her theatre journey by working closely with the late Chetan Datar for the theatre group Awishkar, founded by the late Vijay Tendulkar. Since then, she has collaborated closely with several imminent theatre directors to create plays that have been performed across the country. An alumnus of Sir J.J. School of Fine Arts, Irawati has also worked towards Research and Documentation of Indian contemporary art. Her writing and translation features in books published by Bodhana Arts & Research Foundation. A number of her translations, both fiction and non-fiction, have been published by Oxford University Press. Irawati has won several awards for her work including the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in 2009, Best Original Script awards at the Mahindra Excellence in Theater Awards, and The Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad Award among many others.

Irawati’s recent film ‘Anandi Gopal’ won the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues in 2021.

Ekta Doshi

Executive Head

With more than 10 years of extensive experience both in retail and corporate world across all divisions – starting from admin, operations, sales, branding & marketing, business and franchise development, etc from junior level to being part of senior management covering almost all areas of the education sector, Ekta Doshi has a proven record of getting results in any project handled and revenue generation in the companies she has worked.

Her personal motto is ‘to achieve something one has to be mad for it!’ And that makes her an all time learner.

Prachi Koppikar

Assistant General Manager

Maneesh Verma

Special Projects Director (Ekalavya)

National School of Drama | Founder, Creative Director & Producer at Collective Madness Studios.
Maneesh has over 20 years of extensive theatre experience with 60 major theatre productions. For the last 12 years, he has been producing theatre in multiple genres like musicals, social drama, comedy & plays for children. Apart from being a professional actor, Maneesh is also a corporate trainer and regularly works with CSW Associates as a performance consultant on training projects for multi-national companies like Goldman Sachs, Apple, Deutsch Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Microsoft, Barclays and others.

Since 2007, Maneesh had worked in over a hundred productions, performing in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong and America. Maneesh is also a self-taught website designer and developer and has been handling DSM’s branding for the past year.

Shruti Arora

Programme Manager

Shruti Arora is a Drama School Mumbai alumna (2018-19). She is a theatre practitioner, actor and writer. She has worked as Company Manager with The Blind and The Elephant Theatre group handling entire production management and shows bookings.

She was a freelance theatre artist and an independent filmmaker in Delhi for 8 years. During this time, she worked with the Helen O’ Grady Drama Academy (Delhi/NCR) as a Head Mentor and Production Head for their drama productions. She has also worked with Khilona Theatre as an actor performing with and for children.

Shruti has worked for NDTV in the past as an assistant producer, and for Coca-Cola as a Project Head on their training modules for five years. She volunteered with NGOs like Aman Biradri, YWCA, Sangrakshika and Saureena Ashrey as a drama teacher. She is actively working with a Human Rights-based NGO – Mission Bhartiyam, on their Indo-Pak Peace initiative ‘Aaghaz-e-Dosti’.

Phalguni Vittal Rao

Communications Coordinator

Phalguni Vittal Rao is an actor, writer/journalist and theatre-maker. She is currently the Communications Coordinator for DSM and the Librarian at Bhasha Centre’s The Drama Library. She has also worked with Firstpost, The New Indian Express and The Better India in the past. She holds a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (2016-17) and a BA in Theatre Studies, Communication and Media, and English (2013-16) from Christ University, Bangalore.

Phalguni has been performing and writing about theatre since 2013. She has been a part of multiple productions such as Oliver!, Medea, As You Like It, and A Man For All Seasons to name a few. In 2020, she performed at Thespo-22 in The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries (directed by Sébastien Heins), an interactive audio-based experience done completely over the telephone. In 2021, she worked with Indian Ensemble as the production manager for A Zoom Call Re:Birds and performed in The Shakespeare Company of India’s Cymbeline (directed by Jemma Levy).

Apart from theatre, Phalguni is an avid reader, an amateur self-taught pianist and a basketball player who aspires to create an empathetic world through her stories and performances. She continues to explore voicework and physical forms such as Kalaripayattu, yoga, dancing and sports, and looks forward to keep working on screen and stage.

Floyd Gonsalves

Course Manager