Theatre Director Arvind Gaur Reflects on Asmita Journey from Shahdara to New York
Veteran theatre writer and director Arvind Gaur, founder of the socially-driven theatre group Asmita, has reflected on decades of staging activist plays across Delhi, tracing his artistic roots from childhood observations in Shahdara to an upcoming international performance in New York.
Gaur, 63, recalled that his awareness of social divides began as an eight-year-old watching students from a municipal school in Shahdara walk in dusty chappals while public school students wore shiny shoes. Later, in Class 6, he faced discrimination from a teacher over speech fluency and pronunciation, which pushed him to improve his skills and eventually excel in school debates by Class 9. During Class 10, he participated in a student protest demanding that jute mats kept in storage be made available in classrooms, an experience that reinforced his belief in direct action.
His introduction to the stage came in the summer of 1968 at the Delhi Public Library at Kuria Pul, then an active cultural centre hosting drama on Thursdays. His first line on stage was from Badal Sircar’s play "Julus". After being expelled from a Delhi polytechnic institute for student politics while studying electronics and communication, Gaur turned to journalism, working with publications such as Navbharat Times and later PTI TV. During the 1980s, he frequently gathered with fellow journalists and artists at Mandi House.
Following his work in relief camps after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Gaur staged "Videshi Aaya" in 1986 with students from Zakir Hussain College at the capital's Boat Club. In 1993, he committed full-time to theatre and staged Asmita’s debut production, Bhisham Sahni’s "Hanoosh". The opening day forced a last-minute cast reshuffle, convincing Gaur to build a practice around training his own performers. Over the years, his acting workshops have trained performers including Kangana Ranaut, Deepak Dobriyal, Manu Rishi Chadha, and Sonam Kapoor.
Asmita has since focused on independent street theatre and proscenium productions addressing workers' rights, religious intolerance, and acid attack survivors, performing across factories, colleges, slums, and residential colonies. Gaur noted that while audiences and opportunities have grown, the city still lacks a cohesive cultural policy. Gaur is now preparing to stage the solo play "Aruna's Story", based on the case of nurse Aruna Shanbaug, in New York next month.
