Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of the Sangeet Natak Akademi for the year 2010 were presented by Smt. Leela Samson, Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, at a special function. 33 young artists who have made a mark in their respective fields of performing arts have been selected from all over the country by the General Council of the Akademi for the Puraskar. The presentation ceremony will be followed by a weeklong festival of Music, Dance and Theatre featuring some of the recipients of the year, from 7-13 March 2012 at Kamani Auditorium and in Meghdoot Theatre Complex, Rabindra Bhavan, Copernicus Marg in New Delhi.
The ‘Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar’ was instituted in the year 2006 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, an autonomous body of Ministry of Culture, Government of India and apex institution of performing arts in the country.
The Puraskar is meant to encourage outstanding young talents in diverse fields of performing arts and give them national recognition early in life so that they may work with greater commitment and dedication in life-long pursuit of their chosen art form. The Puraskar is given to performing artists below the age of 40 years as on 1st April of the year of the Puraskar, and covers music, dance, theatre, puppetry and other traditional, folk and tribal forms of performing arts.
In the field of Music, eight artists namely Manjusha Sandeep Patil and Kaushiki Desikan for Hindustani Vocal Music; Suyog Kundalkar (Harmonium) and Ashutosh Upadhayay (Pakhawaj) --- Hindustani Instrumental Music; Savita Narasimhan (Carnatic Vocal Music); Embar Kannan (Violin) and G Guru Prasanna (Kanjira) --- Carnatic Instrumental Music; Alankar Singh for Other Major Traditions of Music – Gurbani Kirtan of Punjab received the Puraskar.
In the field of Dance, eight artists namely Praveen Kumar (Bharatanatyam), Pallabi De (Kathak), M Amaljith (Kathakali), Yeleswarapu Srinivasulu (Kuchipudi), Arushi Mudgal (Odissi), Naren Barua (Sattriya), Madhu Nataraj (Creative & Experimental Dance) and Yogesh Gangani (Music for Dance –Tabla for Kathak) received the Puraskar.
In the field of Theatre also eight artists namely Meeta Mishra and S Thaninleima Chanu for Direction; Anita Shabdeesh, Danish Iqbal, Dakshina Sharma and Pakija Begum for Acting; Rajesh K V (Lighting) for Allied Theatre Arts; Srikanth Natarajan for Major Traditions of Theatre – Bhagavata Mela of Tamil Nadu received the Puraskar.
For their talent in Other Traditional/Folk/Tribal Dance/Music/Theatre and Puppetry, U Natarajan for Folk Dance (Tamil Nadu), Arti Kale Nagarkar for Lavani (Maharashtra), Ahongshangbam Priyarani Devi for Folk Music (Manipur), Fakira Khan for Folk Music (Rajasthan), Manzoor Ul Haq for Soofiyana Kalam (Jammu and Kashmir), Kajuram Salaam for Tribal Dance (Chhattisgarh), Mahmood Farooqui & Murtaza Danish Husaini (Joint Puraskar) for Dastangoi – Folk Narrative (Uttar Pradesh) and Hanumathu Rao for Tolu Bommalatta (Puppetry of Andhra Pradesh) have been selected for the Puraskar.
