Actors

Aditi Bhagwat

-Sajili/Sonia

Aditi Bhagwat is a Kathak exponent and disciple of Dr. Roshan Kumari and Ms. Nandita Puri. She has trained in Odissi under Ms. Jhelum Paranjpe and has also mastered several other folk dances of India. Classified as an ‘A-Grade Artist’ by Doordarshan, India’s National TV channel and as an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), she has performed not only in India but on foreign lands such as U.S.A, U.K., East Africa, Maldives, Dubai and Australia.

She has rendered Kathak performances for numerous events like Third Eye Asian Film Festival, Mumbai Festival, inauguration of 13th World Men’s Volley Ball Championship 2005, Kala Ghoda Mahaotsava, Bandra Festival, Marathi Chitrapat Mahotsava ’06 and many more. In 2010, Aditi collaborated with American musicians to conceptualize and craft a unique show Taal, Saaz Aur Alfaaz, that was performed across major cities in the USA.

Aditi has established herself as an actress through movies like Chalu Nawara Bholi Baiko, Dombivili Fast, Tahaan and Aai No. 1 in Marathi and has also performed special solo dance sequences in Marathi films. In addition to movies she has been part of television soaps such as Avantika and Kumari Gangubai Non-Matric in Marathi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Koi Jane Na in Hindi. She has also had the opportunity to perform a special dance sequence for ace director Madhur Bhandarkar in his film Traffic Signal.

Aditi has also modeled for brands like Duroflex Mattresses, Zensar Software Company, Weikfield Masala, Tata Indicom, Surya bulbs and Maruti Suzuki.

Felicitated for her contribution to the field of dance by Kala Vikas Mandal, Aditi is also a recipient of the Maharashtra Kala Niketan Puraskar for her acting debut in Chalu Nawara Bholi Bayko. Her latest Marathi film Sumbaran was selected at the IIFI 2010 and won her excellent reviews and accolades.

Pandit Kalinath Mishra - Tabla Maestro

-Pandit Shankaracharya/Guruji

One of India’s foremost and excellent Tabla players, Pandit Kalinath Mishra was born in the family of the renowned musician Pandit Madan Mishra and learnt to play the Tabla from Pandit Kishan Maharaj of the Banaras Gharana.

Over the years, Kalinath has developed a unique style of playing, wherein he infuses tremendous energy with his nimble fingers, causing the Tabla beats to flow out in beautiful melodious sound. His playing is effortless and in spite of being a solo percussionist his ability to adapt to a varied way of playing makes him an exceptional accompanying artiste also. He has worked his magic with the likes of Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Kathak Queen Sitaradevi, Minakshi Sheshadri and many more.

Kalinath Mishra also has a number of prestigious festivals and events to his credit like the Tansen Sangeet Sammelan, Kala Ghoda Festival, Kathak Samaroha, Kathak Maohatsav, Durga Maohatsav, Ganga Sammelan, Kalidas Maohatsav, Ellora Festival, Taj Festival and Khajuraho Festival and numerous others. He has also enthralled viewers through his performances on TV channels like Zee TV, Music Asia and others.

Pandit Kalinath’s exceptional playing and talent have taken him all over the world, delighting audiences in South Africa, USA, France, UAE, Germany and Australia. At present he is based in Mumbai where he spends his leisure time teaching ambitious students. He is a devout person by nature, kind and generous to all around him.

Mukesh Rindhani - Shiva

-Hariya/Harry

With hopes of making it in Bollywood, Shiva arrived in Mumbai in 1982 and immediately enrolled for an acting course at Roshan Taneja Acting Institute, on completion of which he got an opportunity to face the camera for the first time in the 1984 hit Ghar Ek Mandir as actor Shakti Kapoor’s henchman. On recommendation of Allan Gill, a costume designer of former times, Shiva registered himself at Madhumati Dance Classes to polish his dancing skills, a must-have prerequisite for actors in Hindi Cinema. For almost three years he struggled to acquire meatier, more prominent roles yet never refusing insignificant ones since they kept him going while also adding to his steadily expanding body of work.

Finally perseverance and patience coupled to fetch him a negative but momentous role in one of Hindi Cinema’s evergreen masterpiece Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and as audiences appreciated his memorable performance in the film, offers poured in from prominent filmmakers. Shiva’s next big flick was the multi-starrer Hum—a huge blockbuster, his character ‘Captain Zattack’ became extremely popular among viewers—after which he was flooded with offers and went on to do films like Roja, Main Khiladi Tu Anadi, Gopi Kishan, Dil Aashna Hai and Mohabbat. He was also seen on the small screen in daily soaps like Junoon and Mulk (both on Zee TV), Sonpari (Star Plus), Aahat, C.I.D and Koi Hai (Sony), collectively in over 4,000 episodes. As member of Aadakar Acting Company, Shiva has acted in experimental and commercial plays in cities and towns across India.

An extremely unpretentious and chivalrous person, Shiva is still going strong as an actor in Bollywood and in parallel cinema.

Nakul Ghanekar

-Anwar

Nakul started training in Kathak under Dr. Rajkumar Ketkar at age eight and continued to learn till he was 15, when he took a sabbatical to concentrate on western dance. His passion for the performing art was such that he took part in every dance/theatre related event in school besides being brilliant at academics. Nakul also started training in contemporary dance and later joined a dance troupe that went on to perform at the Asian Film Festival and a dance event titled Indradhanu. His troupe has also performed with Indian pop singer Mehnaz.

Nakul then happened to meet Sonia Parchure, a renowned Marathi and Hindi theatre dance choreographer and she offered him a prominent role for her musical. She coaxed him to resume his Kathak training post which he decided to learn and fine-tune his skills under the able guidance of Mrs. Parchure herself. At present, he is preparing for the Nrityalankar title which is equivalent to Masters in Kathak. He has now established his own dance academy, Different Strokes, where he teaches western dance forms—Salsa, Ballroom, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Jive and Waltz.

Partha Akerkar - Khanilal

-Producer Rustom

Acting since age 8, Partha—not only an outstandingly versatile actor with a degree in English Literature but also a writer and director—has scripted, directed and acted in plays based on diverse themes in English, Hindi and Marathi and also worked in tandem with eminent theatre personalities like Alyque Padamsee, Satyadev Dubey and Chandrakant Kulkarni. He has ventured into all kinds of theatre—improvisational, supper, experimental, social, mime, street-plays and commercial—and has clearly emerged as a shining star of  modern Indian theatre. Partha has acted in more than 25 plays including hits like Tale of Another City, The Arabian Night, 3 Sakina Manzil and Once Upon A Tiger in English, Pramathyu Gaatha and Padtaal in Hindi and Phillum Story, Wrong Number and Mukhavata in Marathi. He was seen in hit TV soaps like Naagin (Zee TV), Vivaah (Zee TV), Paani Puri (Star One), Chaldi Da Naam Gaddi (Zee TV), Bombay Lawyers (NDTV), Hero (Hungama), Lucky (Star Plus) and Jai Maa Durga (Star Plus).

Partha has also starred in Bollywood films including Horn Ok Pleassss, Halla Bol, Love Story 2050, Woodstock Villa, Dhoka, My Name is Anthony Gonsalves and Krazzy 4. Being a multitalented artist that he is, Partha has done a multitude of ads for reputed brands like Coca Cola, Sprite, Thumbs Up, Fanta, Nestlé, ICICI, Franklinn Templeton, Bingo Chips, National Geographic Channel and Channel [V].

Recently, he was declared winner of Idea Bollywood Club, a reality show on Zoom and celebrities like Shweta Kumar, Satish Kaushik, Madhur Bhandarkar and Sajid-Wajid unanimously voted for him as the champion.

Inderjit Nagi

-Mickey

Also the Creative Director of Dreamgirls of Bollywood, Inderjit takes advantage of this platform to showcase his acting ability. He was the unanimous choice of teachers and fellow students at his school for inter-school plays and drama and remains an amateur actor.