This year, 18 October 2025, marks the centenary of Ebrahim Alkazi—the legendary theatre director, art connoisseur, educator, and institution-builder whose influence on Indian theatre, pedagogy, and aesthetics remains unparalleled. Though a century has passed since his birth, Alkazi’s legacy feels immediate and alive, continuing to shape the sensibility of Indian theatre and its allied arts, more so with his legacy perpetuated through Alkazi Foundation for Arts.
When I look back today, I feel a deep sense of privilege and gratitude to have hosted his monumental retrospective, The Theatre of Ebrahim Alkazi: A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre, at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai in 2016. Although Lalit Kala had organised an exhibition earlier on Alkazi, but due to the paucity of space to present the life and times of Alkazi, full justice could not be done in the exhibition at Delhi and in that sense the exhibition at NGMA Mumbai was truly remarkable and one of the most meaningful curatorial experiences for Amal Allana daughter of Alkazi, who curated this exhibition during my tenure as Director of NGMA Mumbai. The exhibition served as a befitting homage paid to the living legend, a towering figure whose work defined an era of modern Indian theatre. Unfortunately, although it was planned that Alkazi would be personally present at the valedictory of the exhibition, unfortunately due to his ailing health the nonagenarian could not make it to the exhibition.
On his passing in August 2020, I had paid my tribute on my blog whose link is appended at the end of this write up.
A Visionary Born of Many Worlds
Ebrahim Alkazi was born on 18 October 1925 in Pune, to a Saudi Arabian father and a Kuwaiti mother. Among nine siblings, young Alkazi grew up in a multilingual household, speaking Arabic, Marathi, Gujarati, and English with ease. His early schooling at St. Vincent’s High School in Pune and later studies at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay, exposed him to the vibrancy of India’s emerging cosmopolitan arts scene.
It was in Bombay that his lifelong engagement with theatre began—first as a member of Sultan “Bobby” Padamsee’s Theatre Group, which would become the crucible of India’s modern English theatre movement. Later, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, graduating in 1947—the very year of India’s independence. During his RADA years, he directed over fifty plays and won the BBC Broadcasting Award (1950).
Although offered lucrative and prestigious opportunities in the United Kingdom, Alkazi chose to return to India. In that singular act of choice—of return and commitment—he announced his larger vision: to build, not borrow; to create an Indian modernism grounded in its own soil.
The Bombay Years and the Curator’s Eye
On his return, Alkazi immersed himself in Bombay’s artistic ferment of the 1950s. With Roshen Alkazi and their circle of collaborators, he co-founded the Theatre Unit, which became the crucible for English-language theatre in the city. Alongside his theatre productions, he edited Theatre Unit Bulletin and curated the remarkable 13-part lecture series This Is Modern Art, bridging theatre with visual culture.
These activities prefigured what later became a defining feature of his vision: the confluence of theatre, art, and design. He maintained close associations with members of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group—Husain, Raza, Souza, and Padamsee—inviting them to collaborate on stage sets, posters, and scenography. This early fusion of art and theatre was not incidental; for Alkazi, stagecraft, lighting, costume, and space were as integral to performance as the actor or the text.
At the National School of Drama: Institution and Discipline
In 1962, Alkazi took charge as Director of the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi—a post he held with distinction for fifteen years until 1977. His tenure remains the most transformative period in the institution’s history, often referred to as the “golden age of NSD.”
He revolutionised training by introducing a rigorous, holistic curriculum that combined classical Indian traditions with modern international theatre practices. Under his guidance, students were trained not only in acting but also in design, lighting, movement, direction, and dramaturgy.
Alkazi also founded the NSD Repertory Company (1964) to ensure that training found immediate expression in professional performance. His legendary productions—Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq, Mohan Rakesh’s Ashadh Ka Ek Din, and Dharamvir Bharati’s Andha Yug—set new aesthetic benchmarks. His Andha Yug, performed in the Purana Qila in Delhi, remains etched in memory as a site-specific masterpiece that turned history into a living stage.
Alkazi’s exacting standards were both feared and revered. He was known to arrive at dawn rehearsals, demanding from students a near-spiritual devotion to craft. For him, theatre was not a pastime—it was discipline, ethics, and vocation. His protégés—Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Uttara Baokar, Rohini Hattangadi, Pankaj Kapoor, and many others—carry forward that ethos even today, a testament to his enduring influence. Incidentally, many of his students made it to the opening of his retrospective at NGMA Mumbai.
Archives and the Alkazi Foundation
After stepping down from NSD, Alkazi turned increasingly toward the archival and curatorial domains. He founded Art Heritage Gallery in Delhi in 1977, a space that championed both modern and experimental Indian art. His passion for preservation and scholarship culminated in the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts (AFA), which today include invaluable archives comprising more than 100,000 historical photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries; and also a repository documenting Alkazi’s own productions as well as the broader evolution of Indian stagecraft.
Incidentally, during my tenure as the Director of NGMA Bangalore, I witnessed first hand a glimpse of the collection of some of these rare photographs from the collections of AFA during an exhibition (2013), the ‘DAWN UPON DELHI - The Rise of Capital' which was organised by the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with NGMA Delhi. This exhibition showcased a collection of late 19th and mid 20th century engravings, maps, plans, vintage and most importantly archival photographs (from the collection of AFA), the Archaeological Survey of India, the Central Public Works Department archives and the archives of D.N. Chaudhuri and Habib Rahman. This exhibition left a lasting impression on me. Today as we celebrate the birth centenary of Ebrahim Alkazi, coincidentally, CSMVS, where I am currently serving as a Senior Advisor, is hosting an exhibition titled "Disobedient Subjects: Bombay 1930–1931" which showcases the Civil Disobedience Movement in Mumbai, more particularly by women. This exhibition organised at CSMVS in collaboration with Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, features rare photographs from the K.L. Nursey album and explores how the camera was used as a tool of resistance during India's freedom struggle and how women in large numbers took part in Mumbai in civil disobedience and freedom struggle. The exhibition also features some of the historical photographs from the collections of Mani Bhavan with which I am associated.
The AFA has ensured that the visual and performative histories of India have not lost to time, like most of our ancient history. Alkazi’s concept of the living archive—one that provokes inquiry rather than merely stores information—continues to inspire curators, archivists, and historians alike and has motivated several other institutions to develop their own archives like the CSMVS which has its own archives.
The 2016 Retrospective at NGMA Mumbai
The exhibition “Theatre of Ebrahim Alkazi: A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre” a retrospective exhibition of Alkazi, organised at NGMA Mumbai in 2016, when I headed this installation, has helped the legacy of Alkazi to be captured in vivid memories of people. This retrospective exhibition, curated by his daughter Amal Allana and her husband Nissar Allana, unfolded across the NGMA’s magnificent grand semicircular galleries, one leading to the other, transforming them into an architectural journey through a life devoted to theatre, art and crafts. Inaugurated on 9 September 2016 by H.E. Saud Al-Sati, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India, the opening of the exhibition was graced by Alyque Padamsee, Vijaya Mehta, Amal and Nissar Allana, and several of Alkazi’s distinguished students and admirers and art connoisseurs of Mumbai. Sharing the stage with these luminaries, during the opening of this exhibition will ever remain etched in my memory
The exhibition traced Alkazi’s journey—from his early years in Pune and Bombay to his NSD tenure and later archival pursuits. The gallery walls carried mock-ups of theatre posters, scale models of sets, and rare photographs from productions such as Tughlaq and Andha Yug. A striking installation titled The Alkazi Times presented a 60-foot timeline of his life interspersed with historical headlines, political events, and theatre milestones. Every exhibit spoke of discipline, innovation, and vision. For visitors and practitioners of arts alike, the show became a bridge between the past and the present, reminding us how one man’s singular dedication reshaped Indian theatre.
This exhibition was meant to culminate on his 91st birthday, 18 October 2016—a symbolic celebration of his lifelong engagement with the stage. Unfortunately, owing to health restrictions, Alkazi could not travel to attend the valedictory of the exhibition. Yet, his presence was deeply felt in every corner of the NGMA’s galleries that day.
The Legacy of a Theatre Sage
Ebrahim Alkazi redefined what theatre could mean in India. Before him, the stage was often treated as ephemeral—a transient form without permanence. He gave it gravitas, structure, and academic legitimacy.
He combined the modernist precision of RADA with India’s classical and folk energies, building bridges between natya, ritual, and modern dramaturgy. He introduced new ethics to rehearsal, emphasized the architectural design of performance spaces, and placed lighting and scenography at the heart of theatrical creation.
Under his influence, theatre ceased to be an isolated art; it became an ecosystem involving painters, writers, architects, and photographers. His legacy thus straddles not only performance but also education, curation, and institution-building.
His trilogy of Padma awards—Padma Shri (1966), Padma Bhushan (1991), and Padma Vibhushan (2010)—recognizes a lifetime devoted to cultural nation-building. Yet, beyond awards, his truest legacy lies in the generations of artists he trained and the institutional ethos he instilled: integrity, humility, and creative rigor.
A century after his birth, Alkazi’s ideas remain strikingly relevant. At a time when performance is often reduced to spectacle, his belief in process and disciplinestands as a corrective. When arts institutions struggle for continuity, his example reminds us of the necessity of pedagogic vision and institutional stewardship. In an age of digital immediacy, Alkazi’s insistence on rigorous preparation and respect for every aspect of stagecraft feels almost revolutionary. His theatre was not about instant applause; it was about building a culture of excellence, a collective standard that transcended the individual performer.
Alkazi was a man of Arab descent who chose to stay in India, contributing to the shaping of its modern cultural identity. As we commemorate Ebrahim Alkazi’s centenary today, we remember the eternal dramatist, mentor, and visionary of Indian theatre. Long live his legacy.
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