Playwright, actor, novelist, and documentary filmmaker Partap Sharma passed away early on 30th November 2011. He was in his early seventies and had been suffering from a lung ailment since the past few years. Partap Sharma had various plays to his credit, including A TOUCH OF BRIGHTNESS (1964), which was banned from being performed in Bombay owing to its subject of a prostitute. It was later performed by the Indian National Theatre in 1973. The play was also selected for the first Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965. Later plays included BEGUM SUMROO (1997), ZEN KATHA (2004) and SAMMY! (2005). ZEN KATHA and SAMMY! were produced by Lillete Dubey's Primetime Theatre Co.
Partap Sharma also authored children's books, made documentary films independently and for the Government of India's film division, and for Channel Four Television, UK. He acted in films such as the Merchant-Ivory film 'Shakespeare Wallah' and essayed the role of Nehru in 'The Jewel of India' in 1989. Partap Sharma's voice was one of the most well-known recorded voices of India. He did voice overs for plenty of advertisements and he also lent his voice to recordings of Shakespeare's plays. He did a solo recording for JULIUS CAESAR in 2007, followed by THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and then MACBETH in 2008. He is the recipient of many awards including the Yuva Thespo 9 Lifetime Achievement award.
Click below for Thespo's tribute to Partap Sharma and for the videos uploaded on their Facebook page: