Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2024 and 2025: Theatre Awardees Announced
June 25, 2026 11:45:14 IST MTG editorial
Sangeet Natak Akademi has announced the Akademi Fellowship, Akademi Awards and Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2024 and 2025, celebrating excellence across India’s performing arts sector.
At its General Council meeting held in New Delhi from 22 to 26 March 2026, seven eminent personalities were elected as Akademi Fellows. The council also selected 108 artists for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards and 106 young artists for the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.
The 2024 theatre awardees are Satish Dave, T S Nagabharana, Ravi Chaturvedi and Om Katare for direction; Gummadi Gopala Krishna Rao, Vaagai Chandrasekar and Arun Nalavde for acting; Dhiren Merchant and Dinesh Kumar Poddar for lighting; and Mukund Marathe for traditional theatre in Maharashtra.
The 2025 theatre awardees are Kapildev Chandrakant Shukla, Kallol Bhattacharyya, Navdeep Kaur, Pramod D Pawar and Subodh Patnaik for direction; Chetana Das, Suresh Kumar (Hajju) and Makhanlal Saraf for acting; Ashok Patki for music for theatre; and Usha Nangiar for Nangiarkoothu.
The 2024 Yuva Puraskar theatre recipients are Prasanna Kumar Soni, Atul Satya Koushik, Bidyut Kumar Nath, Arpita Dhagat, Anirudh Sarkar, K Veerammal, Rohit Chandra, Kalamandalam Ravikumar and Debiprasad Mishra.
The 2025 recipients are Ghanshyam Sahu, Oasis Sougaijam, Privendra Kumar Singh, Swati Dubey, Amit Sanouria, Anand Kumar Pandey, Tila Rupa Sapkota, Divyang Srivastav and Kalamandalam Manikantan.
These honours recognise achievements in playwriting, direction, acting, lighting, theatre music and traditional performance practices. The Akademi Fellowship carries ₹3 lakh, the Akademi Award ₹1 lakh and the Yuva Puraskar ₹25,000, along with a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
India Theatre Guide congratulates every awardee on receiving this prestigious national recognition. Their work continues to inspire theatre artists, directors, theatre groups and productions across India.
