The ANK Story
Having come into being in 1976, Ank picked up momentum in 1978 with the emergence of Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. Today, Ank has one of the largest bodies of work in Hindi Theatre, participating in numerous festivals and having travelled extensively in India and abroad with its productions. Starting with an almost non-existent Hindi theatre audience in Mumbai, Ank took on the task of creating a regular Hindi theatre-going and ticket-buying audience in Mumbai while laying the foundations and uniting a group of committed theatre workers.
Today, Ank’s repertoire spans from original Hindi works to the best in national & international theatre, covering everything from thought-provoking, serious, tragic courtroom dramas to deeply comical and outright farcical plays. Now, Ank is also creating theatre with and for children.
Along with “Hai Mera Dil,” other prominent plays in Ank’s repertoire include Vijay Tendulkar’s Anji’ (760 shows), Khamosh! Adalat Jari Hai’, Jaat Hi Poochho Sadhu Ki’, Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhoore’, Mahesh Elkunchwar’s ‘Atmakatha’, adaptations like Beewion Ka Madarsa’ (830 shows), Bhaagam Bhaag’ (664 shows), Tere Pyar Mein’, Tum Kya Jano Preet’, Javed Siddiqui’s ‘Hamesha’, and Asghar Wajahat’s ‘Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhyan’ (406 shows).
Along with participating in many National School of Drama festivals, Ank has organised seminars and workshops at its own festivals to encourage meetings and exchanges among theatre personalities.
Ank, Mumbai, is likely the only theatre group to have acted as cultural ambassadors when invited by the Government of Mauritius to perform our plays Beewion Ka Madarsa and Pagla Ghoda during India’s Republic Day celebrations in 1991 under the aegis of ICCR, New Delhi. Our Founder Director, Dinesh Thakur, delighted in interacting with the then President of Mauritius, who fondly remarked that Mauritius was a country whose Gods lived in India.
In 2015, Ank performed Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya at the DAKTAK Theatre in one of Dubai’s largest malls. Ank was also invited by the Indian Consulate to showcase the play for the international diplomatic community, receiving much appreciation and exhilaration.
In July 2017, we were invited by the Nehru Centre in London to showcase our solo play, Prashn Panchali. The performance was met with applause, and it was a delight to meet Vibha Mehdiratta, Second Secretary of Culture, and the then Deputy Director of the Nehru Centre.
In November 2018, Ank was the only Indian theatre group invited to perform six shows of Ek Din Bank Mein at the Hindi Theatre Festival by Dastak in Singapore.
Unfortunately, we lost our Founder Director, Dineshji, on September 20, 2012. We are deeply aggrieved but determined to carry on his remarkable legacy. We hope to honour it justly.
Under the stewardship of Preeta Mathur Thakur, Ank continues to seek unique horizons of growth. In 2013 and 2014, Ank performed Hai Mera Dil and Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya in border areas of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, and Jammu, entertaining the Indian Armed Forces under a State Bank of India initiative.
It has been our great pleasure to bring meaningful entertainment to Army personnel in desolate border areas.
In our series of working with eminent directors, Ank staged Krishna Sobti’s Mitro Marjani, directed by Shri Devendra Raj Ankur (Ex-Director National School of Drama), in May 2013, and Kaamiya, directed by Shri Ram Gopal Bajaj (Ex-Director National School of Drama), in May 2014.
Ank opened its 82nd production, Atke Bhatke Latke Sur—a comedy in two solo acts written and directed by National Award-winning writer Ashok Mishra—in December 2014.
Furthermore, Beewion Ka Madarsa was revived and premiered in April 2016 at NCPA’s Ananada Hindi Natya Utsav to a delightful reception. Our next production, Veena Bakshi’s Bas… Tum Aur Hum—a contemporary original work—premiered in May 2017, also at NCPA’s Ananada Hindi Natya Utsav, marking a new chapter in Ank’s content.
In 2017, we also took Prashn Panchali to Ajmer for the first time and then to Manav Rachna University, Faridabad, on International Women’s Day 2018.
Ank marks its annual milestones with ‘The Dinesh Thakur Memorial Festivals’ in various Indian cities, partnering with local theatre groups or associations. This unique collaboration involves local/regional theatre groups and provides opportunities for valuable learning for us and theatre groups across the country.
The first Dinesh Thakur Memorial Festival, celebrating 40 years of Ank, began in September 2016 with Vihaan of Bhopal and was a resounding success. This was followed by festivals in Mumbai in November 2016 and the Bikaner Theatre Festival in March 2017. The festival continued in April 2017 in Jabalpur with Vivechana, featuring theatre talks and workshops. It made waves in Jaipur in August 2017 with IPTA Jaipur and then in Dehradun with the NGO REACH.
The first chapter of Ank’s 42nd Anniversary Dinesh Thakur Memorial Festival took place in Bhopal in September 2018, followed by Agra in October 2018 with Ranglok.
Ank’s 43rd Anniversary Dinesh Thakur Memorial Festival took place in Ajmer in June 2019, in association with Kala Ankur and the Rotary Club of Ajmer.
In 2019, Ank also premiered a new production, Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi, a comedy highlighting the generational clash set against the backdrop of a wedding.
The years 2020 and 2021 were times of deep distress and isolation, as for the rest of the world. In response, we developed new skills, creating audio and video dramatic story narrations in collaboration with Ep.log, bringing forth gems from our rich literary legacy.
The great works of Munshi Premchand, Phanishwarnath Renu, Manto, Krishna Sobti, Ismat Chugtai, Suryabala Lal, Tejendra Sharma, Dinesh Thakur, Ranbir Sinh, and others are available to our audiences as podcasts.
We are also active on our YouTube channel ‘Ank Studio PMDT’ and podcast platforms such as Spotify, Gaana, Jio Saavan, and Ep.log Media. Major podcast projects on The Buddha and Rani Abbakka—the Warrior Queen of Ullal—are currently being planned.
We explored ‘Online Theatre’ and participated in online theatre festivals by Jairangam and the West Zone Cultural Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although theatre artists were severely impacted, we are pleased to have expanded our work.
Post-COVID, we ventured out with our productions: Hai Mera Dil to Jabalpur and Atke Bhatke Latke Sur, Hai Mera Dil, and Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi to Kolkata for Padatik, the Railways, and Sangeet Kala Mandir.
In 2023, Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya was presented at the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Festival, Hai Mera Dil at NSD’s Bharangam Festival in Nashik, and Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi at the International Theatre Festival in Jodhpur. Jis Lahore celebrated 400 shows and 20 years in March 2023 with a full house and awards for the creators.
In 2023, for the first time, Ank produced an English play, William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered at Prithvi Theatre in May. In August 2023, we revived Hum Dono, written by Dinesh Thakur, at Prithvi Theatre. In July 2023, Ank performed two productions at Rang Shankara, Bengaluru, independently. We were also part of the Vivechana Theatre Festival in November 2023 with Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi.
In 2024, Ank, in partnership with the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, presented its latest comedies, Hum Dono and Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi, to much appreciation.
Building up on the idea of taking Hindi theatre to different parts of the country, Ank was invited to perform ‘JIS LAHORE NAHI DEKHYA’ at The Ranchi Club in Ranchi. Ank was also a part of the centenary celebrations of Hindu College, Amritsar with 2 shows of ‘JIS LAHORE NAHI DEKHYA.’
Under the Ank Story Project, Ank Theatre Group presented Mudrika Rehasya, a witty satire based on Sharad Joshi’s work, in collaboration with Rotary Club Thane Premium. Staged on September 18, 2024, at Kashinath Ghanekar Natyagriha, Thane West, the performance marked Hindi Diwas celebrations.
Abhigyan Shakuntalam aur Mudrika Rehasya—Ek Kahaani… Ek Rahasya—was uniquely adapted and directed by Preeta Mathur Thakur. The cast included Preeta Mathur Thakur, Aman Gupta, Atul Mathur, Ravish Kumar, Durgesh Buxy and Lata Sanjay as guest artists from Rotary club, with music by Darshan Pawar.
In April 2025, Ank Theatre Group staged its iconic production Hai Mera Dil at the Pioneer Theatre in Castle Hill, Sydney, to a packed house and thunderous applause. Presented in association with SCREAN Australia and curated by Manju Mittal, this marked the 1,178th performance of the play globally. A tribute to Ank’s late founder Dinesh Thakur, Hai Mera Dil is a Hindi adaptation of the classic American comedy Send Me No Flowers, masterfully written by Ranbir Singh and originally directed by Thakur himself.
Three new productions, HUMDUM’, ‘VEERA RANI ABBAKKA’, as well as a production of Aaga Hashr Kashmiri’s SEETA BANVAS are planned for 2024-25. A revival of our favourite ‘AAPAS KI BAAT’ based on the stories of Anton Chekov and the ANK-STORY PROJECT—an innovative story presentation format—is under rehearsals
. A multi-media storytelling project on Manu Bhandari’s story YAHI SAACH HAI has already been completed. Ank is also in the process of finalising another children’s play, SANGU, on the importance of water and soil conservation. Shows are being planned in Pune, Bhopal, and Amritsar.
