Balraj Pandit

Balraj Pandit was a well-known Hindi and Punjabi playwright besides being a theatre director, poet, painter and a popular teacher. His Paanchwan Sawaar (पांचवा सवार) is considered a classic and a significant play of Indian dramaturgy. The play has been staged many times by different theatre troupes with actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Manohar Singh among other playing roles. Lok Udaasi (ਲੋਕ ਉਦਾਸੀ) in Punjabi was another of his well-known plays besides Biwiyon Ka Madrasa an adaptation of Molière's L'École des Femmes (The School for Wives). Panditji, as he was fondly called, graduated from National School of Drama, New Delhi in 1969. He studied theatre under such stalwarts as Ebrahim Alkazi and then after a short stint of teaching in NSD he joined Theatre and Television Department at Punjabi University in Patiala. He taught generations of students there till his retirement.