The President Honored Rajasthan's Pantomime Artist Vilas Janve with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

• 24 Feb 2023

Why In News?

On February 23, 2023, President Draupadi Murmu awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 2021 to Rajasthan's senior artist Vilas Janve at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. On this occasion, 128 artists of the country were honored with the Academy Award.

Key points

• As a reward, Vilas Janve was given a copper letter, one lakh rupees and a garment.
• It is noteworthy that 68-year-old Vilas Janve has been associated with pantomime for the last five decades. He has also received senior fellowship in the field of pantomime from the Ministry of Culture in 2001.
• He is the fifth artist in the country to receive this prestigious award in pantomime. Earlier this award Guru Yogesh Dutta of Bengal, Padma Shri Niranjan Goswami, Moinul Haque of Assam and Sapan Nandi of Tripura have got it.
• It is known that Vilas Janve, along with his wife Kiran Janve, has performed in national pantomime festivals since 1998, as well as directed pantomime workshops for art academies and educational institutions in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan.
• Besides assisting his mentor Padmashree Niranjan Goswami in pantomime workshops, he has composed many pantomimes on historical and social themes. He has also demonstrated his art on many forums of the country.
• Janve, who was Program Officer for 28 years at the Western Zone Cultural Center, Udaipur, also worked as a consultant at the CCRT Regional Center, Udaipur. He has also given training in pantomime at the Central Jail, Udaipur.
• Vilas Janve has also innovated by pantomiming the poems of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize composition 'Gitanjali'.