Cardamom

When the Shankars decide to cohabitate with their soon to be in-laws a week before the wedding, they scarcely imagined the difficulties of such an arrangement. The two progressive families are thrilled to undertake the wedding but soon discover that there exists convention in the act of being unconventional.

Cardamom is a comedy set against the backdrop of an Indian wedding and showcases every bone-rattling speed bump along the way. The play is an uproarious take on the peculiarities of Indian families, the plight of the tinder generation, and changing landscape of morality in India. Cardamom has wowed full houses before and is coming back on public demand!

Hasnain Shaikh

An actor from the age of 5, is a 24 year old writer with 3 already highly successful and acclaimed shows under his belt. His first play ‘Perspectives’ was written at the age of 17, which garnered high praise, and earned him the title of ‘Bangalore’s youngest playwright’. His second show ‘Cardamom’ was a smash success. The Hindu even placed ‘Cardamom’ on its list of the best plays of 2016. His 3rd original script ‘Between Bestsellers’ was performed for 4 shows at Jagriti theatre and was received tremendously well. He has launched his own theatre troupe, which serves as a new wing of the Bangalore School of Speech and Drama, Natak Nation. His most recent production ‘Running in Place’ was well received by audiences in Jagriti and Rangashankara in early 2018.  Running in Place went on to win 6 awards at the 13thInternational Theatre Festival, Bareilly.

Actors:

Zulfia Shaikh: The founder and Director of the esteemed Bangalore School of Speech and Drama, she has the honour of being a double graduate with distinction in Effective Communication and Drama. She has also been endowed with the honour of receiving an exhibition award in communication from Trinity Guildhall, London. She also holds the world record for scoring the highest in the LTCL (Licentiate planning and teaching diploma) by Trinity Guildhall, London. 

Meghana Shah: Meghana has been passionate about theatre from the age of 12. Having worked with the Bangalore School of Speech And Drama very closely she realised her passion for technical theatre. Having pursued her Degree in Creative Industry  Management at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore she is back in Bangalore to explore all aspects of theatre on and off the stage. 

Aditi Bharatee: From a young age, Aditi Bharatee studied speech and drama under Dr. Zulfia Shaikh at the Bangalore School of Speech and Drama. She is passionate about music and holds a diploma in higher education in music from the KM Music Conservatory in Chennai. During her stint in Chennai, she participated in productions with the theatre group Crea-Shakti. She is now pursuing avenues in both music and theatre in Bangalore.

Aaron Julius Punnen:   While being a medical doctor, acting is something Aaron has been passionate about ever since stumbling upon it in school. Since then, he's been on stage, film, commercials, comedy shows and radio. He also enjoys teaching children theatre.

Navoneil Bhattacharyya: Navoneil has performed in various devised, scripted and playback theatre productions in Bangalore and the UK. He's also a poet and author of short and long fiction. He is a mechanical engineer from NIT Bhopal and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, UK.

Amit Ray: Though a non-techie, Amit steers the strategy ofa mobile-tech company in between watching TEDx and cosmology videos. He pursues other interests like teaching and mentoring students despite rumours that his efforts leave the students further confused. With his remaining time, he is happily married to his best friend. An exacting rationalist, he feels that he will be able to tide over the anxiety of his daughter’s marriage with the help of heavy doses of Cardamom

Sangita Nambiar:  Sangita is an ex-copywriter (though she continues to make occasional forays into advertising) and published author of - From Within The Brink a book of poems. She is currently enjoying exploring the world of theatre.