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“THREE WOMEN”

A Musical Theatre (In English)

Written, Directed and Composed by Ms. Isheeta Ganguly

Described by renowned Bollywood director Pradeep Sarkar as "a
brilliant production" and actor/activist Nandita Das as "a must
watch", the show has received stellar press reviews across all
mainstream & national media.

AVANTIKA AKERKAR

She has acted in many plays including for the Royal Court theatre festival held in Mumbai and for the BBC radio, Mira Nair, Lilette Dubey and Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal.  She can be seen in the critically acclaimed The Loins of Punjab, and The World Unseen, which premiered at the Toronto and the London Film Festivals in 2007; The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the sequel to the international hit, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Recently she worked with Mira Nair Monsoon Wedding.  She has worked with Oscar winning actors including Jane Fonda, Marissa Tomei, Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and Richard Gere.  And has performed on stage with Eve Ensler in the much-celebrated Vagina Monologues. She’s also performed on the local scene, with Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sen, Vijay Raaz, Smita Biswas (Bandit Queen), Neeraj Kabi (Ship of Theseus) and more.  Avantika has produced plays with noted Israeli Director, Gil Alon, and Royal Court Theatre, London actress, Paddy Navin.   

For more about Mahima visit: www.mahimasaigal.com

MAHIMA SAIGAL

Mahima is an actor, writer, choreographer and cheerleader for everything books, Bollywood and Beyonce. Born and raised in New Delhi, she came to New York in 2013 to study at the Atlantic Theater's Acting School where she got to study Practical Aesthetics with David Mamet and Neil Pepe. In India, Mahima was part of Ashley Lobo’s dance company as well as a member of Nikolina Nikoleski’s Dance Academy. She got her diploma in acting from the Barry John Studios, while she worked at the acclaimed Akshara Nat’l Classical Theatre of India on various productions like Revised Kamasutra.

Her most recent NY credits include: Masha in The Seagull (Columbia University) Westmoreland in Mary V (Theater for the New City), Khemi in Chokher Bali (Hypokrit Theatre Co.) Anjali in Hiding Kanye (Tamasha NYC, She won the Best Featured Actor award in 2016

For more about Mahima visit: www.mahimasaigal.com

ZAYN MARIE KHAN

Zayn Marie Khan has been a theatre lover since her school days. Her love for performing took a serious turn during her years at Stella Maris College, where she was a part of 4 major productions as an actor and director. 

She worked as an Assistant Director on Dharma Productions’ Kapoor and Sons, and Aamir Khan Productions’ Secret Superstar.

Zayn took her first plunge into the world of professional theatre with AKVarious' Stand Up, a serious play about comedy that explores the tension and politics backstage at an open mic Stand Up event. Since its opening at the NCPA in 2016, she has been in 25 shows of Stand Up in Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi, and has more shows lined up this year.

She played the strong and resilient Bengali woman, Abhaya, in renowned theatre director Akash Khurana's Under the Gypsy Moon (based on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Srikanta) as a part of Aditya Birla's Theatre Initiative, Aadyam.

Zayn is also a volunteer with Thespo - India's premier Youth Theatre Movement.

To round off her first year as a professional theatre artist, Zayn was one of 11 Indian actors to collaborate with Renato Rocha from Brazil. Over 8 intensive days, they developed a Performance Art Installation to start a conversation on the Freedom of Expression, or lack thereof.

She is currently performing as a part of an all female cast and crew in Akvarious’ Dekh Behen.

ABHISHEK CHAUHAN

Abhishek Chauhan is an actor, theatre maker from Delhi. His holistic approach to Theatre comes from his formal training at The Drama School Mumbai (2016-17). Fresh out of drama school he started out in Mumbai with FATS for Shikhandi, QTP’s Thespo orientation and poetry recitation shows. Back in Delhi, he worked as an actor with the Actor Factor Theatre Company, Tadpole Repertory and Kaivalya plays under the medium of theatre.

He’s was a part of BAKED!, a web series by Scoopwhoop and Kacche din, a short film by Percept Pictures. Along with corporate gigs he also works as a Theatre Director at schools.

ISHEETA GANGULY

Isheeta is an acclaimed fusion singer and playwright ("Three Women"  "Shakuntala Awaits” and “Sundays with Chitra and Chaitali”.) who began her musical journey at the age of seven and released her first album at fifteen. Raised in the U.S., Turkey, Japan and Indonesia, Isheeta's music weaves together the many threads of her musical journey from her training in Tagore's and Hindustani classical music (under the great maestros Suchitra Mitra & Vijay Kicchlu) to her versatile training and performance in jazz, pop and R&B styles throughout her years of growing up in New York. She has released seven widely acclaimed albums since her childhood and more recently her first fusion album, "Damaru - I Feel Your Rhythm", arranged by Bollywood music producer Shantanu Moithra and Grammy award winning percussionist Tanmoy Bose. Prior to creating “Three Women”, Isheeta collaborated on a number of acclaimed multi-media Tagore fusion projects including "Chiranthan" with Amitabh Bachchan & Tanushree Shankar, "Still I Rise" with danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, "A Tribute to Tagore" with the late Ustad Vilayat Khan and "Riot" with actress Shabana Azmi & Madhur Jaffrey. Isheeta has recently performed for Chelsea Clinton on the Intrepid in New York City as well as for TED X Gateway in Mumbai. Isheeta has just completed the screenplay adaptation for "Three Women" for Yashraj Films which is in pre-production.

Isheeta was previously a management consultant with Deloitte and also served as the Country Head for Sesame Street India. Currently she is also a screenwriter with YashRaj films. She has her BA from Brown University and her Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University.

Venue

Marymount Manhattan College
221 East 71 Street, New York, NY  10021

Program

Cocktail: 5:30 PM
Drama: 7:00 PM
Dinner: 9:00 PM

Asmita Bhatia: 917 903 9478 - Smiti Khanna: 516 317 0146
Divya Shah: 646 229 1133 – Harish Thakkar: 917 301 9333

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Mrs. Divya Shah
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