On July 16, 2019, Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) Fellowships (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the Year 2018 were announced by the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama headquartered at New Delhi. The awards will be conferred by the President of India at a special investiture ceremony.
General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi
The meeting of the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi was held on June 26, 2019 at Guwahati, Assam. It selected 44 artists from the field of Music, Dance, Theatre, Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre, Puppetry and Overall contribution/scholarship in the Performing Arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2018. These 44 artists include three joint awards. The Fellowship of the Akademi is the most prestigious and rare honor, which is restricted to 40 numbers at any given time.
Prize Money
Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of Rs 3,00,000 and Akademi Award carries Rs 1,00,000, besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow (Akademi Ratna) Awards
The General Council unanimously elected 4 eminent personalities in the field of performing arts for Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow (Akademi Ratna). They are
- Zakir Hussain- Tabla Virtuoso
- Sonal Mansingh- Dancer
- Jatin Goswami- Dancer & Choreographer
- Kalyanasundaram Pillai- Bharatanatyam exponent
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar)
Music
In the field of Music, 11 eminent artists were awarded.
| Mani Prasad | Hindustani Vocal |
| Madhup Mudgal | Hindustani Vocal |
| Tarun Bhattacharya | Hindustani Instrumental – (Santoor) |
| Tejendra Narayan Majumdar | Hindustani Instrumental – (Sarod) |
| Alamelu Mani | Carnatic Vocal |
| Malladi Suribabu | Carnatic Vocal |
| S.Kasim & S Babu | Carnatic Instrumental – Nagaswaram |
| Ganesh & Kumaresh | Carnatic Instrumental – Violin |
| Suresh Wadkar | Other Major Traditions of Music – “Sugam Sangeet” |
| Shanti Hiranand | Other Major Traditions of Music – “Sugam Sangeet” |
| H. Ashangbi Devi | Other Major Traditions of Music – “Nata Sankirtana” Manipur |
Dance
In the field of Dance, 9 eminent artists were awarded.
| Radha Sridhar | Bharatanatyam |
| Ishira & Maulik Shah Kathak (Joint Award) | Kathak |
| Akham Lakshmi Devi | Manipuri |
| Surupa Sen | Odissi |
| Tankeswar Hazarika Borbayan | Sattriya |
| Gopika Varma | Mohiniattam |
| Deepak Mazumdar | Contemporary Dance |
| Pasumurthy Ramalinga Sastry | Kuchipudi |
| Tapan Kumar Pattanayak | Chhau |
Theatre
In the field of Theatre, 9 eminent artists were awarded.
| Rajiv Naik | Playwriting |
| Laltluangliana Khiangte | Playwriting |
| Sanjay Upadhyay | Direction |
| S.Raghunandana | Direction |
| Suhas Joshi | Acting |
| Teekam Joshi | Acting |
| Swapan Nandy | Mime |
| Bhagawat A S Nanjappa | Other Major Traditions of Theatre- Yakshagana |
| A.M. Parameswaran Kuttan Chakkiyar | Other Major Traditions of Theatre- Kutiyattam |
Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry
In the field of Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry, 10 artists were awarded.
| Malini Awasthi | Folk Music, Uttar Pradesh |
| Gazi Khan Barna | Folk Music – Khartal, Rajasthan |
| Narendar Singh Negi | Folk Songs, Uttrakhand |
| Niranjan Rajyaguru | Folk Music, Gujarat |
| Mohd. Sadiq Bhagat | Folk Theatre (Bhand Pather), J&K |
| Kota Sachidanand Shastry | Harikatha, Andhra Pradesh |
| Arjun Singh Dhruve | Folk Dance, Madhya Pradesh |
| Somnath Battu | Folk Music, Himachal Pradesh |
| Anupama Hoskere | Puppetry (String), Karnataka |
| Hem Chandra Goswami | Mask Making, Assam |
Overall Contribution / Scholarship in Performing Arts
In the field of Overall Contribution / Scholarship in Performing Arts, 2 artists were awarded.
- Diwan Singh Bajeli (Scholar)
- Puru Dadhich (Overall Contribution)
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskars for the Year 2018
Sangeet Natak Akademi, in the meeting of its General Council held on 26 June 2019 at Guwahati, Assam, selected 32 (Including one joint Awards) artists of India who have made a mark as young talents in their respective fields of the performing arts for Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2018. It will be presented at a special ceremony by the Shekhar Sen, Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Criteria
It is conferred upon artists below the age of 40 years with the objective to identify and encourage outstanding young talents in diverse fields of performing arts and giving them national recognition early in their lives, so that they may work with greater commitment and dedication in their chosen fields.
Prize Money
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries a purse money of Rs 25,000.
Music
In the field of Music, 8 artists were awarded.
| Sameehan Kashalkar | Hindustani Vocal Music |
| Ruchira Kedar | Hindustani Vocal Music |
| Dhruv Bedi | Hindustani Instrumental Music–Sitar |
| Shubh Maharaj | Hindustani Instrumental – Tabla |
| Sandeep Narayan | Carnatic Vocal Music |
| J.B.Sruthi Sagar | Carnatic Instrumental Music–Flute |
| R.Sridhar | Carnatic Instrumental Music–Violin |
| M.D.Pallavi | Other Major Traditions of Music – Bhava Sangeet |
Dance
In the field of Dance, 8 artists were awarded.
| Vijna Rani Vasudevan & Rajith Babu (Joint Award) | Bharatanatyam |
| Durgesh Gangani | Kathak |
| Kalamandalam Vaisakh | Kathakali |
| Manju Elangbam | Manipuri |
| Madhulita Mohapatra | Odissi |
| Anjali Borbora Borthakur | Sattriya |
| Rakesh Sai Babu | Chhau |
| Vikram Mohan | Contemporary Dance |
Theatre
In the field of Theatre, 7 artists were awarded.
| Chavan Pramod R | Direction |
| Namrata Sharma | Acting |
| Sunil Palwal | Acting |
| Preeti Jha Tiwari | Acting |
| Kuldeep Patgiri | Mime |
| Subhadeep Guha | Allied Theatre Arts – Music for Theatre |
| Kalamandalam Sajith Vijayan | Other Major Traditions of Theatre – Kutiyattam |
Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry
In the field of Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry, 8 artists were awarded.
| Chandan Tiwari | Folk Music-Bihar |
| Dinesh Kumar Jangde | Panthi Dance – Chhattisgarh |
| Manoj Kumar Das | Traditional Music – Khol, Assam |
| Chandani Mansing Zala | Puppetry, Gujarat |
| A.Aneshori Devi | Traditional & Folk Music, Manipur |
| P.Rajkumar | Folk Dance, Tamilnadu |
| Madhushree Haital | Folk Music (Jhumar) – West Bengal |
| Ashok Kumar | Folk Music-Uttar Pradesh |
About Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards:
♦ Sponsored by: Sangeet Natak Akademi/ National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama
♦ First awarded: 1952