The transformative power of theatre training made accessible to millions.
About Ekalavya
There are 10s of thousands out there, who dream of pursuing a career in the performing arts but don’t know where to start.
There are millions out there who seek to develop their creative potential but have not found the opportunity to do so.
Ekalavya is a first-of-its-kind drama-based e-learning platform that effectively brings the power of theatre training to the masses. Our platform has been designed to successfully adapt the high-quality training of the Drama School Mumbai to the e-learning space. Using instructional videos and customized e-learning systems, we ensure self-driven engagement and a genuine sense of achievement and learning to the user.
Ekalavya’s courses form the ‘textbook’ to the fundamentals of acting, easy and effective courses that will change anyone who takes them. The most committed Ekalavya users will be invited to explore advanced training at the school – regardless of their economic status.
EKALAVYA WILL
- Use the transformative powers of drama to cultivate collaboration, empathy and self-expression in as many members of society as we can.
- Make a career in the performing arts easy to access to anyone with the drive and inclination by lowering the barriers to participation.
- Have a million new stories from a million new voices added to the narrative of our nation.
- Be the most desirable and innovative learning platform for dramatics and allied creative arts in India.
THE EKALAVYA ETHOS
- Ekalavya is much larger than the character from our mythology, it is the idea of self-driven learning, of transcending boundaries, of rigour and commitment to craft, and the pursuit of personal excellence. These are the aspirational qualities that drive learning in the digital era.
- Our logo has the letter E, building blocks of learning and growth, and on the diagonal, an arrow that references the legend while rising upwards and beyond itself.
All Ekalavya Courses Are
Ekalavya is a pathway to the
complete Drama School Mumbai experience
Ekalavya is a pathway to the complete Drama School Mumbai experience
We track and nurture the most committed Ekalavya participants towards professional training with the DSM – regardless of their financial ability.
1. Recognising Driven Learners
Passionate learners with hidden talents will get noticed by their participation in Ekalavya’s e-learning programme.
2. Live Online Classes
Learners will be encouraged to engage more and attend real-time online classes
3. In-Class Workshops
Dedicated learners will be handpicked to participate in physical workshops
4 DSM Theatre Making Courses
Highly consistent and talented individuals will be initiated to DSMs in-room theatre-making courses and offered need-based scholarships.
5 A strong career in stage and screen
Join the DSMs network of alumni and faculty skilled and equipped to have a lifelong career in the performing arts.
Meet The Founders
We came together with the common belief that theatre transforms us
all into better human beings. Ekalavya is our way of building a better society,
by helping as many people as we can work towards being the best versions of themselves.
We came together with the common belief that theatre transforms us all into better human beings. Ekalavya is our way of building a better society, by helping as many people as we can work towards being the best versions of themselves.
Maneesh Verma
Co-founder & Executive Head, Ekalavya
Creative Producer, Drama School Mumbai
Hetal Varia
Co-founder & Curriculum Head, Ekalavya
Resident Voice Faculty, Drama School Mumbai
Maneesh has over 25 years of extensive theatre experience with 60 major theatre productions. For the last 12 years, he has been producing theatre in multiple genres like musicals, social drama, comedy & plays for children.
He holds a Master’s degree in Acting and Theatre-Making from the National School of Drama.
Apart from being a professional actor, he is also a corporate trainer and regularly works with CSW Associates as a performance consultant on training projects for multi-national companies like Goldman Sachs, Apple, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Microsoft, Barclays and others.
Since 2007, Maneesh has worked in over a hundred productions performing in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong and America.
Hetal Varia is a world-renowned Mumbai-based voice, accent and dialect coach. She has been working in the theatre industry for more than 15 years as a singer and actor.
Her accolades include awards such as Charles Wallace India Trust Award from the British Council, Diversity Scholarship from the Voice And Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) and Best Singer Award from Lion’s Club.
She holds a Masters in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. She has also been invited to speak as part of an upcoming international panel of BIPOC (Black, Indeginous, and Person of Colour) TV/Film Accent and Dialect Coaches for VASTA Conference, 2021.
Hetal has been a voice coach to many industry professionals including Mithila Palkar, Sonali Kulkarni, Abhimanyu Dassani, Manoj Bajpayee and others. Most recently, she served as the Dialect Coach for the cast of ‘A Suitable Boy’ that was released on Netflix earlier last year.
Jehan is the Head of the Drama School Mumbai and leads pedagogy and course design for the faculty and guest faculty teams. He has co-designed and developed many strategic Drama-in-Education programmes for schools.
Jehan also oversees multiple workshops and residencies for drama specialists and drama educators to advance the practice of applied drama. He has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, the UK and Japan.
Jehan is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for his work towards the advancement of the practice of theatre in India.
Jehan holds an MFA in Theatre Direction from the University of London and a BA in Theatre and International Relations from Wesleyan University, USA.
Meet The Founders
Ekalavya is brought to you by leading professionals and top educators
in the Theatre and Performing Arts industry. Their entrepreneurial
vision and diverse experiences shape Ekalavya as an innovative
platform that promotes inclusivity, empathy and the
pursuit of excellence.
Ekalavya is brought to you by leading professionals and top educators in the Theatre and Performing Arts industry. Their entrepreneurial vision and diverse experiences shape Ekalavya as an innovative platform that promotes inclusivity, empathy and the pursuit of excellence.
Maneesh has over 25 years of extensive theatre experience with 60 major theatre productions. For the last 12 years, he has been producing theatre in multiple genres like musicals, social drama, comedy & plays for children.
He holds a Master’s degree in Acting and Theatre-Making from the National School of Drama.
Apart from being a professional actor, he is also a corporate trainer and regularly works with CSW Associates as a performance consultant on training projects for multi-national companies like Goldman Sachs, Apple, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Microsoft, Barclays and others.
Since 2007, Maneesh has worked in over a hundred productions performing in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong and America.
Hetal Varia is a world-renowned Mumbai-based voice, accent and dialect coach. She has been working in the theatre industry for more than 15 years as a singer and actor.
Her accolades include awards such as Charles Wallace India Trust Award from the British Council, Diversity Scholarship from the Voice And Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) and Best Singer Award from Lion’s Club.
She holds a Masters in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. She has also been invited to speak as part of an upcoming international panel of BIPOC (Black, Indeginous, and Person of Colour) TV/Film Accent and Dialect Coaches for VASTA Conference, 2021.
Hetal has been a voice coach to many industry professionals including Mithila Palkar, Sonali Kulkarni, Abhimanyu Dassani, Manoj Bajpayee and others. Most recently, she served as the Dialect Coach for the cast of ‘A Suitable Boy’ that was released on Netflix earlier last year.
Jehan is the Head of the Drama School Mumbai and leads pedagogy and course design for the faculty and guest faculty teams. He has co-designed and developed many strategic Drama-in-Education programmes for schools.
Jehan also oversees multiple workshops and residencies for drama specialists and drama educators to advance the practice of applied drama. He has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, the UK and Japan.
Jehan is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for his work towards the advancement of the practice of theatre in India.
Jehan holds an MFA in Theatre Direction from the University of London and a BA in Theatre and International Relations from Wesleyan University, USA.
The Drama Schools Foundation Mumbai
The Drama Schools Foundation Mumbai
The Drama Schools Foundation Mumbai is committed to building a rich, vibrant and diverse theatre sector, which will play a necessary role in the improvement of society through the cultural power of theatre. It does this through a number of initiatives, the main one being the Drama School Mumbai’s full-time course in acting and theatre-making.
Founded in 2013, the DSM now boasts a highly active network of alumni and a community of theatre professionals who are all founding theatre groups, acting in award-winning plays, working in films as well as applying their craft to education, corporate training and social and community welfare.
100+
Alumni are all active in the field of theatre, film and related fields
15+
New plays and productions
50+
A network of highly trained theatre professionals
The DSFM has also been actively working in the field of K-12 education – helping schools improve by skilling their teaching bodies with drama-based educational methods.
Support Ekalavya
Ekalavya has been built entirely by donations from those who support our mission of democratising access to high-quality formal theatre education in India.
Revenues generated through Ekalavya go to expanding reach, creating the need and merit-based scholarships for our main programmes, and setting up other projects around accessibility to training.
DSM is grateful to the supporters of Ekalavya – Shirin Bharucha, Trustee National Centre for Performing Arts, Umang Bedi, Co-Founder Daily Hunt, Sandra Shroff, United Phosphorus, Ujwal Impact Advisors and a number of other individuals and organisations (under CSR) who support the vision of the DSM and Ekalavya.
You can help us stay committed to our revolutionary dream. Write to us at [email protected] to connect about donations and support.
Drama Schools Foundation Mumbai (DSFM), is a Section 8 non-profit company, is professionally run with a board of directors consisting of prominent citizens and professionals who govern and advise the school. All accounts are audited by a professional audit firm and are reported to the board.