Omprakash Sharma

Omprakash Sharma is a writer, director and music composer of Maach, the folk dance-drama of the Malwa region. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of art, from Madhya Pradesh ^[1].

A Maach family

He was born on 1 January 1938 in Ujjain and carries on the tradition of his grandfather, the Maach guru Ustad Kaluram ^[2]. He learned classical music as a child from his father, Shaligram Sharma ^[2].

Reviving Maach

Through new writing, compositions and performances with the Ustad Kaluram Maach Akhada, Sharma has helped revive the old Maach plays, known as khel ^[2]. He has recorded the musical notation of the songs of 85 Maach plays, now kept at the Adivasi Lok Kala Parishad in Bhopal ^[2]. He has led Maach workshops at the National School of Drama, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Bharat Bhavan, inspiring many young performers ^[2].

He has also composed music for Sanskrit theatre and worked with theatre figures such as B. V. Karanth, M. K. Raina and Bansi Kaul ^[2].

Honours

He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006–07, Madhya Pradesh’s Shikhar Samman in 2009–10 and the Rashtriya Tulsi Samman in 2018 ^[2].