(MOREPIC1) Raj Sadosh/Abohar.
Mayor Vimal Thatai led hundreds of people from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chandigarh to bid a tearful adieu to Gaurav Vij, founder of Sparsh Theatre Society, who died of a severe heart attack. He was serving as Head of the Commerce Department at DAV College Abohar. Dr Vijay Grover, officiating principal, DAV College of Education, offered a wreath on the pyre to pay tribute.
Gaurav carried the legacy in theatre from his father Jiwan Prakash Vij who had emerged as too-ranking comedy star during his school days in 1960 and participated in dozens of plays for about two decades.
The Sparsh Theatre Society staged several plays including “Chulbula Chekhov” based on four stories of Russian writer Anton Chekhov, Jinney Jhalley Mere Palley, Jad Kamla Hover Wehra, some of the plays were also staged at Punjab Kala Bhawan and Tagore Theatre in Chandigarh, Naatshala Amritsar, Rashtriya Kala Manch Sriganganagar and other cities of Rajasthan besides Delhi.
He was honoured by the Naatshala at Amritsar and conferred with the Best Actor Award by Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi for his captivating solo acting play. He also played supporting roles in two Punjabi movies. He led DAV College teams that won dozens of prizes in the Panjab University youth festivals. Sparsh members launched crusades against drugs, dowry and other evils by staging Nukkad Natak in several villages. Renowned Playwright Pali Bhupinder had once said theatre survives in Punjab because of Abohar and the credit for that goes to Gaurav Vij.