Mysore :Mandya Ramesh, well known Dramatist, small screen and Big screen artist celebrated his 50th birthday at his Drama Academy “ NATANA” with his family, students and the fans in Mysore.

The Natana Collective was established in 2001 by Mandya Ramesh with the objective of creating meaningful social dialogue through music, dance, art and theatre.  Natana takes pride in propagating theatre rooted in history, steeped in mythology, folk tales, and local traditions through contemporary means.

Mandya Ramesh, a veteran theatre personality draws inspiration from the Ninasam and Rangayana experience.  His vision has been supported by many leading lights of local theatre.

Natana’s aims include involving children and youth in the performing arts. It offers young minds access to learning, dance, music, painting and film appreciation, Natana truly seeks to pass on the cultural experiences of an entire generation to a whole new audience.

Every year, around 300 children come under a roof to engage in numerous creative activities in ‘Raja Maja’ a theater oriented work shop.  Children are trained by experts in many theatre oriented activities like literature, Music, Make up, Folk art forms and Acting. A good number of children are from orphanages, slums and children with poor economic background, in an attempt to bring them into the mainstream.

The ‘NATANA’ children theatre group and youngsters group have participated in national and international theatre festivals, presenting shows not only in villages of Karnataka, but also in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru, Kolkotta, Mumbai, Vijaywada, Tiruvanantapuram ,New Delhi etc.,