Dadi Pudumjee

Dadi Dorab Pudumjee, born in Pune in 1951, is a central figure in modern Indian puppetry who has shaped both performance practice and the institutional structures that sustain it. After studying design and puppetry in Ahmedabad under the influential puppeteer Meher Contractor at Darpana Academy, Pudumjee expanded his training internationally, studying in Stockholm with Michael Meschke and encountering Bunraku ensemble practice in workshops led by Minosuke Yoshida. These experiences connected Indian training, European institutional puppetry and Japanese manipulation techniques.

Returning to India around 1980, Pudumjee became the founding artistic director of Sutradhar Puppet Theatre at New Delhi's Shri Ram Centre. This repertory brought traditional performers and modern theatre makers into sustained professional ensemble work, treating puppetry as a serious contemporary art rather than only an occasional children's attraction or isolated traditional form. In 1986 he established Ishara Puppet Theatre, now the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, which developed productions using rod, shadow, object and large-scale figures, sometimes attaching semi-sculptural forms to visible performers. The company became known for cross-cultural collaboration with puppeteers, actors and dancers, while also developing educational workshops and projects addressing HIV/AIDS awareness and substance use.

Pudumjee's influence extended through cultural infrastructure and international networks. Ishara's international festival brought Indian and overseas puppet companies to Delhi, creating circulation and exchange. His leadership in UNIMA, the international puppetry organization, began with a vice-presidency from 1992 to 2004. In 2008 he was elected international president—UNIMA's first non-European president—and was later named President of Honour. His public recognition includes the 1992 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for puppetry and India's Padma Shri in 2011, acknowledging both his craft as a director and designer and his work building the field itself.