Bio
Padmavati Rao is an actor, writer, director, translator and poet. She speaks many languages but prefers writing in Hindi. As an actor she has worked in Kannada, Hindi, English, Marathi and now even Malayalam and Tamil cinema. The Hindi films she has acted in are Pardes, Te3N, Padmaavat,Tanhaji and Raat Akeli Hai. She has translated plays of Girish Karnad and Mahesh Dattani into Hindi. Padmavati is also a storyteller and puppeteer. Her collection of poems Kuch Pyaar Kuch Tadap- Of Love and Longing was released by Girish Karnad at the Bangalore Poetry Festival in 2017. She has worked with Girish Karnad in various capacities for 42 years… as actor, assistant director, dialogue writer and translator. She has also translated Kiran Nagarkar’s Cuckold.
Trained in process work as a facilitator at Foundation for Human Learning And Growth -Aastha, she combines process work and theatre in her work with children and adults. She trains teachers to use theatre in the classroom and has worked with teachers of private and government schools from around the country, in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, in the far off Lakshadweep and communities in the Himalayas too in order to empower them to tell their own stories to a larger audience. She has conducted workshops abroad as well. She hopes to make theatre more accessible to people of varied age groups across geographies. These days her focus is on villages just outside Bangalore for now, where she endeavours to do and promote natural farming, arts and crafts. Her TEDx talks on the subject of including all that is immeasurable in life, especially in schools are now on You Tube. Her interest in natural farming, arts and crafts drives her to stay connected and build bridges between people and cultures.