Sudhanshu Rai To Neelesh Misra, Popular Indian Storytellers Who Are The True Torchbearers Of Art

Pic Courtesy: Twitter

New Delhi: Traditionally, India has produced great storytellers who wrote marvels such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, among others, which went on to become the most widely-read epics. The best part, however, is that modern India too has some exceptionally talented storytellers, whose work has touched the lives of many. These works of art can be seen in printed stories, audio stories, films, or in the form Dastangoi - a way to orally narrate a story to a live audience. A good story can fascinate and bind the readers or listeners and take them into a world that was earlier unknown to them. Here are some new-age storytellers whose work has enthralled story lovers across the nation.

Sudhanshu Rai

Popularly known as ‘Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai’, he shot to fame initially with his stories on different social media and digital platforms, before launching his own storytelling show, ‘Kahaniyaan, Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai Ke Saath’ on a leading FM radio channel. A couple of years ago, he debuted as an Actor and a Director with Chaipatti, following which he played the lead in Detective Boomrah and Chintaa Mani. Notably, Detective Boomrah, the web series, is based on an immensely popular fictional character conceived earlier by the storyteller-actor himself. 

Neelesh Misra

Neelesh Misra hails from a small town in Uttar Pradesh and started out as a journalist. This writer by passion loved writing and narrating stories. He landed up at a popular FM station where his show ‘Yaadon ka Idiot Box’ became a fan favourite. His stories touched many hearts and he soon became a household name. He has also worked as a writer and lyricist in several Bollywood films such as Barfi!, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, Shamshera and the upcoming Tiger 3. He is the man behind the lyrics for soul-touching songs like Jaadu hai nasha hai (Jism), Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai (Woh Lamhe) and Banjaara (Ek Tha Tiger), among others.

Geeta Ramanujam

The renowned storyteller has been entertaining story lovers for more than two decades now. She is rightly the senior most storyteller of the country. And she didn’t just start out as a lone storyteller, she founded The Academy of Storytelling which is the globally recognised training ground for aspirational storytellers. 

Himanshu Bajpayee

Himanshu is a noted author of the book titled QissaQissaLucknowwa, which was published by Rajkamal Prakashan. It contains stories of common people of Lucknow and how they live their lives in the old city of Lucknow, the city of Nawabs and Tehzeeb. This once-upon-a-time journalist turned to storytelling through the medieval form of storytelling- Dastangoi. 

Mahmood Farooqui

He is the winner of Ustad Bismillah Khan YuvaPursakar in 2010 for his work done in the field of storytelling through Dastangoi. Working on this mesmerizing but ancient Persian form of storytelling, Mahmood has been working relentlessly on reviving this art form since 2005. He hasn’t just brought alive an old classic like Dastan e Amir Hamza, but reinvented the art form by telling stories like Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, Rajasthani Folktales, Saadat Hasan Manto’s life and works amongst the many works.