Eminent playwright, actor and director Habib Tanvir died here on Monday, leaving a colossal void in the world of Indian theatre.

The 85-year-old multi-faceted giant of Indian theatre was hospitalised three weeks ago following respiratory trouble, but had made a brief recovery last week. A few days ago, he was again put on a ventilator. Doctors at National Hospital in Bhopal declared him dead at 6.30 am.

The Padma Bhushan awardee, who was actively connected with theatre till recently despite his failing health, was born Habib Ahmed Khan in Raipur on September 1, 1923. But ‘Tanvir’, the name under which he wrote poems at an early age, stuck forever.

He was in the process of finishing his autobiography when he passed away. His only daughter was with him at the time. His wife died in 2006.

Agra Bazar, Charandas Chor and Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya... were among Tanvir’s seminal works, beginning in the 1950s and continuing through the next five decades. He directed Raj Rakt as recently as 2006.

While Tanvir also dabbled in films, theatre remained his first love. He wrote, directed and acted in plays, not only energising the medium but also lending it a new Indian idiom. He deftly fused popular forms of theatre with social consciousness and blend folk theatre with modernity.

His fascination with the folk melodies of Chhattisgarh, which he picked up during his frequent visits to the countryside where his uncles were landowners, was a reflection of the same.

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