The Sangeet Natak Akademi, National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, the apex body of performing arts in the country, has selected 32 artists of India who have made a mark as young talent in their respective fields of performing arts for Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2009.

The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, given to artistes below the age of 35 years, was introduced in the year 2006 with the objective of identifying and encouraging outstanding young talents in diverse fields of performing arts and giving them national recognition early in their life, so that they may work with greater commitment and dedication in their chosen fields.

The names of the selected artists are as under:

Music

Omkar Shrikant Dadarkar for Hindustani Vocal Music; Murad Ali (Sarangi) and Sanjeev Shankar & Ashwani Shankar (Joint Award) (Shehnai) for Hindustai Instrumental Music; C.S. Sajeev for Carnatic Vocal Music; Mysore A Chandan Kumar (Flute) and Trivandrum V Balaji (Mridangam) for Carnatic Instrumental Music; Anil Srinivasan for Creative & Experimental Music and Moirangthem Meina Singh for Other major Traditions of Music - Nata Sankirtana of Manipur.

Dance

Ragini Chander Shekar (Bharatanatyam), Monisa Nayak (Kathak), Hanglem Indu Devi (Manipuri), Chinta Ravi Balakrishna (Kuchipudi), Lingaraj Pradhan (Odissi), Menaka P. P. Bora (Sattriya), Manjula B Murthy (Mohiniattam) and Swamimalai K Suresh (Music for Dance – Bharatanatyam Nattuvangam & Vocal).

Theatre

Abanti Chakraborty and Sukracharya Rabha for Direction; Mukta Vasant Barve, Palani Murugan and Teekam Chandra Joshi for Acting; Milind Srivastava (Lighting) and Juhi Babbar (Costumes) for Allied Theatre Arts; S. Gobi for Major Traditions of Theatre – Bhagavata Mela of Tamil Nadu.

Other Traditional/Folk/Tribal Dance, Music, Theatre & Puppetry

Reshma Musale for Lavani & Tamasha (Maharastra), K. Nellai Manikandan for Folk Dance (Tamil Nadu), Zohmingliana for Tribal Dance & Music (Mizoram), Takhellambam Shyamkanhai Singh for Wari Leeba (Manipur), Sooraj Nambiar for Kutiyattam (Kerala), Shahjan Ahmad Bhagat for Bhand Pather (Jammu and Kashmir), Nazia Sayeed for Odissi Music (Orissa) and Lala Bhat for Kathputli (Rajasthan).

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries a purse money of Rs 25,000/-. The Yuva Puraskar will be presented at a special ceremony, presided over by the Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi in the coming months, states a press note from Jayant Kastuar , Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.