Zakir Hussain, Sonal Mansingh among Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, classical dancer Sonal Mansingh, dancer Jatin Goswami and scientist K Kalyanasundaram Pillai have been selected as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows, an official statement said Tuesday.

The General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy of music, dance and drama, made the selections at a meeting held on June 26 in Guwahati, the Culture Ministry said.

The General Council also selected 44 artists from the field of music, dance, theatre, puppetry and overall contribution in performing arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards or Akademi Puraskar for the year 2018. These 44 artists include three joint awardees.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards will be conferred by the President at a special investiture ceremony.

In the field of music, eleven eminent artists will be awarded, while in the field of dance and theatre nine artists each have been selected. Ten artists have been selected for traditional folk/tribal music and dance.

Diwan Singh Bajeli and Puru Dadhich have been selected for the Akademi Award 2018 in the field of 'Overall Contribution/Scholarship' in performing arts.

The honour for Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of Rs 3 lakh and Akademi Award carries Rs 1 Lakh, besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.