Our People
The people behind Prayas Theatre — past and present.
Our Team
The people behind Prayas Theatre.
Honorary President
Amit Ohdedar
Co-Founder & Honorary President
Sudeepta Vyas
Marketing & PR
Ahi Karunaharan
Artistic Director
Nona Shedde
Treasurer
Rishabh Kapoor
Executive Director
Namrata Mankame-Shanbag
Marketing & PR
Tushar Kandari
Operations
Indiver Nagpal
Technology & AI
Our Founders
The visionaries who started it all.
Amit Ohdedar
Co-founder & Honorary President
Amit Ohdedar co-founded Prayas Theatre NZ in 2005 with a vision to bring South Asian theatre to New Zealand audiences. Originally from Kolkata, Amit arrived in Auckland in 1994 and has spent three decades building bridges between Indian theatre and Kiwi culture. An active theatre director, he has helmed productions including Tagore's Kingdom of Cards and Shahid Nadeem's Dara. Now in an advisory role, he continues to mentor the next generation of South Asian artists in Aotearoa.
Sudeepta Vyas
Co-founder
Sudeepta Vyas co-founded Prayas Theatre NZ in 2005, helping grow it from a grassroots initiative into the country's most enduring South Asian community theatre company. The steady operational force behind two decades of productions, Sudeepta is proudest of the accessible, community-rooted space Prayas has created — where South Asian voices are heard with honesty, boldness, and warmth. To every artist she has mentored, she is simply Sudeepta Di — the theatre-obsessed didi they always wished they'd had.
Also among the founders
- Sanjit Dutta Founding Member
- Nilanjan Ghoshal Founding Member
- Aloke Ray Founding Member
- Sanjay Bhowmick Founding Member
- Rati Bhowmick Founding Member