Samik Bandyopadhyay—scholar, theatre, film and art critic, teacher, and writer, as well as a specialist in theatre—played a pivotal role in NATYA SHODH SANSTHAN (NSS) with his invaluable advice and guidance. Bandyopadhyay graduated with an honours degree and an MA in English Literature from Presidency College, Kolkata, and the University of Calcutta, respectively. He began his career as a lecturer at Rabindra Bharati University and later joined Oxford University Press, Kolkata, as regional editor. He was also one of the founding members of Seagull Books, Kolkata. He served as a member of the Publication Committee of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, and held several distinguished academic and administrative positions, including ICCR Chair at the Department of Theatre Studies; Visiting Professor at the Freie Universität, Berlin; Vice-Chairman of the National School of Drama; and Member of the National School of Drama Society. He has also been a Rabindranath Tagore National Fellow at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.