MALLIKA SHAH
I am a theatre director based in Mumbai, India where I have been the co-founder of tafreehwale, a company dedicated to making original, political, and playful theatre.
Theatre came into my life quite unexpectedly during my undergrad at SUNY Geneseo where I performed as Angelo in The Comedy of Errors, Herrick Simmons in Tina Howe'sThe Art of Dining, and Cecily Cardew in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Mother in Faye and Michael Kanin's Rashomon. My directing work also began at Geneseo in 2015, with a staged reading of Ravi and Asha Jain's A Brimful of Asha, and Patrick Meyers' K2 in directing class.
Upon moving back to India, I went back to study acting and theatre-making at the Drama School Mumbai, where I was introduced to devising and working in ensemble-led frameworks. At the DSM, I co-created Checking Inn, Titanic in Platform, and A Family Dinner. I also performed as Savitri/Indrani/Lalitamba in Girish Karnad's Rakt Kalyan (dir. Sunil Shanbag).
I began directing professionally in January 2023 with I Killed my Mother / It Wasn't my Fault, a play I wrote during the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally produced by KathaSiyah, a feminist collective based in Bangalore, the production eventually moved to tafreehwale, a company I co-founded in late 2023. Since then, it has toured across Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and Jaipur and has performed 25 shows at reputed theatres like Prithvi Theatre, the NCPA, Bangalore International Centre, and Ranga Shankara. The play received seed funding from the DSM's Niloufer Sagar Alumni Production Grant in 2022, and was later supported by Manch — a co-production initiative by Bhasha Centre and District by Zomato.
theatre director
Loka (2025)
Remote (2025)
Jungle Nama (2024)
I Killed my Mother / It Wasn't my Fault propelled my directing career, leading to subsequent works. My second play Jungle Nama (2024) — an adaptation of Amitav Ghosh's graphic novel — is a folk thriller for children that uses puppetry, physical theatre, and elements from object theatre. In 2024, I also co-directed Stef Smith's Remote for Connections - Year 3, a youth theatre festival created by the National Centre for the Performing Arts in conjunction with the National Theatre, UK. 2025 began with directing Loka by Nayantara Nayar for Naatak Express — a 24 hour play-making challenge — where I was the youngest among 12 directors selected. In May 2025, I directed a staged reading of Rajiv Joseph's Animals Out Of Paper for Bhasha Centre's Hear, Here series of readings for the public.
Apart from directing, I have been working as a producer, been an arts manager at Bhasha Centre for their Manch project, and the host of their upcoming podcast about modern Indian playwrights. I have mentored and assistant directed students at the Drama School Mumbai for their showcases and annual productions, and also taught theatre at Bombay Scottish School, Akshara High School, and CNM School. I have worked as an assistant director to Abhishek Majumdar (Kisan), Jeff Baron (Visiting Mr. Green), and Nadir Khan (Layover), operated sound for multiple productions, been a producer on Ayesha Susan Thomas' The Amazing Flabby Breasted Virgin, and studied foundations of puppetry at the Gillo Repertory with Anurupa Roy. I have a recurring primary role in Shiv Tandan's Fistful of Rupees, an award-winning play performed across India and in Singapore at Kala Utsavam 2023. I have also worked as a film actor in Sardar Udham (dir. Shoojit Sircar), Made in Heaven (dir. Neeraj Ghaywan), Call My Agent! (dir. Shaad Ali), and The Date (dir. Tanvi Chitre).
News
I Killed my Mother / It Wasn’t my Fault
"What stands out is the depiction of mothers in India, a country where motherhood is glorified but the actual reality in terms of how we treat mothers is contradictory." - The Sunday Mid-Day
"A skilfully crafted example of decolonial theatre practice...allows for both English and Hindi to have their spotlight moments ... Proves itself to be more than a 'fresh take' on an already exhausted topic of 'female coming-of-age.'" - The Theatre Times
"An eye-opening piece on how social media silently conditions how we think about and react to situations in life." - TheatreRoom
Jungle Nama
"Shah has been careful to keep the syllabic meter intact. The result is a stylised rhythmic narrative that gives the actors enough liberty to play within the framework of the verse." - The Live Mint
