Biography

Founding Artistic Director - Qurrat Ann Kadwani
Business Manager - Obaid Kadwani
Dance Director - Bidisha Dasgupta
Project Manager, Tomorrow's Gold! New Work Series- Mahira Sheikh
Chairman of the Board - Arif G. Kadwani
Grand Sponsor - Malkam Productions

Qurrat Ann Kadwani is the founding Artistic Director of eyeBLINK and the head of the Theatre department. She is a theater graduate of SUNY Geneseo and is a double scholarship recipient for her directing and acting contributions. She is currently the host of 100% Desi on Namaste America, a nationally syndicated show on cable (http://www.namastetv.com/watchus.html) TV appearances also include ABC News’ What Would You Do, As The World Turns, All My Children. Her stage work extends to Baby Taj (TheaterWorks Palo Alto), where she earned rave reviews from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, India-West, Silicon Valley Metro, talkinbroadway.com, as well as many other publications. In NYC, she has acted in First Language (New Group), Inside Out (Abingdon Theatre Company), The Quaking (Abingdon Theatre Company), Falling Man (NYU), The Greeks (Imua Theatre Company), Beneath the Banyan Tree (eyeBLINK), and six productions of American Colors. She has also appeared in print campaigns for Dansk, Doral Bank, IMAX, and more. She is a proud member of AEA and AFTRA. She is represented theatrically by The Krasny Office.

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Obaid Kadwani is the Business Manager of eyeBLINK and the head of the Special Events department. He is also an actor, producer, model, tv-host, emcee and entreprenuer. He is the host of the national tv-network "Namaste America." On Namaste America, he hosts entertainment shows such as Admit One, Dhoom Machale and 100% Desi. He also demonstrates his versatility and journalism skills by anchoring the weekly news round-up. He has also hosted Sundance Channel's Doc-Day Night. He has anchored the promotional tv-shows for Bollywood Awards and Bollywood Legends. Obaid's excellent improvisational skills make him a natural to emcee live events as well. He has emceed events including Miss India USA, Miss India NJ/DE/PA, Strings Concert, Rockstars Concerts in NJ and NYC, SAAIDS Gala, Nargis Dutt Foundation Gala, Chand Raat, Dulhan Expo and the 25th Anniversary Cultural show of the flagship NYC India Day Parade. Obaid has walked the ramp for many designers and events including Bollywood Fashion Awards, International Pakistan Cultural Ministry Fashion show in DC, several shows for Alia Khan, Zuni Fashions, Nirali Fashions, Zari Boutique, Bibi Magazine and eyeBLINK. Obaid's print campaigns include Zelnorm, IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Computer Associates, HP, Altria, Sundance, Ekman project, Nokia, At&t, Verizon, Cingular, Heinz, Target, Panasonic, Hershey's, Reliant, book covers and more. Commericals include a national commerical for Target and local commericals for Aveda Natural Look Saloon, Basmati Rice and a mortgage company. Industrials include Altria, Schering-Plough and Merck. Obaid's films include a cutting-edge short mockumentary called G-hoddie and the Hotties as well as Lovenik, Limousine Drive, The Writer and One Night Stand. Stage includes the original eyeBLINK play Beneath the Banyan Tree as well The Swaggering Solider, The Frogs, The Master Builder and the regional play The Grocer's Daughter. His voiceovers include Walmart, Sprint, Nokia, Orbitz, Western Union and an Urdu voiceover for Mayor Bloomberg's 2006 re-election campaign. He did a very special charity voiceover for a short film raising funds for earthquake relief in Pakistan. He has also done voiceovers for several pharmaceutical companies for in-house use. He is represented theatrically by The Krasny Office.

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Bidisha Dasgupta is the head of the Dance department and has been dancing since the age of 4. An Indian classical dancer by training, she is also proficient in several other dance styles and is an avid choreographer. She studied Bharatanatyam at the Nrityanjali School of Dance (Boston) under guru Smt Jothi Raghavan and completed her arangetram (dance graduation) in 1990. For several years she was a member of the Srijan Dance Company (Boston) which specialized in the Amala Shankar style of Indian modern dance. During her undergraduate years at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), Bidisha choreographed and performed in many Indian classical, bhangra, folk, American modern and ballroom dance shows. Since moving to New York she has performed for several venues including the Arya Dance Academy (2003), Times Square Initiative (2004), Taste of Times Square(2005), and the Women's Mosaic. Always eager to teach diverse audiences about Indian dance, she recently performed at the space themed “Saving Hubble” Fundraiser (2007) and has guest lectured about Indian classical dance at NYU. She also took part in eyeBLINK’s “A Collaborative Movement Project” (2007, directed by Ishrat Hoque and Dina Denis) and looks forward to working with artists from various disciplines to create exciting new works. By profession Bidisha is a research scientist at Cornell Medical College and she holds a PhD in Immunology from Cornell University.

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Mahira Sheikh is the Project Manager for Tomorrow's Gold! New Work Series. She was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and grew up in the dynamic Asian city of Hong Kong. She moved to the United States in 2002 for college and currently resides in New York City. She graduated with a degree in Communication, Chinese and a minor in Business Administration with which she is currently putting to use at a boutique market research firm. Travelling is a passion of hers, along with exploring new cultures and cuisines. Mahira believes that open-mindedness is the key to a successful and enriched life. Diversity should be celebrated and embraced through the arts, food, and fashion. She uses her vast experiences from across the world to interpret her surroundings and hopes one day to compile a memoir of her experiences as a citizen of the world.

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Arif G. Kadwani is the Chairman of the Board. Born in Mumbai, India, Arif G. Kadwani has had a varied career with the US Government in Mumbai, and with a private law firm dealing with US immigration in the US. He is currently associated with a real estate holding company based in New York, N.Y. Mr. Kadwani has a long association with non-governmental organizations for the past 45 years. Mumbai, India organizations include the Cutchi Memon Students' Circle, Cutchi Memon Jamat and the Young Muslims Union. U.S. organizations include the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Institute of Indian Culture), Vraj, and the Cutchi Memon Jamat of North America. He has supported and assisted in the development of artistic activities in India and the US and has the ability to lead art and art-related organizations.

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Malkam Productions is our Grand Sponsor. Motto is - The Realm of the Possible. Lead by Malkam de Sola, Malkam Productions is an organization dedicated to supporting multicultural and inter-denominational dramatic works and events--to bring greater understanding and peace to our fractured planet. Recent projects include Boy's Life by Harold Korder at the Abingdon Theatre and both the original and encore productions of Beneath the Banyan Tree (BTBT) in NYC as well as the Masti Sunset Cruise. Malkam is an active supporter of the UN World Conference Against Racism.

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