New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS): Over 200 theatre students who graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD) in the last ten years have been awarded their diplomas in a single convocation ceremony held in the campus here.

NSD, one of the most sought-after theatre schools in India, awarded 237 diplomas after completion of a 3-year course between 2010 and 2019.

The Monday ceremony saw Culture Minister Prahlad Patel handing out the certificates. It is notable that the convocation, supposed to be an annual affair, took place after ten years.

"Since the beginning, NSD has been trying to bring back the many traditions of performing arts that India has. But I think the time has come to rethink the institution as a central school of advanced theatre studies where practitioners can carry out research and lab work.

"We should make efforts to bring theatre close to the people in their own language but at the same time look at pan-Asian presence," says NSD former director and eminent theatre personality Ratan Thiyam.

Established in 1959, NSD is an autonomous institution under the Culture Ministry and is "fully financed" by it.

Its 3-year full-time, residential training program has produced alumni like Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Irfan Khan, Neena Gupta and Surekha Sikri, among others.