PenNaatak was founded in 1999 by Hareesh Chander and Anita Sreedhar. The purpose of PenNaatak was to perform South Asian oriented theatre. Later that year, the two successfully directed PenNaatak's first show, Tara. Since then, Naatak has grown significantly. In the Spring of 2002, PenNaatak joined PAC, the Performing Arts Council, and performed their first PAC funded show, East is East, in the Fall of 2002.