He was the first to perform modernist Mohan Rakesh, starting with Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Ashad) in 1960[1] and in the coming years bridged the gap between Hindi theatre and Bengali theatre, by mounting Hindi productions of works by Bengali playwrights, like Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit (1968) and Pagla Ghora (1971), which in turn introduced Sircar to rest of the country.

[6][7] Jalan started his career as a lawyer and subsequently headed a legal firm in Kolkata, and at the same time also worked both as a theatre actor and director.

[10] He subsequently staged Lehron Ke Rajhans (Swans of the Waves) in 1966 and Adhe Adhure (Halfway House) (1970), where he and his wife Chetna played the leads.

He was equally adept in handling harsh realism of Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar's Sakhārām Binder and Khamosh Adalat Jari Hai (Hindi version of Shantata!

Court Chalu Aahe), Panchi Aise Aate Hain (Thus Arrive the Birds) from his Ashi Pakhare Yeti in Marathi in 1971, Gidhade (The Vultures) in 1973 and Kanyadan (1987).

[17] Subsequently, along with his wife Chetana Jalan, the well-known Kathak dancer and stage actress, and actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda, he left Anamika in 1971 and established Padatik (literally foot-soldier) theatre group in 1972, of which he was the founding director.

[3] He brought Kalidasa`s Sanskrit play Abhijñānaśākuntalam as Sakuntala to stage in 1980 with lyrical dance movements of Odissi,[23] and G. P. Deshpande`s politically charged Marathi-play Uddhwasta Dharmashala (A Man in Dark Times) in 1982.

He later worked as the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from 1999 to 2004.,[7] and as the chairman of the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi and Science City and the Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata.

The brochure of play reproduced two letters, one written by Jalan asking the playwright for clarifications and guidelines, and in the second the reply of Rakesh two months later, in fact after their discussions he rewrote third act.

[26][30] Padatik constituted the "Shyamanand Jalan National Youth Theatre Award" for original scripts from Indian playwrights aged between 18 and 25 years, in 2011.

[31] On 4 December 2010, a book Shyamanand Jalan: A Pictorial Tribute by Madhuchhanda Chatterjee, was released at Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata, followed by excerpts of some plays directed by him, enacted by actors he trained, or organised by Anamika Kala Sangam and Padatik.