Vijay Tendulkar : 1928 - 2008
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May 20, 2008, 5:02:13 AM5/20/08
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Vijay Tendulkar (Marathi:विजय तेंडुलकर)(January 6, 1928 - May 19,
2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer,
literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator
primarily in Marāthi. He is best known for his plays, Shāntatā! Court
Chālu Āhe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder
(1972).Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life
incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh
realities. He even provided his guidance to students studying
“Playwright writing” in US universities. For over five decades,
Tendulkar had been a highly influential dramatist and theater
personality in Mahārāshtra.
Early life
------------------------------------
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on January 6, 1928 in a
Bhalavalikar Saraswat brahmin family in Kolhapur, Maharashtra , where
his father held a clerical job and ran a small publishing business.
The literary environment at home prompted young Vijay to take up
writing. He wrote his first story at age six.
He grew up watching western plays, and felt inspired to write plays
himself. At age eleven, he wrote, directed, and acted in his first
play.
At age 14, he participated in the 1942 Indian freedom movement ,
leaving his studies. The latter alienated him from his family and
friends. Writing then became his outlet, though most of his early
writings were of a personal nature, and not intended for publication.
Early career
--------------------------------------------------
Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers. He had already
written a play, "Āmchyāvar Kon Prem Karnār" (Who will Love us?), and
he wrote the play, "Gruhastha" (The Householder), in his early 20s.
The latter did not receive much recognition from the audience, and he
vowed never to write again . Breaking the vow, in 1956 he wrote
"'Shrimant", which established him as a good writer. "Shrimant" jolted
the conservative audience of the times with its radical storyline,
wherein an unmarried young woman decides to keep her unborn child
while her rich father tries to "buy" her a husband in an attempt to
save his social prestige.
Tendulkar's early struggle for survival and living for some time in
tenements ("chāwls") in Mumbai provided him first-hand experience
about the life of urban lower middle class. He thus brought new
authenticity to their depiction in Marathi theater. Tendulkar's
writings rapidly changed the storyline of modern Marathi theater in
the 1950s and the 60s, with experimental presentations by theater
groups like "Rangāyan". Actors in these theater groups like Shreerām
Lāgoo, Mohan Agāshe, and Sulabhā Deshpānde brought new authenticity
and power to Tendulkar's stories while introducing new sensibilities
in Marathi theater.
Tendulkar wrote the play, "Gidhāde" (The Vultures) in 1961, but it was
not produced until 1970. The play was set in a morally collapsed
family structure and explored the theme of violence. In his following
creations, Tendulkar explored violence in its various forms: domestic,
sexual, communal, and political. Thus, "Gidhāde" proved to be a
turning point in Tendulkar's writings with regard to establishment of
his own unique writing style.
Based on a 1956 short story, "Die Panne" ("Traps") by Friedrich
Dürrenmatt, Tendulkar wrote the play, "Shāntatā! Court Chālu
Aahe" ("Silence! The Court Is In Session"). It was presented on the
stage for the first time in 1967, and proved as one of his finest
works. Satyadev Dubey presented it in movie form in 1971 with
Tendulkar's collaboration as the screenplay writer.
1970s and '80s
---------------------------------------------
In his 1972 play, Sakhārām Binder (Sakhārām, the Binder), Tendulkar
dealt with the topic of domination of the male gender over the female
gender. The main character, Sakhārām, is a man devoid of ethics and
morality, and professes not to believe in "outdated" social codes and
conventional marriage. He accordingly uses the society for his own
pleasure. He regularly gives "shelter" to abandoned wives, and uses
them for his sexual gratification while remaining oblivious to the
emotional and moral implications of his exploits. He justifies all his
acts through claims of modern, unconventional thinking, and comes up
with hollow arguments meant in fact to enslave women. Paradoxically,
some of the women which Sakhārām had enslaved buy into his arguments
and simultaneously also badly want freedom from their enslavement.
In 1972, Tendulkar wrote another, even much more acclaimed play,
Ghāshirām Kotwāl ("Ghāshirām, the Constable"), which dealt with
political violence. The play is a political satire created as a
musical drama set in 18th century Pune. It combined traditional
Marathi folk music and drama with contemporary theater techniques,
creating a new paradigm for Marathi theater. The play demonstrates
Tendulkar's deep study of group psychology , and it brought him a
"Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship" (1974-75) for a project titled, "An
Enquiry Into the Pattern of Growing Violence in Society and Its
Relevance to Contemporary Theatre". With over six thousand
performances thus far in its original and translated versions,
"Ghāshirām Kotwāl" remains one of the longest-running plays in the
history of Indian theater.
Tendulkar wrote screenplays for the movies Nishānt (1974), Ākrosh (The
Cry) (1980), and Ardh Satya (The Half-Truth) (1984), established him
as an important "Chronicler of Violence" of the present times[10]. He
has written eleven movies in Hindi and eight movies in Marathi. The
latter include Sāmanā ("Confrontation") (1975), Simhāasan ("Throne")
(1979), and Umbarthā ("The Threshold") (1981). The last one is a
groundbreaking feature film on women's activism in India. It was
directed by Jabbar Patel, and stars Smitā Pātil and Girish Karnād.
1990s and beyond
----------------------------------------------
In 1991, Tendulkar wrote a metaphorical play, "Safar", and in 2001 he
wrote the play, "The Masseur". He wrote, next, two novels, "Kādambari:
Ek" and "Kādambari: Don", about sexual fantasies of an aging man. In
2004, he wrote a single-act play, "'His Fifth Woman" --his first play
in the English language-- as a sequel to his earlier exploration of
the plight of women in "Sakhārām Binder". This play was first
performed at the "Vijay Tendulkar Festival" in New York in October
2004.
In the 1990s, Tendulkar wrote an acclaimed TV series, "SwayamSiddha",
in which his daughter, Priyā Tendulkar, performed in the lead role.
His son Raja and wife Nirmala both died in 2001, and were shortly
followed by his daughter, noted actress Priya Tendulkar, in 2002.
Death
-------------------------------------------
Vijay Tendulkar died in Pune on May 19, 2008, after five weeks at the
Prayag Hospital battling the effects of myasthenia gravis.
Legacy
-----------------------------------------------
In his writing career spanning more than five decades, Tendulkar has
written 27 full-length plays and 25 one-act plays. Several of his
plays have proven to be Marathi theater classics . His plays have been
translated and performed in many Indian languages.
By providing insight into major social events and political upheavals
during his adult life, Tendulkar was one of the strongest radical
political voices in Maharashtra in recent times. While contemporary
writers were cautiously exploring the limits of social realism, he
jumped into the cauldron of political radicalism, and courageously
exposed political hegemony of the powerful and the hypocrisies in the
Indian social mindset. His powerful expression of human angst has
resulted in his simultaneously receiving both wide public acclaim, and
high censure from the orthodox and the political bigwigs.
Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents
or social upheavals. Thus, the rise of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra in the
1970s was reflected in Tendulkar's "Ghāshirām Kotwāl". The true story
of a journalist who purchased of a woman from the rural sex industry
in order to reveal police and political involvement in this trade,
only to abandon the woman once he had no further need for her, is
detailed in Tendulkar's "Kamalā" . The real-life story of an actress
whose acting career got ruined after her same-sex affair became public
knowledge inspired Tendulkar to write "Mitrāchi Goshta" .
Tendulkar has translated nine novels, two biographies, and five plays
by other authors into Marathi.
Besides the foregoing, Tendulkar's oeuvre includes a biography; two
novels; five anthologies of short stories; 16 plays for children,
including "Bāle Miltāt" (1960) and "Pātlāchyā Poriche Lagin" (1965);
and five volumes of literary essays and social criticism, including
"Rātrāni" (1971), "Kowali Unbe" (1971), and "Phuge Sobānche" (1974).
All in all, Tendulkar's writings have contributed to a significant
transformation of the modern literary landscape in both Marathi and
other Indian languages.
In 2007, a documentary titled "Tendulkar Āni Himsā: Āj Āni
Kāl' ("Tendulkar and Violence: Today and Yesterday") with English
subtitles and a short film, "Ankahin"', about Tendulkar were
released .
Awards
---------------------------------------
Tendulkar won Maharashtra State government awards in 1956, 1969 and
1972; and "Mahārāshtra Gauruw Puraskār" in 1999. He was honored with
the Sangeet Nātak Akademi Award in 1970, and again in 1998 with the
Academy's highest award for "lifetime contribution", the Sangeet Nātak
Akademi Fellowship ("Ratna Sadasya"). In 1984, he received the Padma
Bhushan award from the Government of India for his literary
accomplishments.
In 1977, Tendulkar won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for
his screenplay of Shyām Benegal's movie, Manthan (1976). He has
written screenplays for many significant art movies, such as Nishānt,
Ākrosh, and Ardh Satya.
A comprehensive list of awards is given below:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 Sangeet Nātak Akademi Award
1970 Kamalādevi Chattopādhyāya Award
1977 National Film Award for Best Screenplay: Manthan
1981 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Aakrosh
1981 Filmfare Best Story Award: Aakrosh
1983 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Ardh Satya
1984 Padma Bhushan
1993 Saraswati Sanmān
1998 Sangeet Nātak Akademi Fellowship
1999 Kālidās Sanmān
2001 Kathā Chudāmani Award
2006 The Little Magazine SALAM Award [25]
Bibliography
-------------------------------------------------
Novels
---------------------------------------------
Kādambari: Ek (Novel: One) (1996)
Kādambari: Don (Novel: Two) (2005)
Short Story Anthologies
------------------------------------------------------
Dwandwa ((Duel) (1961)
Phulāpākhare (Butterflies) (1970)
Plays
----------------------------------
Gruhastha (Householder) (1947)
Shrimant (The Rich) (1956)
Mānoos Nāwāche Bet (An Island Named 'Man') (1958)
Thief! Police!
Bāle Miltāt (1960)
Gidhāde (The Vultures) (1961)
Pātlāchyā Poriche Lagin (Marriage of a Village Mayor's Daughter)
(1965)
Shāntatā! Court Chālu Aahe (Hindi: Khāmosh! Adālat Jāri Hai) (Silence!
The Court is in Session) (1967)
Ajgar Ani Gandharwa (A Boa Constrictor and "Gandharwa")
Sakhārām Binder (Sakhārām, the Book-Binder) (1972)
Kamalā ("Kamala") (1981)
Mādi [in Hindi]
Kanyādān (Giving Away of a Daughter in Marriage) (1983)
Anji
Dāmbadwichā Mukābalā (Encounter in Umbugland)
Ashi Pākhare Yeti (Hindi: Panchi Aise Aate Hain) (Thus Arrive the
Birds)
Kutte
Safar/Cyclewallah (The Cyclist) (1991)
The Masseur (2001)
Pāhije Jātiche (It Has to Be in One's Blood)
Jāt Hi Poochho Sādhu Ki (Ask a Fakir's Lineage)
Mājhi Bahin (My Sister)
Jhālā Ananta Hanumanta ("Infinite" Turned "Hanumanta")
Footpāyrichā Samrāt (Sidewalk Emperor)
Mitrāchi Goshta (A Friend's Story) (2001)
Anand Owari [A play based on a novel by D. B. Mokashi]
Bhāu MurārRāo
Bhalyākākā
Mee Jinkalo Mee Haralo (I won, I Lost)
His Fifth Woman [in English] (2004)
Bebi
Musicals
------------------------------
Ghashiram Kotwal (Ghashiram, the Constable) (1972)
Translations
------------------------------
Mohan Rakesh's Adhe Adhure (originally in Hindi)
Girish Karnad's Tughlaq (originally in Kannada)
Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (originally in English)
Tendulkar's Works Available in English
----------------------------------------------------------------
Silence! The Court Is in Session (Three Crowns). Priya Adarkar
(Translator), Oxford University Press, 1979.ISBN 0195603133.
Ghashiram Kotwal, Sangam Books, 1984 ISBN 817046210X.
The Churning, Seagull Books, India, 1985 ISBN 0856471208.
The Threshold: (Umbarthā - Screenplay), Shampa Banerjee (Translator),
Sangam Books Ltd.,1985 ISBN 0861320964.
Five Plays (Various Translators), Bombay, Oxford University Press,
1992 ISBN 0195637364.
The Last Days of Sardar Patel and The Mime Players: Two Screen Plays
New Delhi, Permanent Black, 2001 ISBN 8178240181.
Modern Indian Drama: An Anthology Sāhitya Akademi, India, 2001 ISBN
8126009241.
Mitrāchi Goshta : A Friend’s Story: A Play in Three Acts Gowri
Ramnarayan (Translator). New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001 ISBN
0195653173.
Kanyādān, Oxford University Press, India, New Ed edition, 2002 ISBN
0195663802.
Collected Plays in Translation New Delhi, 2003, Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0195662091.
The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman: Two Plays by Vijay Tendulkar Balwant
Bhaneja (Translator), 2006 Oxford India Paperbacks ISBN 0195676408
Filmography
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screenplays
-----------------------------------------------
Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (Silence! The Court Is in Session) (1972)
Nishant (End of Night) (1975)
Samana (Confrontation) (1975)
Manthan (Churning) (1976)
Simhasan (Throne) (1979)
Gehrayee (The Depth) (1980)
Aakrosh (Cry of the Wounded) (1980)
Akriet (Unimaginable) (1981)
Umbartha (The Threshold) (1981)
Ardh Satya (Half Truth) (1983)
Kamala (Kamala) (1984)
Sardar (1993)
Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (2003)
Eashwar Mime Co. (The Mime Players) (2005)
Dialogues
---------------------------------------------
Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978)
Further reading
--------------------------------------------
Vijay Tendulkar. New Delhi, Katha, 2001. ISBN 8187649178.
Vijay Tendulkar's Ghashiram Kotwal: a Reader's Companion. M. Sarat
Babu, Asia Book Club, 2003. ISBN 8178510081
Vijay Tendulkar's Ghashiram Kotwal : Critical Perspectives, Vinod Bala
Sharma and M. Sarat Babu. 2005, Prestige Books, New Delhi . ISBN
8178510022.
Vijay Tendulkar's Plays: An Anthology of Recent Criticism. V M Madge,
2007, Pencraft International. ISBN 8185753792.
An Interview with Vijay Tedulkar, The Indian Express, October 20,
1999
Vijay Tendulkar chats on death penalty, 2004
Vijay Tendulkar talks on his plays
Jabbar Patel talks on Vijay Tendulkar plays
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Press :
Vijay Tendulkar: 1928-2008Vijay Tendulkar: The man who wanted to shoot
Modi
Agencies
Mumbai, May 19:
Vijay Tendulkar, who towered over the Marathi literary field for over
four decades, was no stranger to controversies.
His remarks in the aftermath the post-Godhra communal carnage in
Gujarat that ‘if he had a pistol, he would shoot Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi’, evoked mixed reactions, with Modi supporters
burning his effigies and others lauding him for the anti-Modi tirade.
Later, when asked if it was not strange that someone known as a strong
voice against death penalty had a death wish for Modi, Tendulkar had
said that ‘it was a genuine and spontaneous anger, which I never see
as a solution for anything. Anger doesn't solve problems’.
Ghashiram Kotwal, a Marathi play written by Tendulkar in 1972, was
considered by many as his response to the rise of the Shiv Sena in
Maharashtra.
The play, a political satire, was based on the life of Nana Phadnavis
(1741-1800), the Prime Minister in the court of the Peshwas. It
portrayed how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their
purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless.
----------------------------------------------------
‘He was so involved with life, yet so detached’
Mohan Agashe
Pune, May 19
Tendulkar was associated with many people in his lifetime — his
repertoire of people was huge, given the kind of nature he had. I was
amongst the many, but yes I was also comparatively close to him,
thanks to his Ghashiram Kotwal that I did for 20 years.
The man was unique and the most unusual quality about him was his
ability to be so involved with life and yet be so detached from
everything. He had written a beautiful line in one of his plays Ashi
Pakhare Yeti which went “Mee janmatana mukta hoto” which means “I was
liberated since birth”. I think it sums up him and his life quite
aptly.
There was another very impressive quality in Tendulkar. He had the
most amazing active listening skills. He could make anyone talk — from
the common man to a most important person while he himself became the
listener. It’s a quality that every professional should have but very
few do.
As a writer he was on this perennial search as to what life is all
about. This also led him to have this creative obsession with
violence. He was preoccupied with what made people so violent and this
was reflected in his plays too.
Tendulkar is also credited with the dawn of a new era in play writing
by using natural language unlike the flowery, dramatic prose that was
the order of the day till then. His lines, if taken out of the play,
were like daily conversation pieces, yet they always had the desired
dramatic effect on stage.
I also think he was the youngest of all the Marathi playwrights
because of the way he could relate to the plays of the younger
generation. He saw this play called Cigarettes and said that this was
the theatre of the present era. Youngsters in the theatre world — be
it Mohit Takalkar or Sachin Kundalkar- held him in high esteem.
It was my privilege to act in “Ghashiram Kotwal” which had a universal
appeal. Twenty years of doing the play brought me closer to him.
During the time when Ghashiram and Sakharam Binder were shrouded in
controversy it was amazing to see him so quiet and calm about
everything. He respected what others had to say and also kept up the
respect of his own views simply by his silence.
In fact, he was the epitome of calmness. As a psychiatrist, I would
tell people if they really want to know what it is to be a good
listener and a good counsellor, they should go and meet Tendulkar.
The fact that Tendulkar loved living was apparent in the wish he had
expressed whilst alive that no one should photograph or film his body
being carried away. I am happy that the Pune press, in this day and
age of media trying to capitalise on just about everything, respected
that wish and in that has proved to be a role model for the rest of
the country.
(Mohan Agashe is a well-known film and theatre actor)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar dead
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Noted Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar, 80, died in Pune
on Monday morning; bringing the curtains down on one of the country’s
most influential dramatists who packed into his repertoire short
stories, newspaper columns, novels, film scripts, translations and
television programmes.
Writing his first story at the age of six and making his tryst with
the stage — as writer, director and actor — five years later, Mr.
Tendulkar swore never to write at the age of 22 when his play Grihast
was heckled off the stage.
Staging a comeback, he went on to write over 30 full-length plays,
several one-act plays, collection of short stories and film scripts;
many of which brought him awards.
Though best known for his plays — Ghasiram Kotwal and Sakharam Binder
being the shining stars of his body of work — Mr. Tendulkar described
himself “first a writer and then a playwright.”
Ghasiram Kotwal (Ghasiram the Constable) is billed as one of the
longest-running plays in the world with over 6,000 performances in
India and abroad in the original and in translation.
Writing in practically every form, he picked up awards on the way,
including the Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Filmfare
Award, Saraswati Samman, Kalidas Samman, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar.
Films like ‘Aakrosh’, ‘Manthan’ and ‘Ardha Satya’ — each a powerful
example of India’s “alternate cinema” — brought him instant fame but
that did not draw Mr. Tendulkar to mainstream cinema despite offers
from big-ticket producers like Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra. In his own
words, “writer is no more than a hack” for mainstream cinema. The
playwright’s personal life was wrought with tragedy towards his
twilight years — he lost his wife and two children, including
television actress Priya Tendulkar in close succession.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The many worlds of Vijay Tendulkar
Vijay Tendulkar transcended the cultural boundaries of Maharashtra.
There is no other Marathi literary icon today who is not only well
known all over India, but is also respected among the elite. There is
an establishment elite and an equally prestigious anti-establishment
elite. Tendulkar moved from one to the other, with no one questioning
his right to do so. But his heart was on the anti-establishment side.
That showed in his themes as well as the way he crafted and presented
his plays.
He was fastidious about the directorial details. He wanted to achieve
a certain effect and he knew that it could not be achieved without the
correct composition of lights and music, sets and costumes. He also
wrote detailed notes on the script itself, on the movements and moods
of the actors. Often the directors had to merely follow the script and
those notes.
His modern themes and perfectionist approach impressed the
metropolitan elite. In his famous and highly controversial play,
Gidhare (The Vultures) Tendulkar explores the human relationships
within a family, which turn explosive and violent to the extent that
the father, brother, sister and the rest get into a murderous mood
over a question of property. He wrote the play in 1972, when land
prices were not skyrocketing like today and family incomes were not
very high.
Yet the conflicts within families were turning vicious. Joint families
were splitting up but nuclear families were not fully evolved.
Property distribution, in a stagnant economy with low incomes, was
turning hideous. Conventional playwrights would not dare to take up
such themes. Romanticised and moralistic images of the family
determined the predominant content of theatre. Tendulkar dared to
expose the brutal reality with equally brutal language. That shocked
audiences. There were protests and demands to ban the play. A young
woman, forcibly aborting with blood oozing out on her saree, was too
outrageous an image to be shown on the stage.
But the play was acclaimed by the liberal, cosmopolitan art and
theatre world. It was existentialist and bore the European
sensibilities of hyper-realism. Leading actors like Alyque Padamsee
and Gerson da Cunha performed the play in English later.
It is difficult to understand how and from where Tendulkar acquired
modernist and, later, post-modernist ideas. He had a very modest
middle-class background, with little exposure to the European or
American world of art and literature. He started writing at a very
young age. His rebellious mood perhaps was a reflection of the times
he lived in. Till Tendulkar arrived on the scene, theatre essentially
meant entertainment and sometimes idealistic or moralistic evocation.
It was not supposed to shock and certainly not devastate well-
ensconced beliefs. He initially acquired notoriety before he began to
get attention as a serious writer who was ready to confront and fight
the status quo.
His plays, which came in succession, Ghashiram Kotwal and Sakharam
Binder, were penetrating studies in violence. Actually, before these
plays, he had been drawing the attention of theatre-goers and critics
with plays like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe. But he began to get
national attention only in the early ’70s and became an icon of the
young.
All of us, the equivalent of the so-called Beatles Generation,
enveloped by the ideas of protest and rebellion, by the anti-war
movement, were his followers. For this generation, defending Tendulkar
meant being anti-establishment. Marx and Che, Ho and Mao defined the
ideological contours of the period. As for us, we had Tendulkar. Not
that he was Marxist or Maoist. But he had his sympathies with them. He
has never defended communism or the Soviet Union or Mao’s Cultural
Revolution. He never studied seriously the Marxist theories or the New
Left versions. But he was familiar with the ideas and that was enough
for him. He was not an intellectual nor an ideological polemicist. He
was a creative writer and saw the world around him as a living
theatre. He saw that violence ruled from Vietnam to Naxalbari, the JP
movement to Emergency. He wanted to show the nexus between violence
and power.
Later, he became more anti-establishmentarian, not only in theatre,
but also on public issues. He became part of the movement for
democratic rights and civil liberties, participated in the Narmada
agitation, supported dalit movements. But by nature and creative
instincts he was an artist, a playwright, and could not remain
straitjacketed. He would write something that would go against the
conventional Left or he would publicly say something that would hurt
liberal sensibilities.
However, he never lost contact with the young and those experimenting
with different forms. In hospital, in his last days, he asked a young
admirer of his to read out to him Terry Eagleton’s piece in The Times
Literary Supplement. He was obviously tired as he turned 80 and could
not bear the pain of the chronic muscle disorder, but he never thought
of retiring. He was a colossus, and no one can take his place with
that maverick style in confronting the establishment.
The writer is editor, ‘Loksatta’
kumar....@expressindia.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 50 yrs, India has not seen another playwright like him’
Shyam Benegal
By the time I got to know Vijay Tendulkar through friends Satyadev
Dubey and Govind Nihalani in the early ‘70s, I was already acquainted
with the great playwright’s works. I had seen Dubey’s theatre
production of Sakharam Binder in which Amrish Puri played the central
character, as well as his big screen version of Shantata! Court Chalu
Aahe (both are landmark plays by Tendulkar).
My association with him strengthened when he wrote the screenplay of
Nishant while Dubey took care of the dialogue. And you can see what
great work he has done in this film about the power of the rural elite
and the sexual exploitation of women. The 1975-film received National
Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and was invited to the
Cannes film festival.
In the past five decades, India has not seen another playwright with
such a fine sense of drama. His uncanny ability to create dramatic
situations drew me to work with him. After Nishant, we worked together
again for Manthan, which was written by him. It brought Tendulkar the
National Film Award for Best Screenplay. He was also involved in
giving shape to the story of Bhumika. He was more of a ‘script doctor’
than a writer for the film.
Tendulkar had the ability to create dramatic situations without making
it sound contrived or melodramatic. He wrote dialogues with precision.
Apart from being a playwright of great stature and a fine journalist,
he was a social commentator,
Our professional association made way for personal friendship. I
admire the kind of work he did with Nihalani in Akrosh (1980) and Ardh
Satya (1983). He also teamed up with Jabbar Patel for memorable
cinematic works like Samana (1975) and Umbartha (1981). As a person he
was very honest and never suffered fools.
I last met him a year ago when Sriram Lagoo honoured him in Pune. I
was asked to give the keynote address. Tendulkar, who had been though
a series of personal tragedies, was ailing. Within a year and a half,
he had lost his daughter, son and wife. Though it was wonderful
meeting him, I could sense a deep sadness in him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE END OF AN ERA
City Pays Tribute To Playwright And Social Activist Vijay Tendulkar
Noted personalities from all walks of life, especially theatre and
films, deeply mourned the death of renowned playwright Vijay Tendulkar
on Monday. They called it the end of an era.
Satish Alekar, noted playwright and director of the Centre for
Performing Arts at the University of Pune said, “Tendulkar’s death is
the second biggest shock to Indian theatre after playwright Shambhu
Mitra’s. We have lost a great litterateur of the modern era.”
“It was because of Tendulkar that the Marathi theatre transformed
into Indian theatre and also came to be recognised internationally,”
he added. There is hardly any language which has not adapted
Tendulkar’s works. “Through his plays and movies he created an
audience for us. It was because of him that the audience accepted our
works,” Alekar said.
News of Tendulkar’s demise spread like wildfire and condolences
have poured in from all quarters. Renowned theatre director and
founding head of National School of Drama (NSD) Ebrahim Alkazi, NSD
chairperson Aman Allana, NCD director Anuradha Kapoor, actor director
Girish Karnad, theatre director Mahesh Elkunchawar, too, expressed
their grief.
Actor Mohan Agashe who portrayed the character of Nana Phadnavis in
the controversial play ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ said Tendulkar always
inspired and encouraged young theatre artists. “He never compromised
on quality and only went for what was the best,” Agashe added that
Tendulkar’s courage was awe inspiring. “He is a role model for all of
us.”
Recalling one of Tendulkar’s plays ‘Ashi Pakhre Yeti’, he said
Tendulkar had lived up to one of the dialogues he wrote for the play
‘Mi Janmataach Mukta Hoto’ (I became free as soon as I was born).
Actor Dilip Prabhavalkar said he last met Tendulkar on his
birthday. “My last visit to him remained the last,” he lamented. “More
than three generations in the field of theatre had flourished with his
support. Tendulkar ensured that as a human being, he added value to
the lives of those he knew. He was not only instrumental in moulding
our tastes as far as theatre is concerned but also our personalities,”
Prabhavalkar remarked.
Cartoonist and Tendulkar’s friend of 60 years Vasant Sarwate said,
“He was a person who preferred to be emotionally detached. So, even
when controversies arose over his work, he chose to ignore them,” he
said. He thanked his late friend who had encouraged him to become a
cartoonist.
Actor director Amol Palekar, a close friend, said, “An era has come
to an end.” He said that he was fortunate to have known him and learnt
from him.
Palekar also thanked the media for co-operating with Tendulkar’s
family. “Tendulkar did not want his death to come under the media
glare. He chose to pass away with dignity,” he said.
I have completed my innings
Friend Ashok Kulkarni told the media that Tendulkar had wished for a
quiet passage. He did not want any rites to be performed, neither did
he want any condolence meetings to be conducted.
“My innings is over. I do not want my death to be mourned,” he had
told Kulkarni. He did not even want the press to know about his death
and had told Kulkarni that he should inform the press of his demise
only after the funeral.
Sharing a few memories, Kulkarni said Tendulkar was extremely fond
of good food and cricket. Even when he was in the Intensive Care Unit,
he listened to songs and watched movies on the laptop.
Tendulkar did not observe any age barrier when it came to meeting
people. In fact he was a very good counsellor to many young people,
Kulkarni recalled.
‘Consider me an amateur’
Recalling his experience with the man himself, noted film director
Sunil Sukhtankar said that when he zeroed in on the former to play the
role of a grandfather in his film ‘Nital’ (Unblemished), he was under
tremendous pressure. But, Tendulkar instructed him to consider him as
an amateur actor and not be bothered about his stature.
“I always feel that such men who are young at heart should live a
healthy and long life. Unfortunately he left us,” Sukhtankar said.
Satish Alekar
Through his plays and movies he created an audience for us. It was
because of him that the audience accepted our works
Mohan Agashe
Tendulkar lived up to the dialogues that he wrote for the play ‘Mi
Janmataach Mukta Hoto’ (I became free as soon as I was born)
Dilip Prabhavalkar
He ensured that he added value to the lives of those he knew. He was
not only instrumental in moulding our tastes in theatre but also our
personalities
Amol Palekar
I am fortunate to have known him and learnt from him. He chose to pass
away with dignity
Dr Maya Tulpule, Sumitra Bhave, Sunil Sukhatankar and others at Vijay
Tendulkar’s funeral on Monday
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He taught us how to face reality’
Film-maker Atul Pethe talks to Manjiri Damle about his late friend,
the inspiration he was, is and always will be
Amultidimensional personality who taught us how to face reality and
through his contributions as a playwright created space for five
generations of theatre artists. This is how film maker Atul Pethe
describes his friend and Padma Bhushan awardee the late Vijay
Tendulkar.
Speaking to TOI after Tendulkar’s death on Monday morning, Pethe
recalled how he took to handling the camera at Tendulkar’s insistence.
“Whenever we met he used to ask me about when would I buy a camera and
kept insisting till I bought one,” Pethe recalls, “Never look at a
human being from just one angle, look at him from all angles, was his
advise to me, which I will never forget,” he said.
Tendulkar always stayed connected with people, issues, technology
and gadgets. “Considered one of the greatest playwrights of modern
India, he was never content sitting in his ivory tower. He always kept
his eyes open and never hesitated in depicting the stark realities of
life.” Pethe said that this was the reason why Tendulkar never became
old even when he deteriorated physically.
“You would never see him marching in a protest rally but he would
take up all issues,” Pethe added.
Tendulkar heralded a revolution in Indian theatre, both in content
and style. He was the first Indian playwrite to consistently explore
the theme of violence in a direct way.
His bold approach and passion inspired many and Pethe is one of
them. Pethe made a film on the revolutionary titled ‘Tendulkar ani
Hinsa — Kaal ani Aaj (Tendulkar and violence — then and now)’ which
won critical acclaim.
‘Tendulkar Ani Hinsa...’ studies the theme of violence in
Tendulkar’s plays through a series of intimate interviews with the
playwright himself. “It examines the origin, expression and character
of violence in his plays, explored in the context of the period of
writing and similar attempts worldwide,” explained Pethe.
The film also includes rare archival excerpts from Tendulkar’s
plays ‘Kanyadan’, ‘Sakharam Binder’, ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’, ‘Kamala’ and
‘Shantata Court Chalu Aahe’.
“This is not a routine documentary,” said Pethe adding, “Instead it
should be called an intellectual debate which tries to explore why
Tendulkar was so taken by violence, its manifestations and relevance.
He brought Marathi theatre out of the conventional middleclass
framework.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The playwright was working on his autobiography
Vivek Sabnis | TNN
Pune: Vijay Tendulkar’s writings extended to almost each and every
form of literature, except poetry. He was so uncomfortable without his
pen that even in the last days of his life, he had decided to write an
autobiography, in his own unique style. Through it, he was all set to
revisit over the five decades of the social history of the post-
Independent India.
As a child in Kolhapur district, Tendulkar had witnessed several
ups and downs in life. On his 80th birthday, Tendulkar, while speaking
to TOI, had expressed his wish to put in words his experiences from
the time he was a child to the time when he matured. He was extremely
upbeat and had informally revealed his plans to start the project to
this reporter.
The author of ‘Kovali Unhe’, a book based on the life of a
journalist, Tendulkar had gauged the melancholy and pain of life like
no one. “That is why all his writings were humanitarian, and perhaps
this was the reason why he chose to live life in a dignified manner
throughout,” says feminist writer Vidyut Bhagwat, who too was aware of
Tendulkar’s last ambitious plan.
Tendulkar, she remembers, was a great listener. This quality,
perhaps, was the reason which lent him the art of easily grasping what
lay ‘between the lines’.
A writer who believed in thorough research, Tendulkar had even
borrowed copies of a Marathi newsletter, as part of the legwork for
his last book, reveals Bhagwat. He especially wanted to scan through
the writings of thinkers like B.S. Bhanage and Vasant Palshikar, she
says.
Like Bhagwat, Chandrashekhar Phansalkar, who translated Tendulkar’s
English play ‘Fifth Woman’ into Marathi, too was aware of Tendulkar’s
project. “He not only understood the essence of human life, but also
possessed the skill to convey his understanding to others as well,”
says Phansalkar.
He was attempting to pen down “his era,” the way he had seen it
through his autobiographical writing, observed Phansalkar.
In fact, so determined was he to complete the project that even his
ill-health could not act as a deterrent. He would often catch up on
his unfinished work on his laptop, Phansalkar reveals.
“But now, everything has come to an end as he is no longer with us to
complete it...”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tendulkar, the master of controversy
Mumbai: Sadists, cowards, brutes and delinquents peopled Vijay
Dhondopant Tendulkar’s world.He probed them with sensitivity and
guided them through life’s tempestuous waters. And then sat down to
write plays about his luckless friends, not to pronounce a judgement
on them, but to liberate them, as it were, from their wretched
existence. And to unburden his soul.
That Tendulkar wrote in Marathi is a matter of biographical detail.
He represented the new awakening in the world of art and literature in
the 1960s. Te n d u l k a r, Badal Circar, Girish Karnad and Mohan
Rakesh experimented with language, style and substance to expand the
frontiers of the contemporary Indian theatre. With a rich harvest of
33 plays to his credit, Tendulkar proved to be the most prolific of
the quartet.
Tendulkar attacked the Nehruvian Indian middleclass with ferocity.
His iconoclasm and his irreverence shocked the audience. The starkness
of the plot, the endless journey of his characters through a maze of
complex human emotions and razor-sharp dialogues lend a Chekovian
character to Tendulkar’s plays.
The individual-versus-society theme is Tendulkar’s enduring
contribution to Indian theatre. His plays explore the human destiny
against the grim backdrop of sex and violence. That Tendulkar should
pass away on Buddha Purnima is an irony which would not have lost on
the playwright.
His characters, whether Baby in ‘Baby’, Sakharam in ‘Sakharam
Binder’ and Ghashiram in ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ symbolise the down-hill
trundle of the Great Indian middle-class. ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’, which
was staged in the 1970s and which unveils the decadent Peshwa kingdom
and its political machinations, is a brilliant comment on how pursuit
of power results in moral decay.
“‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ seeks to interpret the relationship between
Nana Phadanvis (the Prime Minister in the Peshwa kingdom) and
Ghasiram, Nana’s minion. The relationship is timeless and crosses
national boundaries as it is fuelled by power and patronage,”
Tendulkar told this correspondent in a free-wheeling interview last
year.
Tendulkar’s plays did not mesh with the popular taste of the 1960s:
maudlin melodramas and tear-jerkers laced with music kept the cash
registers jingling at the box-office. Unfazed, he chose a new team or
they chose him. Vijaya Jaywant (now M e h t a ) , D a m u Ke n k re, M
a d h av Watve, Kamlakar Sarang, Arvind Deshpande, Bhakti Barwe and
Satyadeo Dube staged Tenulkar’s plays with gusto.
Awards came in droves. Tendulkar won the prestigious Kamladevi
Chattopadhyay award for ‘Shantata! Court Chalo Aahe’ in 1969. This was
followed by Saraswati Samman, Moorthi Devi Samman, the Sangeet Natak
Akademi fellowship and Padma Bhushan. He won the Filmfare award for
best story ‘Akrosh’ and ‘Ardha-Satya’. He also penned the script for
‘Nishant’, ‘Gehrayee’, ‘Sardar’, ‘Sinhasan’ and ‘Umbartha’.
He braved a series of personal tragedies - the untimely demise of
his daughter, Priya, a known actor, and Raju, his son and ace
cameramen a few years ago - with equanimity.
Tendulkar’s plays triggered debate and controversies. ‘Sakharam
Binder’ earned the wrath of the censor board and the cultural
gendarme. Director Kamlakar Sarang put up a tough and succesful fight
in the Bombay high court. The Shiv Sena staged protest against both
‘Sakharam Binder’ and ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vijay Tendulkar: 1928-2008
Many years ago, watching a performance of Sakharam Binder in Calcutta,
I heard someone in the audience say, "What kind of play is this? The
language is so plain, the characters are so vulgar — where is the
upliftment?"
Where is the upliftment": indeed, that was often how the Indian
establishment greeted a new work from Vijay Tendulkar, the great
Marathi writer who died yesterday after many years of fighting
myasthenia gravis. His plays were often heralded by clashes with the
censor, or greeted with horror by the more conservative.
But Sakharam Binder is still watched; Tendulkar's portrayal of a man
who could be benefactor and abuser, who makes his bargains openly with
the women he simultaneously rescues and uses, remains one of the most
intricate and compelling character studies in Indian theatre. And it
was that "plain" language, those ordinary, "vulgar" characters who
struck a chord with audiences across five decades; we recognised
something of ourselves in all of Tendulkar's plays, even if we didn't
always like that recognition.
His play, Gidhade (The Vultures), featured a woman character wearing a
sari that had a large red dot in front. The symbolism of the dot was
considered shocking, even vulgar; in one production of the play,
Satyadev Dubey switched the colour of the dot to black — and then
urged the audience to imagine that it was red, in accordance with
Tendulkar's wishes.
One of his most searing and best-known plays, Ghasiram Kotwal, was
written by Tendulkar as he witnessed the rise of the Shiv Sena in
Bombay. His portrayal of Nana Phadnavis was considered scandalous in
more conservative quarters, and for a while, every performance of the
play had to be preceded by the ludicrous announcement that "Nana
Phadnavis was a great Peshwa leader". He couldn't have written better
black farce himself — and he was one of our best mordant writers.
There are few Indians who don't know at least some of Tendulkar's
plays — Ghasiram Kotwal, Sakharam Binder and Silence! The Court is in
Session — have been staples of the theatre circuit for years. What
made him such a great writer was that he couldn't be easily slotted.
He dealt in ambiguity and ambivalence, he bore witness to his times,
but he understood the complexity of human beings, and he had no
tolerance for hypocrisy.
He spoke once of the environment he had grown up in — a Mumbai chawl,
the father who ran a small publishing business, books and literature
threading through what outsiders might assume was only middle-class
poverty. He loved this environment. His father often took him to see
plays, and he liked going backstage, watching the transformation as
the men who played women's roles sat back in their costumes and smoked
beedis. He was precocious, writing his first play at the age of 11 —
he also produced, directed and acted in it.
Many years later, when he worked on screenplays for films such as
Manthan, Ardh Satya and Aakrosh, he sought out the directors who
shared a certain sensibility, a way of looking at the world without
flinching and with honesty — Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Saeed
Mirza. (He didn't do a screenplay for Mirza, but he wrote the dialogue
for Arvind Desai ki Ajeeb Dastan.)
The best of his work has a timeless quality about it; plays that he
wrote in response to a particular event, a moment caught in time,
remain just as relevant and arresting today. His plays, screenplays
and short stories have a clarity about them — his directions in his
screenplays are crisp and vivid, he preferred short, pithy sentences,
and he listened, really listened to the way ordinary people spoke,
catching the rhythms of their language perfectly.
This made him an easy writer to read in translation — the Marathi of
the original writing slides fluidly into English, or indeed into most
other languages. The plays he translated, in turn, demonstrate the
range of theatre he loved, from the historical to the deeply personal
— Girish Karnad's epic Tughlaq on one hand and Tennessee William's
gripping, haunting A Streetcar Named Desire on the other.
"My writing has always been honest," he often said. "I don't know any
other way to write except to look at life, to really look, without
prejudices or blinkers, and then to write what I see as honestly as I
can." His friends, and they were many, in the literary world will miss
him; the rest of us have the consolation of knowing that we will
always have Vijay Tendulkar's work with us.
nilanj...@gmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer,
literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator
primarily in Marāthi. He is best known for his plays, Shāntatā! Court
Chālu Āhe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder
(1972).Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life
incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh
realities. He even provided his guidance to students studying
“Playwright writing” in US universities. For over five decades,
Tendulkar had been a highly influential dramatist and theater
personality in Mahārāshtra.
Early life
------------------------------------
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on January 6, 1928 in a
Bhalavalikar Saraswat brahmin family in Kolhapur, Maharashtra , where
his father held a clerical job and ran a small publishing business.
The literary environment at home prompted young Vijay to take up
writing. He wrote his first story at age six.
He grew up watching western plays, and felt inspired to write plays
himself. At age eleven, he wrote, directed, and acted in his first
play.
At age 14, he participated in the 1942 Indian freedom movement ,
leaving his studies. The latter alienated him from his family and
friends. Writing then became his outlet, though most of his early
writings were of a personal nature, and not intended for publication.
Early career
--------------------------------------------------
Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers. He had already
written a play, "Āmchyāvar Kon Prem Karnār" (Who will Love us?), and
he wrote the play, "Gruhastha" (The Householder), in his early 20s.
The latter did not receive much recognition from the audience, and he
vowed never to write again . Breaking the vow, in 1956 he wrote
"'Shrimant", which established him as a good writer. "Shrimant" jolted
the conservative audience of the times with its radical storyline,
wherein an unmarried young woman decides to keep her unborn child
while her rich father tries to "buy" her a husband in an attempt to
save his social prestige.
Tendulkar's early struggle for survival and living for some time in
tenements ("chāwls") in Mumbai provided him first-hand experience
about the life of urban lower middle class. He thus brought new
authenticity to their depiction in Marathi theater. Tendulkar's
writings rapidly changed the storyline of modern Marathi theater in
the 1950s and the 60s, with experimental presentations by theater
groups like "Rangāyan". Actors in these theater groups like Shreerām
Lāgoo, Mohan Agāshe, and Sulabhā Deshpānde brought new authenticity
and power to Tendulkar's stories while introducing new sensibilities
in Marathi theater.
Tendulkar wrote the play, "Gidhāde" (The Vultures) in 1961, but it was
not produced until 1970. The play was set in a morally collapsed
family structure and explored the theme of violence. In his following
creations, Tendulkar explored violence in its various forms: domestic,
sexual, communal, and political. Thus, "Gidhāde" proved to be a
turning point in Tendulkar's writings with regard to establishment of
his own unique writing style.
Based on a 1956 short story, "Die Panne" ("Traps") by Friedrich
Dürrenmatt, Tendulkar wrote the play, "Shāntatā! Court Chālu
Aahe" ("Silence! The Court Is In Session"). It was presented on the
stage for the first time in 1967, and proved as one of his finest
works. Satyadev Dubey presented it in movie form in 1971 with
Tendulkar's collaboration as the screenplay writer.
1970s and '80s
---------------------------------------------
In his 1972 play, Sakhārām Binder (Sakhārām, the Binder), Tendulkar
dealt with the topic of domination of the male gender over the female
gender. The main character, Sakhārām, is a man devoid of ethics and
morality, and professes not to believe in "outdated" social codes and
conventional marriage. He accordingly uses the society for his own
pleasure. He regularly gives "shelter" to abandoned wives, and uses
them for his sexual gratification while remaining oblivious to the
emotional and moral implications of his exploits. He justifies all his
acts through claims of modern, unconventional thinking, and comes up
with hollow arguments meant in fact to enslave women. Paradoxically,
some of the women which Sakhārām had enslaved buy into his arguments
and simultaneously also badly want freedom from their enslavement.
In 1972, Tendulkar wrote another, even much more acclaimed play,
Ghāshirām Kotwāl ("Ghāshirām, the Constable"), which dealt with
political violence. The play is a political satire created as a
musical drama set in 18th century Pune. It combined traditional
Marathi folk music and drama with contemporary theater techniques,
creating a new paradigm for Marathi theater. The play demonstrates
Tendulkar's deep study of group psychology , and it brought him a
"Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship" (1974-75) for a project titled, "An
Enquiry Into the Pattern of Growing Violence in Society and Its
Relevance to Contemporary Theatre". With over six thousand
performances thus far in its original and translated versions,
"Ghāshirām Kotwāl" remains one of the longest-running plays in the
history of Indian theater.
Tendulkar wrote screenplays for the movies Nishānt (1974), Ākrosh (The
Cry) (1980), and Ardh Satya (The Half-Truth) (1984), established him
as an important "Chronicler of Violence" of the present times[10]. He
has written eleven movies in Hindi and eight movies in Marathi. The
latter include Sāmanā ("Confrontation") (1975), Simhāasan ("Throne")
(1979), and Umbarthā ("The Threshold") (1981). The last one is a
groundbreaking feature film on women's activism in India. It was
directed by Jabbar Patel, and stars Smitā Pātil and Girish Karnād.
1990s and beyond
----------------------------------------------
In 1991, Tendulkar wrote a metaphorical play, "Safar", and in 2001 he
wrote the play, "The Masseur". He wrote, next, two novels, "Kādambari:
Ek" and "Kādambari: Don", about sexual fantasies of an aging man. In
2004, he wrote a single-act play, "'His Fifth Woman" --his first play
in the English language-- as a sequel to his earlier exploration of
the plight of women in "Sakhārām Binder". This play was first
performed at the "Vijay Tendulkar Festival" in New York in October
2004.
In the 1990s, Tendulkar wrote an acclaimed TV series, "SwayamSiddha",
in which his daughter, Priyā Tendulkar, performed in the lead role.
His son Raja and wife Nirmala both died in 2001, and were shortly
followed by his daughter, noted actress Priya Tendulkar, in 2002.
Death
-------------------------------------------
Vijay Tendulkar died in Pune on May 19, 2008, after five weeks at the
Prayag Hospital battling the effects of myasthenia gravis.
Legacy
-----------------------------------------------
In his writing career spanning more than five decades, Tendulkar has
written 27 full-length plays and 25 one-act plays. Several of his
plays have proven to be Marathi theater classics . His plays have been
translated and performed in many Indian languages.
By providing insight into major social events and political upheavals
during his adult life, Tendulkar was one of the strongest radical
political voices in Maharashtra in recent times. While contemporary
writers were cautiously exploring the limits of social realism, he
jumped into the cauldron of political radicalism, and courageously
exposed political hegemony of the powerful and the hypocrisies in the
Indian social mindset. His powerful expression of human angst has
resulted in his simultaneously receiving both wide public acclaim, and
high censure from the orthodox and the political bigwigs.
Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents
or social upheavals. Thus, the rise of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra in the
1970s was reflected in Tendulkar's "Ghāshirām Kotwāl". The true story
of a journalist who purchased of a woman from the rural sex industry
in order to reveal police and political involvement in this trade,
only to abandon the woman once he had no further need for her, is
detailed in Tendulkar's "Kamalā" . The real-life story of an actress
whose acting career got ruined after her same-sex affair became public
knowledge inspired Tendulkar to write "Mitrāchi Goshta" .
Tendulkar has translated nine novels, two biographies, and five plays
by other authors into Marathi.
Besides the foregoing, Tendulkar's oeuvre includes a biography; two
novels; five anthologies of short stories; 16 plays for children,
including "Bāle Miltāt" (1960) and "Pātlāchyā Poriche Lagin" (1965);
and five volumes of literary essays and social criticism, including
"Rātrāni" (1971), "Kowali Unbe" (1971), and "Phuge Sobānche" (1974).
All in all, Tendulkar's writings have contributed to a significant
transformation of the modern literary landscape in both Marathi and
other Indian languages.
In 2007, a documentary titled "Tendulkar Āni Himsā: Āj Āni
Kāl' ("Tendulkar and Violence: Today and Yesterday") with English
subtitles and a short film, "Ankahin"', about Tendulkar were
released .
Awards
---------------------------------------
Tendulkar won Maharashtra State government awards in 1956, 1969 and
1972; and "Mahārāshtra Gauruw Puraskār" in 1999. He was honored with
the Sangeet Nātak Akademi Award in 1970, and again in 1998 with the
Academy's highest award for "lifetime contribution", the Sangeet Nātak
Akademi Fellowship ("Ratna Sadasya"). In 1984, he received the Padma
Bhushan award from the Government of India for his literary
accomplishments.
In 1977, Tendulkar won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for
his screenplay of Shyām Benegal's movie, Manthan (1976). He has
written screenplays for many significant art movies, such as Nishānt,
Ākrosh, and Ardh Satya.
A comprehensive list of awards is given below:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 Sangeet Nātak Akademi Award
1970 Kamalādevi Chattopādhyāya Award
1977 National Film Award for Best Screenplay: Manthan
1981 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Aakrosh
1981 Filmfare Best Story Award: Aakrosh
1983 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Ardh Satya
1984 Padma Bhushan
1993 Saraswati Sanmān
1998 Sangeet Nātak Akademi Fellowship
1999 Kālidās Sanmān
2001 Kathā Chudāmani Award
2006 The Little Magazine SALAM Award [25]
Bibliography
-------------------------------------------------
Novels
---------------------------------------------
Kādambari: Ek (Novel: One) (1996)
Kādambari: Don (Novel: Two) (2005)
Short Story Anthologies
------------------------------------------------------
Dwandwa ((Duel) (1961)
Phulāpākhare (Butterflies) (1970)
Plays
----------------------------------
Gruhastha (Householder) (1947)
Shrimant (The Rich) (1956)
Mānoos Nāwāche Bet (An Island Named 'Man') (1958)
Thief! Police!
Bāle Miltāt (1960)
Gidhāde (The Vultures) (1961)
Pātlāchyā Poriche Lagin (Marriage of a Village Mayor's Daughter)
(1965)
Shāntatā! Court Chālu Aahe (Hindi: Khāmosh! Adālat Jāri Hai) (Silence!
The Court is in Session) (1967)
Ajgar Ani Gandharwa (A Boa Constrictor and "Gandharwa")
Sakhārām Binder (Sakhārām, the Book-Binder) (1972)
Kamalā ("Kamala") (1981)
Mādi [in Hindi]
Kanyādān (Giving Away of a Daughter in Marriage) (1983)
Anji
Dāmbadwichā Mukābalā (Encounter in Umbugland)
Ashi Pākhare Yeti (Hindi: Panchi Aise Aate Hain) (Thus Arrive the
Birds)
Kutte
Safar/Cyclewallah (The Cyclist) (1991)
The Masseur (2001)
Pāhije Jātiche (It Has to Be in One's Blood)
Jāt Hi Poochho Sādhu Ki (Ask a Fakir's Lineage)
Mājhi Bahin (My Sister)
Jhālā Ananta Hanumanta ("Infinite" Turned "Hanumanta")
Footpāyrichā Samrāt (Sidewalk Emperor)
Mitrāchi Goshta (A Friend's Story) (2001)
Anand Owari [A play based on a novel by D. B. Mokashi]
Bhāu MurārRāo
Bhalyākākā
Mee Jinkalo Mee Haralo (I won, I Lost)
His Fifth Woman [in English] (2004)
Bebi
Musicals
------------------------------
Ghashiram Kotwal (Ghashiram, the Constable) (1972)
Translations
------------------------------
Mohan Rakesh's Adhe Adhure (originally in Hindi)
Girish Karnad's Tughlaq (originally in Kannada)
Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (originally in English)
Tendulkar's Works Available in English
----------------------------------------------------------------
Silence! The Court Is in Session (Three Crowns). Priya Adarkar
(Translator), Oxford University Press, 1979.ISBN 0195603133.
Ghashiram Kotwal, Sangam Books, 1984 ISBN 817046210X.
The Churning, Seagull Books, India, 1985 ISBN 0856471208.
The Threshold: (Umbarthā - Screenplay), Shampa Banerjee (Translator),
Sangam Books Ltd.,1985 ISBN 0861320964.
Five Plays (Various Translators), Bombay, Oxford University Press,
1992 ISBN 0195637364.
The Last Days of Sardar Patel and The Mime Players: Two Screen Plays
New Delhi, Permanent Black, 2001 ISBN 8178240181.
Modern Indian Drama: An Anthology Sāhitya Akademi, India, 2001 ISBN
8126009241.
Mitrāchi Goshta : A Friend’s Story: A Play in Three Acts Gowri
Ramnarayan (Translator). New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001 ISBN
0195653173.
Kanyādān, Oxford University Press, India, New Ed edition, 2002 ISBN
0195663802.
Collected Plays in Translation New Delhi, 2003, Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0195662091.
The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman: Two Plays by Vijay Tendulkar Balwant
Bhaneja (Translator), 2006 Oxford India Paperbacks ISBN 0195676408
Filmography
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screenplays
-----------------------------------------------
Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (Silence! The Court Is in Session) (1972)
Nishant (End of Night) (1975)
Samana (Confrontation) (1975)
Manthan (Churning) (1976)
Simhasan (Throne) (1979)
Gehrayee (The Depth) (1980)
Aakrosh (Cry of the Wounded) (1980)
Akriet (Unimaginable) (1981)
Umbartha (The Threshold) (1981)
Ardh Satya (Half Truth) (1983)
Kamala (Kamala) (1984)
Sardar (1993)
Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (2003)
Eashwar Mime Co. (The Mime Players) (2005)
Dialogues
---------------------------------------------
Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978)
Further reading
--------------------------------------------
Vijay Tendulkar. New Delhi, Katha, 2001. ISBN 8187649178.
Vijay Tendulkar's Ghashiram Kotwal: a Reader's Companion. M. Sarat
Babu, Asia Book Club, 2003. ISBN 8178510081
Vijay Tendulkar's Ghashiram Kotwal : Critical Perspectives, Vinod Bala
Sharma and M. Sarat Babu. 2005, Prestige Books, New Delhi . ISBN
8178510022.
Vijay Tendulkar's Plays: An Anthology of Recent Criticism. V M Madge,
2007, Pencraft International. ISBN 8185753792.
An Interview with Vijay Tedulkar, The Indian Express, October 20,
1999
Vijay Tendulkar chats on death penalty, 2004
Vijay Tendulkar talks on his plays
Jabbar Patel talks on Vijay Tendulkar plays
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Press :
Vijay Tendulkar: 1928-2008Vijay Tendulkar: The man who wanted to shoot
Modi
Agencies
Mumbai, May 19:
Vijay Tendulkar, who towered over the Marathi literary field for over
four decades, was no stranger to controversies.
His remarks in the aftermath the post-Godhra communal carnage in
Gujarat that ‘if he had a pistol, he would shoot Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi’, evoked mixed reactions, with Modi supporters
burning his effigies and others lauding him for the anti-Modi tirade.
Later, when asked if it was not strange that someone known as a strong
voice against death penalty had a death wish for Modi, Tendulkar had
said that ‘it was a genuine and spontaneous anger, which I never see
as a solution for anything. Anger doesn't solve problems’.
Ghashiram Kotwal, a Marathi play written by Tendulkar in 1972, was
considered by many as his response to the rise of the Shiv Sena in
Maharashtra.
The play, a political satire, was based on the life of Nana Phadnavis
(1741-1800), the Prime Minister in the court of the Peshwas. It
portrayed how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their
purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless.
----------------------------------------------------
‘He was so involved with life, yet so detached’
Mohan Agashe
Pune, May 19
Tendulkar was associated with many people in his lifetime — his
repertoire of people was huge, given the kind of nature he had. I was
amongst the many, but yes I was also comparatively close to him,
thanks to his Ghashiram Kotwal that I did for 20 years.
The man was unique and the most unusual quality about him was his
ability to be so involved with life and yet be so detached from
everything. He had written a beautiful line in one of his plays Ashi
Pakhare Yeti which went “Mee janmatana mukta hoto” which means “I was
liberated since birth”. I think it sums up him and his life quite
aptly.
There was another very impressive quality in Tendulkar. He had the
most amazing active listening skills. He could make anyone talk — from
the common man to a most important person while he himself became the
listener. It’s a quality that every professional should have but very
few do.
As a writer he was on this perennial search as to what life is all
about. This also led him to have this creative obsession with
violence. He was preoccupied with what made people so violent and this
was reflected in his plays too.
Tendulkar is also credited with the dawn of a new era in play writing
by using natural language unlike the flowery, dramatic prose that was
the order of the day till then. His lines, if taken out of the play,
were like daily conversation pieces, yet they always had the desired
dramatic effect on stage.
I also think he was the youngest of all the Marathi playwrights
because of the way he could relate to the plays of the younger
generation. He saw this play called Cigarettes and said that this was
the theatre of the present era. Youngsters in the theatre world — be
it Mohit Takalkar or Sachin Kundalkar- held him in high esteem.
It was my privilege to act in “Ghashiram Kotwal” which had a universal
appeal. Twenty years of doing the play brought me closer to him.
During the time when Ghashiram and Sakharam Binder were shrouded in
controversy it was amazing to see him so quiet and calm about
everything. He respected what others had to say and also kept up the
respect of his own views simply by his silence.
In fact, he was the epitome of calmness. As a psychiatrist, I would
tell people if they really want to know what it is to be a good
listener and a good counsellor, they should go and meet Tendulkar.
The fact that Tendulkar loved living was apparent in the wish he had
expressed whilst alive that no one should photograph or film his body
being carried away. I am happy that the Pune press, in this day and
age of media trying to capitalise on just about everything, respected
that wish and in that has proved to be a role model for the rest of
the country.
(Mohan Agashe is a well-known film and theatre actor)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar dead
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Noted Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar, 80, died in Pune
on Monday morning; bringing the curtains down on one of the country’s
most influential dramatists who packed into his repertoire short
stories, newspaper columns, novels, film scripts, translations and
television programmes.
Writing his first story at the age of six and making his tryst with
the stage — as writer, director and actor — five years later, Mr.
Tendulkar swore never to write at the age of 22 when his play Grihast
was heckled off the stage.
Staging a comeback, he went on to write over 30 full-length plays,
several one-act plays, collection of short stories and film scripts;
many of which brought him awards.
Though best known for his plays — Ghasiram Kotwal and Sakharam Binder
being the shining stars of his body of work — Mr. Tendulkar described
himself “first a writer and then a playwright.”
Ghasiram Kotwal (Ghasiram the Constable) is billed as one of the
longest-running plays in the world with over 6,000 performances in
India and abroad in the original and in translation.
Writing in practically every form, he picked up awards on the way,
including the Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Filmfare
Award, Saraswati Samman, Kalidas Samman, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar.
Films like ‘Aakrosh’, ‘Manthan’ and ‘Ardha Satya’ — each a powerful
example of India’s “alternate cinema” — brought him instant fame but
that did not draw Mr. Tendulkar to mainstream cinema despite offers
from big-ticket producers like Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra. In his own
words, “writer is no more than a hack” for mainstream cinema. The
playwright’s personal life was wrought with tragedy towards his
twilight years — he lost his wife and two children, including
television actress Priya Tendulkar in close succession.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The many worlds of Vijay Tendulkar
Vijay Tendulkar transcended the cultural boundaries of Maharashtra.
There is no other Marathi literary icon today who is not only well
known all over India, but is also respected among the elite. There is
an establishment elite and an equally prestigious anti-establishment
elite. Tendulkar moved from one to the other, with no one questioning
his right to do so. But his heart was on the anti-establishment side.
That showed in his themes as well as the way he crafted and presented
his plays.
He was fastidious about the directorial details. He wanted to achieve
a certain effect and he knew that it could not be achieved without the
correct composition of lights and music, sets and costumes. He also
wrote detailed notes on the script itself, on the movements and moods
of the actors. Often the directors had to merely follow the script and
those notes.
His modern themes and perfectionist approach impressed the
metropolitan elite. In his famous and highly controversial play,
Gidhare (The Vultures) Tendulkar explores the human relationships
within a family, which turn explosive and violent to the extent that
the father, brother, sister and the rest get into a murderous mood
over a question of property. He wrote the play in 1972, when land
prices were not skyrocketing like today and family incomes were not
very high.
Yet the conflicts within families were turning vicious. Joint families
were splitting up but nuclear families were not fully evolved.
Property distribution, in a stagnant economy with low incomes, was
turning hideous. Conventional playwrights would not dare to take up
such themes. Romanticised and moralistic images of the family
determined the predominant content of theatre. Tendulkar dared to
expose the brutal reality with equally brutal language. That shocked
audiences. There were protests and demands to ban the play. A young
woman, forcibly aborting with blood oozing out on her saree, was too
outrageous an image to be shown on the stage.
But the play was acclaimed by the liberal, cosmopolitan art and
theatre world. It was existentialist and bore the European
sensibilities of hyper-realism. Leading actors like Alyque Padamsee
and Gerson da Cunha performed the play in English later.
It is difficult to understand how and from where Tendulkar acquired
modernist and, later, post-modernist ideas. He had a very modest
middle-class background, with little exposure to the European or
American world of art and literature. He started writing at a very
young age. His rebellious mood perhaps was a reflection of the times
he lived in. Till Tendulkar arrived on the scene, theatre essentially
meant entertainment and sometimes idealistic or moralistic evocation.
It was not supposed to shock and certainly not devastate well-
ensconced beliefs. He initially acquired notoriety before he began to
get attention as a serious writer who was ready to confront and fight
the status quo.
His plays, which came in succession, Ghashiram Kotwal and Sakharam
Binder, were penetrating studies in violence. Actually, before these
plays, he had been drawing the attention of theatre-goers and critics
with plays like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe. But he began to get
national attention only in the early ’70s and became an icon of the
young.
All of us, the equivalent of the so-called Beatles Generation,
enveloped by the ideas of protest and rebellion, by the anti-war
movement, were his followers. For this generation, defending Tendulkar
meant being anti-establishment. Marx and Che, Ho and Mao defined the
ideological contours of the period. As for us, we had Tendulkar. Not
that he was Marxist or Maoist. But he had his sympathies with them. He
has never defended communism or the Soviet Union or Mao’s Cultural
Revolution. He never studied seriously the Marxist theories or the New
Left versions. But he was familiar with the ideas and that was enough
for him. He was not an intellectual nor an ideological polemicist. He
was a creative writer and saw the world around him as a living
theatre. He saw that violence ruled from Vietnam to Naxalbari, the JP
movement to Emergency. He wanted to show the nexus between violence
and power.
Later, he became more anti-establishmentarian, not only in theatre,
but also on public issues. He became part of the movement for
democratic rights and civil liberties, participated in the Narmada
agitation, supported dalit movements. But by nature and creative
instincts he was an artist, a playwright, and could not remain
straitjacketed. He would write something that would go against the
conventional Left or he would publicly say something that would hurt
liberal sensibilities.
However, he never lost contact with the young and those experimenting
with different forms. In hospital, in his last days, he asked a young
admirer of his to read out to him Terry Eagleton’s piece in The Times
Literary Supplement. He was obviously tired as he turned 80 and could
not bear the pain of the chronic muscle disorder, but he never thought
of retiring. He was a colossus, and no one can take his place with
that maverick style in confronting the establishment.
The writer is editor, ‘Loksatta’
kumar....@expressindia.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 50 yrs, India has not seen another playwright like him’
Shyam Benegal
By the time I got to know Vijay Tendulkar through friends Satyadev
Dubey and Govind Nihalani in the early ‘70s, I was already acquainted
with the great playwright’s works. I had seen Dubey’s theatre
production of Sakharam Binder in which Amrish Puri played the central
character, as well as his big screen version of Shantata! Court Chalu
Aahe (both are landmark plays by Tendulkar).
My association with him strengthened when he wrote the screenplay of
Nishant while Dubey took care of the dialogue. And you can see what
great work he has done in this film about the power of the rural elite
and the sexual exploitation of women. The 1975-film received National
Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and was invited to the
Cannes film festival.
In the past five decades, India has not seen another playwright with
such a fine sense of drama. His uncanny ability to create dramatic
situations drew me to work with him. After Nishant, we worked together
again for Manthan, which was written by him. It brought Tendulkar the
National Film Award for Best Screenplay. He was also involved in
giving shape to the story of Bhumika. He was more of a ‘script doctor’
than a writer for the film.
Tendulkar had the ability to create dramatic situations without making
it sound contrived or melodramatic. He wrote dialogues with precision.
Apart from being a playwright of great stature and a fine journalist,
he was a social commentator,
Our professional association made way for personal friendship. I
admire the kind of work he did with Nihalani in Akrosh (1980) and Ardh
Satya (1983). He also teamed up with Jabbar Patel for memorable
cinematic works like Samana (1975) and Umbartha (1981). As a person he
was very honest and never suffered fools.
I last met him a year ago when Sriram Lagoo honoured him in Pune. I
was asked to give the keynote address. Tendulkar, who had been though
a series of personal tragedies, was ailing. Within a year and a half,
he had lost his daughter, son and wife. Though it was wonderful
meeting him, I could sense a deep sadness in him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE END OF AN ERA
City Pays Tribute To Playwright And Social Activist Vijay Tendulkar
Noted personalities from all walks of life, especially theatre and
films, deeply mourned the death of renowned playwright Vijay Tendulkar
on Monday. They called it the end of an era.
Satish Alekar, noted playwright and director of the Centre for
Performing Arts at the University of Pune said, “Tendulkar’s death is
the second biggest shock to Indian theatre after playwright Shambhu
Mitra’s. We have lost a great litterateur of the modern era.”
“It was because of Tendulkar that the Marathi theatre transformed
into Indian theatre and also came to be recognised internationally,”
he added. There is hardly any language which has not adapted
Tendulkar’s works. “Through his plays and movies he created an
audience for us. It was because of him that the audience accepted our
works,” Alekar said.
News of Tendulkar’s demise spread like wildfire and condolences
have poured in from all quarters. Renowned theatre director and
founding head of National School of Drama (NSD) Ebrahim Alkazi, NSD
chairperson Aman Allana, NCD director Anuradha Kapoor, actor director
Girish Karnad, theatre director Mahesh Elkunchawar, too, expressed
their grief.
Actor Mohan Agashe who portrayed the character of Nana Phadnavis in
the controversial play ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ said Tendulkar always
inspired and encouraged young theatre artists. “He never compromised
on quality and only went for what was the best,” Agashe added that
Tendulkar’s courage was awe inspiring. “He is a role model for all of
us.”
Recalling one of Tendulkar’s plays ‘Ashi Pakhre Yeti’, he said
Tendulkar had lived up to one of the dialogues he wrote for the play
‘Mi Janmataach Mukta Hoto’ (I became free as soon as I was born).
Actor Dilip Prabhavalkar said he last met Tendulkar on his
birthday. “My last visit to him remained the last,” he lamented. “More
than three generations in the field of theatre had flourished with his
support. Tendulkar ensured that as a human being, he added value to
the lives of those he knew. He was not only instrumental in moulding
our tastes as far as theatre is concerned but also our personalities,”
Prabhavalkar remarked.
Cartoonist and Tendulkar’s friend of 60 years Vasant Sarwate said,
“He was a person who preferred to be emotionally detached. So, even
when controversies arose over his work, he chose to ignore them,” he
said. He thanked his late friend who had encouraged him to become a
cartoonist.
Actor director Amol Palekar, a close friend, said, “An era has come
to an end.” He said that he was fortunate to have known him and learnt
from him.
Palekar also thanked the media for co-operating with Tendulkar’s
family. “Tendulkar did not want his death to come under the media
glare. He chose to pass away with dignity,” he said.
I have completed my innings
Friend Ashok Kulkarni told the media that Tendulkar had wished for a
quiet passage. He did not want any rites to be performed, neither did
he want any condolence meetings to be conducted.
“My innings is over. I do not want my death to be mourned,” he had
told Kulkarni. He did not even want the press to know about his death
and had told Kulkarni that he should inform the press of his demise
only after the funeral.
Sharing a few memories, Kulkarni said Tendulkar was extremely fond
of good food and cricket. Even when he was in the Intensive Care Unit,
he listened to songs and watched movies on the laptop.
Tendulkar did not observe any age barrier when it came to meeting
people. In fact he was a very good counsellor to many young people,
Kulkarni recalled.
‘Consider me an amateur’
Recalling his experience with the man himself, noted film director
Sunil Sukhtankar said that when he zeroed in on the former to play the
role of a grandfather in his film ‘Nital’ (Unblemished), he was under
tremendous pressure. But, Tendulkar instructed him to consider him as
an amateur actor and not be bothered about his stature.
“I always feel that such men who are young at heart should live a
healthy and long life. Unfortunately he left us,” Sukhtankar said.
Satish Alekar
Through his plays and movies he created an audience for us. It was
because of him that the audience accepted our works
Mohan Agashe
Tendulkar lived up to the dialogues that he wrote for the play ‘Mi
Janmataach Mukta Hoto’ (I became free as soon as I was born)
Dilip Prabhavalkar
He ensured that he added value to the lives of those he knew. He was
not only instrumental in moulding our tastes in theatre but also our
personalities
Amol Palekar
I am fortunate to have known him and learnt from him. He chose to pass
away with dignity
Dr Maya Tulpule, Sumitra Bhave, Sunil Sukhatankar and others at Vijay
Tendulkar’s funeral on Monday
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He taught us how to face reality’
Film-maker Atul Pethe talks to Manjiri Damle about his late friend,
the inspiration he was, is and always will be
Amultidimensional personality who taught us how to face reality and
through his contributions as a playwright created space for five
generations of theatre artists. This is how film maker Atul Pethe
describes his friend and Padma Bhushan awardee the late Vijay
Tendulkar.
Speaking to TOI after Tendulkar’s death on Monday morning, Pethe
recalled how he took to handling the camera at Tendulkar’s insistence.
“Whenever we met he used to ask me about when would I buy a camera and
kept insisting till I bought one,” Pethe recalls, “Never look at a
human being from just one angle, look at him from all angles, was his
advise to me, which I will never forget,” he said.
Tendulkar always stayed connected with people, issues, technology
and gadgets. “Considered one of the greatest playwrights of modern
India, he was never content sitting in his ivory tower. He always kept
his eyes open and never hesitated in depicting the stark realities of
life.” Pethe said that this was the reason why Tendulkar never became
old even when he deteriorated physically.
“You would never see him marching in a protest rally but he would
take up all issues,” Pethe added.
Tendulkar heralded a revolution in Indian theatre, both in content
and style. He was the first Indian playwrite to consistently explore
the theme of violence in a direct way.
His bold approach and passion inspired many and Pethe is one of
them. Pethe made a film on the revolutionary titled ‘Tendulkar ani
Hinsa — Kaal ani Aaj (Tendulkar and violence — then and now)’ which
won critical acclaim.
‘Tendulkar Ani Hinsa...’ studies the theme of violence in
Tendulkar’s plays through a series of intimate interviews with the
playwright himself. “It examines the origin, expression and character
of violence in his plays, explored in the context of the period of
writing and similar attempts worldwide,” explained Pethe.
The film also includes rare archival excerpts from Tendulkar’s
plays ‘Kanyadan’, ‘Sakharam Binder’, ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’, ‘Kamala’ and
‘Shantata Court Chalu Aahe’.
“This is not a routine documentary,” said Pethe adding, “Instead it
should be called an intellectual debate which tries to explore why
Tendulkar was so taken by violence, its manifestations and relevance.
He brought Marathi theatre out of the conventional middleclass
framework.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The playwright was working on his autobiography
Vivek Sabnis | TNN
Pune: Vijay Tendulkar’s writings extended to almost each and every
form of literature, except poetry. He was so uncomfortable without his
pen that even in the last days of his life, he had decided to write an
autobiography, in his own unique style. Through it, he was all set to
revisit over the five decades of the social history of the post-
Independent India.
As a child in Kolhapur district, Tendulkar had witnessed several
ups and downs in life. On his 80th birthday, Tendulkar, while speaking
to TOI, had expressed his wish to put in words his experiences from
the time he was a child to the time when he matured. He was extremely
upbeat and had informally revealed his plans to start the project to
this reporter.
The author of ‘Kovali Unhe’, a book based on the life of a
journalist, Tendulkar had gauged the melancholy and pain of life like
no one. “That is why all his writings were humanitarian, and perhaps
this was the reason why he chose to live life in a dignified manner
throughout,” says feminist writer Vidyut Bhagwat, who too was aware of
Tendulkar’s last ambitious plan.
Tendulkar, she remembers, was a great listener. This quality,
perhaps, was the reason which lent him the art of easily grasping what
lay ‘between the lines’.
A writer who believed in thorough research, Tendulkar had even
borrowed copies of a Marathi newsletter, as part of the legwork for
his last book, reveals Bhagwat. He especially wanted to scan through
the writings of thinkers like B.S. Bhanage and Vasant Palshikar, she
says.
Like Bhagwat, Chandrashekhar Phansalkar, who translated Tendulkar’s
English play ‘Fifth Woman’ into Marathi, too was aware of Tendulkar’s
project. “He not only understood the essence of human life, but also
possessed the skill to convey his understanding to others as well,”
says Phansalkar.
He was attempting to pen down “his era,” the way he had seen it
through his autobiographical writing, observed Phansalkar.
In fact, so determined was he to complete the project that even his
ill-health could not act as a deterrent. He would often catch up on
his unfinished work on his laptop, Phansalkar reveals.
“But now, everything has come to an end as he is no longer with us to
complete it...”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tendulkar, the master of controversy
Mumbai: Sadists, cowards, brutes and delinquents peopled Vijay
Dhondopant Tendulkar’s world.He probed them with sensitivity and
guided them through life’s tempestuous waters. And then sat down to
write plays about his luckless friends, not to pronounce a judgement
on them, but to liberate them, as it were, from their wretched
existence. And to unburden his soul.
That Tendulkar wrote in Marathi is a matter of biographical detail.
He represented the new awakening in the world of art and literature in
the 1960s. Te n d u l k a r, Badal Circar, Girish Karnad and Mohan
Rakesh experimented with language, style and substance to expand the
frontiers of the contemporary Indian theatre. With a rich harvest of
33 plays to his credit, Tendulkar proved to be the most prolific of
the quartet.
Tendulkar attacked the Nehruvian Indian middleclass with ferocity.
His iconoclasm and his irreverence shocked the audience. The starkness
of the plot, the endless journey of his characters through a maze of
complex human emotions and razor-sharp dialogues lend a Chekovian
character to Tendulkar’s plays.
The individual-versus-society theme is Tendulkar’s enduring
contribution to Indian theatre. His plays explore the human destiny
against the grim backdrop of sex and violence. That Tendulkar should
pass away on Buddha Purnima is an irony which would not have lost on
the playwright.
His characters, whether Baby in ‘Baby’, Sakharam in ‘Sakharam
Binder’ and Ghashiram in ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ symbolise the down-hill
trundle of the Great Indian middle-class. ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’, which
was staged in the 1970s and which unveils the decadent Peshwa kingdom
and its political machinations, is a brilliant comment on how pursuit
of power results in moral decay.
“‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ seeks to interpret the relationship between
Nana Phadanvis (the Prime Minister in the Peshwa kingdom) and
Ghasiram, Nana’s minion. The relationship is timeless and crosses
national boundaries as it is fuelled by power and patronage,”
Tendulkar told this correspondent in a free-wheeling interview last
year.
Tendulkar’s plays did not mesh with the popular taste of the 1960s:
maudlin melodramas and tear-jerkers laced with music kept the cash
registers jingling at the box-office. Unfazed, he chose a new team or
they chose him. Vijaya Jaywant (now M e h t a ) , D a m u Ke n k re, M
a d h av Watve, Kamlakar Sarang, Arvind Deshpande, Bhakti Barwe and
Satyadeo Dube staged Tenulkar’s plays with gusto.
Awards came in droves. Tendulkar won the prestigious Kamladevi
Chattopadhyay award for ‘Shantata! Court Chalo Aahe’ in 1969. This was
followed by Saraswati Samman, Moorthi Devi Samman, the Sangeet Natak
Akademi fellowship and Padma Bhushan. He won the Filmfare award for
best story ‘Akrosh’ and ‘Ardha-Satya’. He also penned the script for
‘Nishant’, ‘Gehrayee’, ‘Sardar’, ‘Sinhasan’ and ‘Umbartha’.
He braved a series of personal tragedies - the untimely demise of
his daughter, Priya, a known actor, and Raju, his son and ace
cameramen a few years ago - with equanimity.
Tendulkar’s plays triggered debate and controversies. ‘Sakharam
Binder’ earned the wrath of the censor board and the cultural
gendarme. Director Kamlakar Sarang put up a tough and succesful fight
in the Bombay high court. The Shiv Sena staged protest against both
‘Sakharam Binder’ and ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’.
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Vijay Tendulkar: 1928-2008
Many years ago, watching a performance of Sakharam Binder in Calcutta,
I heard someone in the audience say, "What kind of play is this? The
language is so plain, the characters are so vulgar — where is the
upliftment?"
Where is the upliftment": indeed, that was often how the Indian
establishment greeted a new work from Vijay Tendulkar, the great
Marathi writer who died yesterday after many years of fighting
myasthenia gravis. His plays were often heralded by clashes with the
censor, or greeted with horror by the more conservative.
But Sakharam Binder is still watched; Tendulkar's portrayal of a man
who could be benefactor and abuser, who makes his bargains openly with
the women he simultaneously rescues and uses, remains one of the most
intricate and compelling character studies in Indian theatre. And it
was that "plain" language, those ordinary, "vulgar" characters who
struck a chord with audiences across five decades; we recognised
something of ourselves in all of Tendulkar's plays, even if we didn't
always like that recognition.
His play, Gidhade (The Vultures), featured a woman character wearing a
sari that had a large red dot in front. The symbolism of the dot was
considered shocking, even vulgar; in one production of the play,
Satyadev Dubey switched the colour of the dot to black — and then
urged the audience to imagine that it was red, in accordance with
Tendulkar's wishes.
One of his most searing and best-known plays, Ghasiram Kotwal, was
written by Tendulkar as he witnessed the rise of the Shiv Sena in
Bombay. His portrayal of Nana Phadnavis was considered scandalous in
more conservative quarters, and for a while, every performance of the
play had to be preceded by the ludicrous announcement that "Nana
Phadnavis was a great Peshwa leader". He couldn't have written better
black farce himself — and he was one of our best mordant writers.
There are few Indians who don't know at least some of Tendulkar's
plays — Ghasiram Kotwal, Sakharam Binder and Silence! The Court is in
Session — have been staples of the theatre circuit for years. What
made him such a great writer was that he couldn't be easily slotted.
He dealt in ambiguity and ambivalence, he bore witness to his times,
but he understood the complexity of human beings, and he had no
tolerance for hypocrisy.
He spoke once of the environment he had grown up in — a Mumbai chawl,
the father who ran a small publishing business, books and literature
threading through what outsiders might assume was only middle-class
poverty. He loved this environment. His father often took him to see
plays, and he liked going backstage, watching the transformation as
the men who played women's roles sat back in their costumes and smoked
beedis. He was precocious, writing his first play at the age of 11 —
he also produced, directed and acted in it.
Many years later, when he worked on screenplays for films such as
Manthan, Ardh Satya and Aakrosh, he sought out the directors who
shared a certain sensibility, a way of looking at the world without
flinching and with honesty — Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Saeed
Mirza. (He didn't do a screenplay for Mirza, but he wrote the dialogue
for Arvind Desai ki Ajeeb Dastan.)
The best of his work has a timeless quality about it; plays that he
wrote in response to a particular event, a moment caught in time,
remain just as relevant and arresting today. His plays, screenplays
and short stories have a clarity about them — his directions in his
screenplays are crisp and vivid, he preferred short, pithy sentences,
and he listened, really listened to the way ordinary people spoke,
catching the rhythms of their language perfectly.
This made him an easy writer to read in translation — the Marathi of
the original writing slides fluidly into English, or indeed into most
other languages. The plays he translated, in turn, demonstrate the
range of theatre he loved, from the historical to the deeply personal
— Girish Karnad's epic Tughlaq on one hand and Tennessee William's
gripping, haunting A Streetcar Named Desire on the other.
"My writing has always been honest," he often said. "I don't know any
other way to write except to look at life, to really look, without
prejudices or blinkers, and then to write what I see as honestly as I
can." His friends, and they were many, in the literary world will miss
him; the rest of us have the consolation of knowing that we will
always have Vijay Tendulkar's work with us.
nilanj...@gmail.com
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