Hidden Issues in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays

Hidden Issues in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays Edited by

Dr K.P. Singh

NOTION PRESS, INDIA

Published by

Notion Press, India. Singapore. Malaysia. Email ID: [email protected]. Wensite: www. notionpress.com Hidden Issues in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays Copyright © Editor 2021 All Rights Reserved.2021 ISBN 978 -1-6 3781-3 24-9 This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the editor. However, the editor and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage or discuption caused by error or omissions, whether such errors or omissions results from negligence, accident, or any other cause. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author/Editor except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The Author of the concerned chapter in this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, statements, information, opinions and references [“Content”].

Dedicated To My Teachers

Contents Foreword

i-vi

Acknowledgements

vii-viii

List of contributors

ix- x

Preface

xi -xvii

1. The Celebration of Marginalized: A Critical Study of the Plays of Mahesh Dattani Dr. Neha Agarwal

1-11

2. Existential Concerns vis-a-vis Marginalization: A Study of Mahesh Dattani’s Where There Is A Will Deepak Raj

12-27

3. Communalism and Women Psyche: A Study of Mahesh Dattani’s Play ‘Final Solution’ Dr. Amit Kumar Bhagat

28-46

4. Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like a Man: The Doctrine of Swadharma Suprabhat Chatterjee

47-60

5. Understanding Metaphors in Mahesh Dattani’s Dance like A Man

Preetha Krishna L.

61-77

6. Unmasking the Invisible Issues Domination and the Art of Resistance in Mahesh Dattani’s Thirty Days in September Soumi Mukherjee

78-92

7. Repercussions of Child Sexual Abuse and Molestation: A Study of Mahesh Dattani’s Thirty Days in September Dr. Jitendra Kumar

93-109

8. Reflection of Hijra as Marginalized Community in Mahesh Dattani’s Play Seven Steps Around the Fire Dr. G. M. Khobragade

110-123

9. Mahesh Dattani’s Do The Needful: A Reiteration of Falsity in Norms and Moral Hypocrisy of Conventions Jasna Jalal

124-136

10. Mahesh Dattani’s On A Muggy Night in Mumbai: A Voice From The LGBTQ Community Rajpal Singh Chikhalikar

137-154

11. Mahesh Dattani’s Play The Big Fat City: A Stage for Pseudo Identity and Honour Manu

155-171

12. Ethical Failure in Mahesh Dattani’s Play ‘Tara’ Dr. Kanwar Pal Singh

172-188

Index

189-192

Foreword Acting is the primitive instinct of man and hence, drama is as old as humanity. It has been a strong and reliable medium of conveying messages to the public through stage performances which generate emotional and intellectual response from the audience. It is a composite art involving the playwright, the actors and the audience in a shared experience on the stage. It has its own strength and limitations as a form of art. Its essence lies in its audio-visual medium of expression, a visible narrative within the limited dimension of space and time. Though drama is meant for the stage, not for reading, yet the lack of living theatre has bckgrounded the audiences and foregrounded the readers. The number of readers of drama now-sdays far exceeds that of the audience watching stage performances. Hence academic study of drama, its evaluation, and its appraisal are of far reaching importance. The book titled Hidden Issues in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays edited by Dr Kanwar Pal Singh is a meaningful effort in this direction. The origin of drama goes back to Natyashastra (200BCE-200CE), a comprehensive treatise in Sanskrit on the performing art, written in the Vedic Period by Bharata Muni, the father of Indian theatrical art form. Bharat Muni considered drama i

Foreword

as the Fifth Veda. Some notable treatise like Ptanjali’s Mhabhashya (2nd century BCE), Kautilya’s Arthshastra (3rd century BCE), Vatsyayana’s Kamsutra (4th century BCE), and Panini’s Ashtadhyayi (4th century BCE) refer to poetics and drama. Bharata’s theory of dramatic art was followed by the ancient Sanskrit dramatists like Ashwaghosh, Bhasa, Shudraka, Kalidas, Harsha, Bhavabhuti, Vishakhadatta, Bhatta Narayana, Murari and Rajeshkhora in the making of ancient classical dramas in Sanskrit. Bhasa (3rd century) is regarded as the father of Sanskrit drama. Though India has a rich tradition of dramatic art yet in India English has not been the medium of communication. So, English drama appeared at a later stage here. The origin and development of Indian English Drama owes a great deal to the British who brought with them, the theatre. Initially plays of William Shakespeare were translated into Indian languages and presented on the stage. Gradually, the introduction of Western education in India led to the development of Indian English Drama. Ever since the publication by the Father of Indian English Drama, Krishna Mohan Banerji, of The Persecuted (1813) which presented the encounter between the East and the West, Indian English Drama has moved forward to depict changing Indian social, political, economic and cultural scenario and it is largely seen as the representative of changes and developments in Indian life and society at large. But the real

beginning of Indian English Drama could happen with Is This Called Civilization? (1871) by Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873). The literary stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Nissin Ezekiel, Gieve Patel, Pritish Nandi and others have contributed to making Indian English Drama experimental and innovative in terms of theme and stagecraft. Among the notable modern and contemporary Indian English dramatists, Mohan Rakesh, Dharamvir Bharati, Badal Sircar, Gurucharan Das, Mahasweta Devi, Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Mahesh Dattani and others, contributed towards the evolution of cumulative theatrical tradition in contemporary Indian English Drama. It is worthy to note that some of these dramatists wrote their plays originally in their mother language and later their plays were translated into English. The establishment of Sangeet Natak Akademy in 1953 by the Government of India and setting up of National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi for study, teaching, training, and practice of the art of theatre, in 1959 by Sangeet Natak Akademy, gave a new impetus to Indian English Drama in India after Independence. Many famous stars of Bollywood and Hollywood are the alumni and the alumnae of NSD. The modern Indian English Drama is notable for thematic variety, technical virtuosity, symbolic significance and it deep commitment to moral and human values visa-a-vis oddities of human life and human behavior. The contemporary Indian English Drama now deals with complex nature of human iii

Foreword

relationship, complicated issues prevalent in family and society, alternative sexuality like homosexuality and lesbianism, marital discord, licentiousness, gender discrimination, child sexual abuse, etc. as we find in the frontline Indian English dramatists. Mohan Rakesh (1925-1972) who wrote his plays in Hindi, presented Marxism in his plays in which man is a victim of socio-economic hierarchy and cultural hegemony. Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008) is a Marathi playwright who tried to bridge the gap between the traditional and the modern theatre. His protagonists face confrontation with the hostile surrounding and suffer isolation and alienation. Girish Karnad (1938-2019) contributed to IndoAnglican theatre. He uses myth, folklore and history as devices to revisit the past, look at the present and foreshadow the future. Mahesh Dattani (b. 1958) and Manjula Padmanabhan (b.1953) are the contemporary frontline dramatists who have elevated Indian English Drama to its summit. Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad and Mahesh Dattani may be called the triumvirate of Indian English Drama as they represent a powerful and resurgent Indian English Drama. Mahesh Dattani, the first playwright in English to be awarded Sahitya Akademy Award, is considered the true successor of Girish Karnad and responsible for the true progression of Indian English Drama. His plays evince the influences of the US dramatists like Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. He shows his profound humanistic

concerns as he deals with the Post-Colonial dichotomy at various levels and keeps women at the centre of his dramatic world. His plays are remarkable for complex portrayal of women characters-how they are marginalized socially, economically, physically, mentally, and psychologically and how the women of all classes and status are conditioned in their respective milieu. He holds mirror to contemporary Indian society as he chooses controversial subjects and burning topics and raises sensational issues like patriarchal dominance and gender discrimination in Dance Like a Man (1989) and Tara (1995), fixed gender identity leaving no room for eunuch, transgender, homosexual and lesbian or LGBT Community in On Muggy Night in Mumbai (1998) status of eunuchs in Seven Steps around the Fire (1998) and communalism in Final Solution,(1993), child sexual abuse in Do the Needful (2013), and domestic abuse and violence in Where There’s a Will (1988) and Bravely Fought the Queen (1991). His treatment of realistic but unconventional themes sends a shock wave to the traditional Indian society. He uses in his plays the kind of English spoken by people in India. He shows his deep sympathy to the marginalized, subjugated, oppressed and exploited on the ground of gender, sexual orientation and physical deformity and gives message to the audiences and the readers to shun hypocrisy, pretension and antipathy towards the queer, handicapped, deprived, discriminated, and victimized in the interest of healthy and prosperous human society.

v

Foreword

Though Indian English Drama has covered a vast distance in India after Independence, yet it has not been able to keep peace with poetry and fiction in the matter of popularity as a form of art and literature. When the interest of foreign readers is increasing in Indian English Literature in general and Indian English Drama in particular and Indian plays are also being staged overseas, study and appreciation of contemporary Indian English dramas and particularly the dramas of the frontline dramatist like Mahesh Dattani is of utmost use and significance. I am sure the research papers included in this book titled Hidden Issues in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays will satisfy the intellectual curiosity of the readers and scholars, create new perspectives for them, and generate their interest in the plays of Mahesh Dattani.

Arun Kumar Mishra

List of Contributors Agarwal, Neha: Lecturer, G.I.C. Thangdhar, Tehri, Garhwal, Uttrakhand, PIN. 249145. India. Bhagat, Amit Kumar: Assistant Professor, Department of English, PGDAV College (Eve), University of Delhi, PIN 110065. India. Chatterjee, Suprabhat: State Aided College Teacher, Dwijendralal College, Nadia, West Bengal, PIN. 741101. India. Chikhalikar, Rajpal Singh: Assistant Professor & Head Department of English, Lokmanya Mahavidyalaya, Sonkhed, Nanded (M.S) PIN. 431708. India. Jalal, Jasna: Post Graduate in English Language and Literature(JRF) Institute of English, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, PIN. 695034, India. Khobragade, Grishma Manikrao: Assistant Professor,Department of English, B.K. Birla College, (Autonomous) Kalyan, Thane, M.S.PIN. 421301. India. Kumar, Jitendra: Assistant Professor, Department of English, Swami Kalyan Dev Degree College, Hastinapur, Meerut, U.P. PIN 250404, India.

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