I woke up in the midst of chaos. Hanuman just skid past carrying the load of Sumeru on his palm. 30 degrees to North, Allah-Oodal were fighting hard to search for their father, killing dozens in a single stroke, yet not minding the vidushak who jeered at them. A bit towards the capital, Krishna steals butter-milk on a daily basis while in Kashi, Raja Harishchandra goes to extremes to prevent truthfulness.
In the meantime, a creative-comrade sings odes to a bearded old man from a far-off country. Politicians change destinies by writing better verses than their opponents do. Babu-moshai walks the talk of Jatra hand-in-hand with his Oriya brother who cannot let go of Danda Nata. The tents for all the above shows are erected by migrant labourers who become irony in rhythm with Bihar’s Bhikari Thakur, as they share their pain in Bidesiya grammar. We hear in between and alongside, the nagadas of nautanki, and the roars of masked characters bound by the Yakshagana tradition. A complex maze of forms, expressions, people, interest, concerns and perceptions!
Green Room today tries to walk the maze, treading along its thread, noticing columns on which the maze rests — strong, broad-based columns that provide the method in the world-class beautiful madness our culture and its tradition of theatre is. Let’s meet people who changed the dynamics of Indian theatre.
BHARTENDU
HARISHCHANDRA
Sept. 1850 to Jan. 1885
KASHI, a city older than traditions and legends, has been the Gangotri of contemporary Hindi theatre’s culture. Bhartendu Harishchandra, the father of modern Hindi theatre, was born in Kashi and chose the mystic city to carve the desaj trend of Hindi theatre. This journalist started his stage journey as an actor, but soon took over direction, management and writing plays.
He proved to the English-speaking elite class of the pre-Independence era that meaningful and serious playwrights can emanate from within the country. He established Khadi Boli as a valid literary and dramatic language and brought poetic sensibility into scripts. He strongly believed that one must know one’s mother tongue, as it is the foundation of all progress. Bhartendu established his theatre group and used his productions to register socio-political comments.
He innovatively assimilated poetry and conventions from Sanskrit theatre, and technology and versification from Parsi theatre.
He translated various plays from Sanskrit, Bengali and English to Khadi Boli. His famous plays are Andheri Nagri, Bharat Durdasha, Neel Devi, Satya Harishchandra. Bhartendu amalgamated the old and new without loosing the sight of Indian aesthetics.
JAISHANKAR PRASAD
Jan. 1889 to Jan. 1937
ANOTHER KASHI-born literary figure Jaishankar Prasad, who is primarily known as the pioneer of Chayvaadi (romantic) poetry, filled historical colours on the canvas of Indian theatre. His plays established the greatness of Indian culture through modern idioms and structures. His plots, revolving around idealism and nationalism were very close to Indian traditions in terms of vision and purpose, but were influenced by the Western style in treatment and structure. His language uplifted the standard of Indian plays. He addressed issues ranging from social, religious political and emotional. Depiction of women in Prasad’s plays were extraordinary for his time. His poetic sensibility helped him unleash the multi-layers of his characters and conflicts of human emotions. Some of his plays based on the mythological plots are Samudragupta, Ajaatshatru, Skandagupta, Chandragupta, Dhruvaswamini.
MOHAN RAKESH
Jan. 1925 to Jan. 1972
He is one of the most performed playwrights of the Indian stage. Mohan Rakesh established modern sensibility in realistic genre, giving new dimension to the Hindi-language plays with his creations such as Ashad ka Din, Lehron ke Rajhans and Adhe-Adhure. He unveiled human relationships beyond existing social norms. Rakesh evolved a new language for theatre in which words were not the chief medium for communication; he left strings with hidden subtexts for performers to explore. Set in various frames, class, time and space, his text with pauses, and incomplete sentences, introduced the right of creative freedom to artistes. He established new parameters for dramatic speech. His collaboration with directors and multiple revisions of scripts to develop a new flavour for each production highlights Rakesh’s dedication and the abundance of creative energy he possessed.
VIJAY TENDULKAR
Jan. 1928 to May 2008
Vijay Tendulkar wrote 27 full-length plays and 25 one-act plays in his career span of five decades. His plays, originally written in Marathi, have been translated and performed in many Indian languages. Deriving inspiration from real-life incidents or social upheavals, he criticised political radicalism, and courageously exposed political hegemony of the powerful and the hypocrisies in the Indian social mindset. Tendulkar explored violence in its various forms — domestic, sexual, communal, and political. His most famous plays, Ghashiram Kotwal and Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe, have acquired the classic crown of the Indian theatre world.
HABIB TANVIR
Sept. 1923 to June 2009
Do we need any adjective to introduce Habib Tanvir? Certainly not. He was one of India’s most popular Urdu and Hindi playwrights, theatre director, poet, actor and activist. He redefined the dynamics of theatre by working with Chhattisgarhi tribals at the Naya Theatre, a company he founded in 1959 in Bhopal. He assimilated indigenous stage forms such as “nacha” to create a new theatrical language. His plays Charandas Chor, Gaon ka Naam Sasural, Mor Naam Damad and Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna, denounced the trend of lavish theatre. For him true “theatre of the people” existed in the villages, which he tried to bring to the urban “educated”, employing both folk performers as actors alongside urban actors.
B.V. KARANTH
Sept. 1929 to Sept. 2002
He re-established the theatre culture of Karnataka by absorbing the elements of Company Theatre, amateur theatre and traditional folk forms like Yakshagana. His contribution to theatre music is remarkable. He achieved a perfect balance between song, speech, melody and meaning. He highlighted the importance of the basic minimum infrastructure for the continuos growth of theatre. Karanth played an important role in starting the new theatre movement in Madhya Pradesh.
As director of the NSD, at the invitation of the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, he organised a training-cum-production camp in 1973. In the 1980s, he returned to set up the Rangmandal repertory in Bharat Bhavan. Karanth directed over a hundred plays, more than half of which were in Kannada with Hindi close behind. He also directed plays in English, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit and Gujarati. He has emphasised on the importance of children theatre for creation of a culturally rich society.
EBRAHIM ALKAZI
Born 1925
He is a living legend and one of the most influential Indian theatre directors and drama teachers. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he has directed over 50 plays and trained the top most artistes of the acting world. In 1962, he took over as the director of the National School of Drama and revolutionised Hindi theatre with his vision and technical discipline. He highlighted the importance of detailed research in all aspects of a play before initiating a production.
He experimented with performing spaces, costumes, lights and sets, and provided platform for vivid artistic imaginations. Alkazi should be credited for introducing sophistication on Indian stage.