Vijay Tendulkar (Marathi:???? ????????) (7 January 1928 - 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Mar?thi. He is best known for his plays, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Gh?shir?m Kotw?l (1972), and Sakh?r?m Binder (1972).Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh realities. He 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 Mah?r?shtra.
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on 7 January 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.
Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers. He had already written a play, "?mchy?var Kon Prem Karn?r" (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 ("ch?wls") 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 "Rang?yan". Actors in these theater groups like Shreer?m L?goo, Mohan Ag?she, and Sulabh? Deshp?nde brought new authenticity and power to Tendulkar's stories while introducing new sensibilities in Marathi theater.
Tendulkar wrote the play, "Gidh?de" (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, "Gidh?de" 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, "Sh?ntat?! Court Ch?lu 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.
In his 1972 play, Sakh?r?m Binder (Sakh?r?m, the Binder), Tendulkar dealt with the topic of domination of the male gender over the female gender. The main character, Sakh?r?m, 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 Sakh?r?m 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, Gh?shir?m Kotw?l ("Officer Gh?shir?m"), 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, "Gh?shir?m Kotw?l" remains one of the longest-running plays in the history of Indian theater.
Tendulkar wrote screenplays for the movies Nish?nt (1974), ?krosh (The Cry) (1980), and Ardh Satya (The Half-Truth) (1984), established him as an important "Chronicler of Violence" of the present times. He has written eleven movies in Hindi and eight movies in Marathi. The latter include S?man? ("Confrontation") (1975), Simh?asan ("Throne") (1979), and Umbartha ("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 Smit? P?til and Girish Karn?d.
In 1991, Tendulkar wrote a metaphorical play, "Safar", and in 2001 he wrote the play, "The Masseur". He wrote, next, two novels, "K?dambari: Ek" and "K?dambari: 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 "Sakh?r?m 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, Priy? Tendulkar, performed in the lead role.
Following the post-Godhra communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002, Tendulkar had reacted by saying that "If I had a pistol, I would shoot [Gujarat Chief Minister] Narendra Modi" (for encouraging the carnage by Hindus against Muslims). This reaction of Tendulkar had evoked mixed reactions, local Modi supporters burning his effigies while others lauding his remark.
Later, when he was asked if it was not strange that he, who was known as a strong voice against death penalty, had a death wish for Modi, Tendulkar had said that "it was spontaneous anger, which I never see as a solution for anything. Anger doesn't solve problems."
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 became 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 "Gh?shir?m Kotw?l".. 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 "Kamal?" . The real-life story of an actress whose acting career got ruined after her same-sex affair became public knowledge inspired Tendulkar to write "Mitr?chi 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 "B?le Milt?t" (1960) and "P?tl?chy? Poriche Lagin" (1965); and five volumes of literary essays and social criticism, including "Ratrani" (1971), "Kowali Unhe" (1971), and "Phuge Sob?nche" (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 2005, a documentary titled "Tendulkar ?ni Hims?: K?l ?ni ?j' ("Tendulkar and Violence: Then and Now") with English subtitles (produced by California Arts Association - CalAA - directed by Atul Pethe) was released. In 2007, a short film about Tendulkar, "Ankahin" (Director Santosh Ayachit), was released .
Tendulkar won Maharashtra State government awards in 1956, 1969 and 1972; and "Mah?r?shtra Gauruw Purask?r" in 1999. He was honored with the Sangeet N?tak Akademi Award in 1970, and again in 1998 with the Academy's highest award for "lifetime contribution", the Sangeet N?tak 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 Shy?m Benegal's movie, Manthan (1976). He has written screenplays for many significant art movies, such as Nish?nt, ?krosh, and Ardh Satya.
A comprehensive list of awards is given below:
1970 Sangeet N?tak Akademi Award
1970 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay 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 Samman
1998 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
1999 Kalidas Samman
2001 Katha Chudamani Award
2006 The Little Magazine SALAM Award The Little Magazine - Salam and New Writing Awards
