CHAPTER TWO

LIFE AND WORKS OF VIJAY

TENDULKAR

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 The Birth and development of drama in Greece, Rome,
England and India emphasizes upon the fact that it was
always been an integral part of culture, highlighting and
evaluating moral commitments, religious convictions,
philosophical approaches and social and political changes
in various countries.1

Tendulkar’s drama highlights the complexity of human

relationships and contains a latent critique of modern Indian society,
Tendulkar’s plays like Shakespeare’s plays are neither moral, nor
immoral in tone but may rather be seen amoral. Vijay Tendulkar was
a leading dramatist of twentieth century. He was playwright, screen
and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, one act play
writer, novelist, short story writer and social commentator. After
1950, he has been the most influential dramatist and theatre
personality for next five decades in Marathi. Marathi is the principle
language of the state of Maharashtra. Marathi language has a
continuous literary history since the end of classical period in India.
Tendulkar was born in 1928 and brought up in the heart of
Bombay City in Kandewadi, a small lane in Girgaon. A lower middle
class community crowded its elements. The men were mostly
shopkeepers and clerks. Vijay Tendulkar’s father Dhondopant
Tendulkar was head clerk at a British Publishing Company called
‘Longmans’. Tendulkar’s brother Raghunath and sister were many
years older than him. In his childhood Tendulkar was a sickly child
having persistent cough and asthmatic wheezing. This made his

75
parents over protective. Though Tendulkar had two younger brothers,
he remained the favourite of his parents.
Tendulkar’s father was an enthusiastic writer, director and actor
of amateur plays in their mother tongue, Marathi. He would take
young Tendulkar to the rehearsals of his plays. They were presenting
a kind of magic show for the young child of four. He was
wonderstruck when persons change into characters. At that time
women’s roles were presented by men and young Tendulkar was
greatly amazed to see men actors suddenly changing their voice and
movements to become women. As a child Tendulkar never saw any
theatre except his father staged. Tendulkar’s brother Raghunath used
to act like his father. Raghunath had interest in literature too. Different
writers often comes their home to meet Tendulkar’s father. Thus
Tendulkar grew up in a kind of literary atmosphere.
On Sunday morning his father would take him to a large
bookshop owned by his publisher friend. Young Tendulkar wandered
among the shelves and picked up a good collection of children’s
books in Marathi. His father bought them all for him and would often
tell him stories from them. When Tendulkar grew up Raghunath his
brother used to take him to English movies by cutting school.
Tendulkar developed interest in watching English films and they had
made abiding influence in his career as a playwright. Tendulkar had
early primary education from Bombay. Later on his father migrated to
Kolhapur, where Tendulkar took his education from 5th to 7th standard.
Then his father moved to Pune. Tendulkar has taken his matriculation
exam certificate from ‘Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya’ at Ramabag in Pune.

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 During his school days, Tendulkar cut school and spent time
watching English plays and rest of the time at the city library where
he read a lot. Later when he became a journalist, he was surprised at
the amount of reading he had put in while at school. Tendulkar had
two role models who had influenced him while he had in Pune. Both
were well known names in Marathi literature. They were Dinkar
Balkrishna Mokashi and Vishnu Vinayak Bokil. The former was a
radio mechanic but fine writer; the latter was Tendulkar’s Marathi
teacher at school whose stories often turned into successful films.
Early in his carrier Tendulkar dedicated one book to Bokil master.
Bokil master sent him a letter saying that Tendulkar wrote better than
he himself did. Tendulkar preserved that letter considering it the
greatest honour that he has ever received.
Tendulkar’s brother Raghunath brought the fiery spirit of
nationalism into their house. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. He
got a charka, wore only Khadi and attended congress meetings. He
was black listed in college for his activities. Tendulkar’s mother,
Susheela told him stories about Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar
Tilak. She was witness of Tilak’s rousing speeches during Ganapati
festivals in Bombay. This all atmosphere instilled the spirit of
nationalism in the mind of Tendulkar and his formal education came
to close in 1942, during, ‘the Quit India movement’ when he
answered Gandhiji’s call to boycott school. Tendulkar had written his
first story when he was six years old. When he was eleven, he wrote,
directed and acted his first play. He acted in two Marathi films as a
child artist. He had three volumes of stories on his credit before he
ventured into his first play.
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 Tendulkar’s first job was in a printing press. Then he moved to
journalism. He served as sub - editor on the daily ‘Navbharat’. He was
also executive editor of magazines ‘Vasudha’ and ‘Deepavali’. Some
years he was appointed as sub editor on daily Maratha. Tendulkar
spent some years as public relations officer for the Chowgule group of
Industries before being appointed assistant editor of the daily
‘Loksatta’ in 1968. His varied professional experience put him in
touch with peoples of all classes; his most convincing male characters
come from the middle class to which he and his circle belonged.
Hence his plays are on this class and often addressed to these peoples.
Although he was doing different jobs, during all these years he had
been writing, starting with short stories. He himself found that his
short stories include more dialogues than narrative; he switched to
writing one act plays and finally full length plays. His first play,
Grihasti had come out in 1955 and last plays completed in 1992. His
plays have given Indian theatre a rich and challenging heritage.
Tendulkar has written original scripts for film makers like Shyam
Benegal and Govind Nihalani. His plays and film scripts are
penetrating studies of violence, power and repression in different
forms in that contemporary Indian society. It suites to Tendulkar’s
creation as Plato says,
The invention of dramatic art and of the theatre seems a
very obvious and natural one. Man has a great disposition
to mimicry; when he enters vividly into the situation,
sentiments, and passions of others, he voluntarily puts on
a resemblance to them in his gestures. 2

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 Tendulkar’s Manus Navache Bet was staged in 1956. Here, we
see Tendulkar broke away from the three-act convention. Tendulkar
along with Girish Karnad changed the dramatic mould by demolishing
three act structure of the well-made play and giving it a new mould
appropriate to the performance tradition. His plays sometimes used
the expressionistic technique of dramatic make believe of dreams
within the framework of naturalistic play. Chimaniche Ghar Hote
Menache (1960) was a play, which battled the audience with its
farcical element, interspersed with lyrical movements. In Kavalyachi
Shala (1963) Tendulkar used the farcical element to highlight the
tragedy of middle class ambition. In Madlya Bhinti and Ek Hoti Mulgi
are more than the ‘family dramas’.
As the time passes, Tendulkar has become more and more
concerned with the intrigues of power and the effects of oppression,
especially in plays like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1968) and
Ghashiram Kotwal (1972) Tendulkar broke away from certain
traditions of Marathi theatre that had been dominated by family
melodramas centered on the middle class. Sakharam Binder a study of
human violence and terror amounted to a powerful dramatic
statement. There are some lighter plays too, like the light-hearted
fantasy of Ashi Pakhrey Yeti, created by Tendulkar.
After ‘Ghashiram’, Tendulkar turned to the naturalistic theatre
with two very contemporary themes. Kamala (1982) and Kanyadaan
(1983) are this two plays in this style. Kamala is a study of marital
status, of the motives behind the popular investigative journalism, as
well as study in many layers of exploitation. Kanyadaan is a complex
play about the cultural and emotional upheavals of a family. It deals
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with the violence in the subconscious of Dalit poet who is married to
the daughter of native socialist.
Tendulkar has been active in the new theatre in Maharashtra,
through his involvement with groups like Rangayan and Avishkar, and
others, remains an activist in the ongoing struggle for democratic
rights and civil liberties. Once he said, ‘My creative writing, including
plays and films have written mostly deals with or tried to deal with
contemporary social reality. As a social being, I am against all
exploitation and I passionately feel that all exploitation must end.’ He
asserts,
All my creative writing begins, not from an idea but from
an experience, mine or somebody else’s which then
becomes mine. It was such an experience, another’s to
begin with, that provided the starting for Kanyadaan.3

Tendulkar has been a witness to many social movements and

has travelled to remote parts of the country. And yet, as an artist, he
was never tempted to use his information for photographic
representation of social reality. His sensation as a human being goes
deeper than that. His dramas present social reality. But his characters
are imbued with dramatic power. He has created raw theatre language
for his ape characters. Tendulkar chose themes, characters and
situations from the contemporary life except some historical plays.
His material for plays comes from the observation of life.
Tendulkar have interest in violence in society, the human
response to violence, and individual freedom, has manifested itself in
many ways. He has made various studies, worked at the Tata Institute
of social sciences as a visiting professor. He turned around the country

80
to see prisons. His all observations have found way in literary
writings, which bear testimony to his keen perceptiveness, and his
compassion for the common man’s daily struggle for survival.
According to Plato,
Drama is deeply associated with inner consciousness of
human race that it has rightly been regarded as the best
means for the exploration of human nature in all its
varieties and manifestations.4

This opinion fits to Tendulkar and his dramatic art. Tendulkar

also involved in the translations of his contemporary dramatists from
other Indian languages. He translated Tughlaq by Girish Karnard and
Aadhe Adhure by Mohan Rakesh in 1971. He also translated
Tennessee Williams A street car named Desire in Marathi. Most of
Tendulkar’s plays have been translated and performed in Hindi and
number of other regional languages winning him recognition at the
national level.
Tendulkar was a lifelong resident of Bombay city. He is author
of thirty full-length plays and twenty-three one-act plays, several of
them have become classics of modern Indian Theatre. Among these is
Silence! The Court is in session (1967), Sakharam Binder (1972),
Kamala (1981), Kanyadan (1983). Ghashiram Kotwal, a musical play,
combines Marathi folk performance style and contemporary theatrical
techniques, Ghashiram, one of the longest-running plays in the world.
It has six thousand performances in India and abroad. Tendulkar’s
treasury includes eleven plays for children, four collections of short
stories, one novel and five volumes of literary essays and social
criticism. He is important translator in Marathi, having translated nine

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novels, and two biographies into native language as well as five plays,
among which are Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhure (Hindi), Girish
Karnad’s Tughlaq (Kannada) and Tennessee Williams A Street car
named Desire (English). He is also original writer of screen plays for
eight plays in Marathi including Samana (1975), Simhasan (1979) and
Umbartha (1981). The Cart is a ground breaking feature film on
women’s activism in India.
Tendulkar has also worked as screen-writer in Hindi, India’s
majority language and the preferred medium to the world’s largest
film industry. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, he wrote the original
script and dialogue for eleven Hindi films among them are Nishant
(1975), Manthan (1977), Akrosh (1980), Ardha Satya (1983) and
Aghat (1986). These all paved the pattern for the ‘middle class
cinema’ movement. Tendulkar has written and directed discussions on
current social issues for Indian television in Hindi too.
Tendulkar’s dramatic output and theatrical activities in Marathi
and his work in Hindi cinema have received wide recognition in
Maharashtra and India for four decades after 1950. The Maharashtra
State government brought him awards in 1956, 1969 and 1973. He
also received the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1971; he also
bagged Film Fare Award for the best original screenplay. The
government of India’s Padma Bhushan Award in 1984, the
Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in 1990, the Janasthan Award in 1991,
The ‘Kalidas Samman’ Award in 1992, the Saraswati Samman in
1993, the Maharashtra Foundation Award in 1998, the Pandit
Mahadeo Shastri Joshi Award in 1999, and the Dinanath Mangeshkar
Award in 2000; all these stand testimony to his lifetime achievement
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in literary and performing art. Among his other awards include a
Nehru Fellowship (1973-74), An Honary Doctorate from the Ravindra
Bharati University, Calcutta in 1992, and a lifetime fellowship from
the national academy of the performing Arts, New Delhi 1998.
Tendulkar is co-founder and president of the experimental
theatre group, Avishkar (Bombay) and served on the Board of
Directors of the National scales of Drama (New Delhi), and Bharat
Bhavan Rangmandal (Bhopal). He had been member of the Advisory
council of Shriram centre of the Arts (New Delhi), a trustee of the
National Book Trust (New Delhi), as well as the president of the
National Centre for Advocacy Studies (Poona).
Thus this is the brief outline history of Vijay Tendulkar and his
creations. Now we shall see Tendulkar’s major concerns expressed in
his plays in short. Wadikar comments about Tendulkar’s characters,
Most of the characters in Tendulkar’s play seen as
defeated or frustrated since they acquire deformed
personalities. They seem to have a tragic dimension.
Deformity of one sort or another such as gender, social,
political, physical, mental and spiritual is perceptible in
Tenulkar’s characterization. He seeks to project men and
women, not in their brighter, but in their darker aspects.
Mostly, they are shown life-like, i.e., as what they are
but, at times, they are shown worse than what they are in
actuality.5

The first major work that set Tendulkar apart from previous
generation of Marathi playwrights was Manus Navache Bet. It gave
expression to the tormenting solitude and alienation of a modern
individual in an urban, industrialized society. Tendulkar’s dramatic

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genius eminently suited the newly emerging, experimental Marathi
theatre of the time. The plays that followed Manus Navache Bet were,
Madhlya Bhinti, Chimnicha Ghar Hota Menache, Mee Jinklo Mee
Harlo, Kavlyachi Shala and Sari Ga Sari.
These all plays set the trend of avant-garde for Marathi theatre.
In all his early plays Tendulkar is concerned with the middle class
individuals set against the backdrop of a hostile society. And another
distinctive feature of these plays is that the absence of any easy
solution. Tendulkar presents modern man in all its complexities. He
portrays life as it is from different angles without moralizing or
philosophizing in any way. Most of his dramas are endowed with his
characteristic dialogue, which is jerky, half finished, yet signifying
more than what it says. Another important quality of his plays is
treatment of characters, his sympathy for ‘little big man’. Play of
Tendulkar variously deals with the different dimensions of man’s
cultural deformity and brings out its evil consequences on human
body, mind, and spirit. His feminist approach is also praise worthy.
Biologically as well as culturally, human beings are divided
into two classes; men and women. This division is farther accentuated
by the roles they are assigned to play in the making of family. Man is
the head of the family, governing and controlling all its affairs.
Woman is entrusted with household responsibilities, particularly those
of cooking food and rearing children. This leads to the formation of
exploitative and oppressive society of men as against the exploited
and oppressed society of women. Simon De Beauvoir rightly
observes;

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 One is not born but rather becomes a woman... It is
civilization as whole that produces this culture... which is
described as feminine.6

Tendulkar seems agree with above statement. Hence Shailaja

Wadikar describes his plays as; Tendulkar’s plays bring a turning
point in Indian theatre as they shock the sensibility of the
conventional audience by projecting the reality of life, human
relationship, and existence. His plays are revolutionary in the sense
that they bring about a transformation in the audience’s mindset. They
depict the doomed or lost generation of the post-independence India,
where people are victims of willful monstrosity.

Angry Young Man of Marathi Theatre:

With the production of Silence! Court is in Session in 1967,
Tendulkar became centre of general controversy. He had already
gained the name Angry Young Man of Marathi Theatre. But now he is
definitely identified as a rebel against the established values of a
fundamentally orthodox society. A theatre group from Bombay comes
to a village to stage a play in a mini cross-section of middle-class
society. The members of group are representatives of sub-strata. Their
spiteful attitudes to Leela Benare, the central character of the play,
reflect their malicious and spiteful attitude towards their fellow
beings. A well targeted conspiracy is hatched out against her, and in
the name of a mock trial, they expose and dissect her personal life and
blight her psyche. Their attitudes towards her reveal the basic

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hypocrisy and double standards of society. The play exposes the
vulnerability of women in Indian society.
Critics and scholars have quite often accused Tendulkar of
taking off ideas from western plays and films and given them an
Indian grab in his plays. But at the same time it is clear that in early
days Tendulkar was influenced by western films, mainly the
Hollywood films of the forties, and western playwrights like Arthur
Miller, Tennessee Williams and J. B. Priestley in particular. He was
also stated that, he has consciously or unconsciously been inspired by
just about everything around him: real life experiences, hearsay, news
items, films, plays and literature in general... But the basic urge has
always been to let out his concern viz-a-viz his reality: the human
condition as perceive it. His plays span varied issues which explain
their appeal to a cross section of society ‘Kamala’ attacks the media’s
credo of ‘anything for good story’, to Mitrachi Gost there is a bold
look at hetero and homosexual love (116) Tendulkar is Osborne of
Indian theatre. His Leela Benare in Silence! Remind us Ibsen’s Nora
who challenges outdated customs and traditions. Sakharam is
duplicate copy of Jimmy Porter, representative of frustrated post 1970
generation.
Encounter in Umbugland, which was written and produced a
year after ‘Silence!’ is a play that is totally different in nature. It falls
in separate class in comparison with Silence, Kamala, Gidhade
(Vultures) and Sakharam Binder. It is essentially a political allegory
but not devoid of dimensions. It is helpful to trace reflections of the
political situations in India of the late sixties and early seventies in the
royalist regime of Umbugland. The play is not merely topical but also
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unveils the essential nature of the game of politics as also basic
craving for power in human nature. Tendulkar weaves, exposes the
intricate political intrigues calculated to attain positions of authority
and the corruption involved in holding on to them. It is easy to
identify the characters with political figures that held ministerial
positions in those years. This play has usual three act structure. In this
play apparent observations are made on the recent developments of
political situation of Umbugland.
Tendulkar’s Ghashiram Kotwal is another political satire that
raised hue and cry in political circles. In ‘Ghashiram’ power is
designed ‘horizontally’ in terms of individuals against individuals,
from humiliation, to revenge in assertion, to eventual victimization;
played out against a background of political and moral decadence and
degeneracy, with sexuality impinging on strategies of power. Religion
manifest in caste dominance and ceremony is a device of power in
‘Ghashiram’. But it is more as an abstraction of awe than as material
force. Nana needs Ghashiram, and Ghashiram needs Nana. But in the
shifting game of power, it is temporary adjustment that Nana exploits
as long as necessary and can drop unceremoniously the moment it has
served its purpose. Samik Bandopadhyay makes a comment about
Tendulkar’s political plays,
Tendulkar in his social criticism is more concerned with the
Mechanism of power operating within the society than
With the economic and political implications and sources of
That power.7

Gidhade (The Vultures) is chronologically the next play by

Tendulkar (1970). It is entirely different kind of work that underlines
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the astonishing range of Tendulkar’s dramatic genius. About it Girish
Karnard said that the staging of Gidhade could be compared to the
blasting of a bomb in an otherwise complacent marketplace. With the
production of this play, Tendulkar’s name became associated with
sensationalism, sex and violence. This play is a ruthless dissection of
human nature revealing its inherent tendencies to violence, avarice,
selfishness, sensuality and sheer wickedness. It does not have the
redeeming humour of Silence! Court is in Session. It is extremely
morbid in the portrayal of its characters and action. The decadence
and degeneration of individuals belonging to middle class miller is
exposed through interactions among the members of a family.
Ramakant and Umakant’s greed and viciousness, their fathers
degenerate nature, their sister Manik’s gross sensuality-all add into
naturalistic depiction of those baser aspects of human that one would
shut one’s eyes to. The beating of the father by his own children, the
two brother’s forcible abortion of their sister’s child and the mutual
hatred among the members of the family underline the fundamental
evil inherent in human character. But there is something more in
Gidhade than sheer violence and evil. In the character of Rama,
Ramakant’s wife, Tendulkar is able to create a sensitive, naturally
kind and good hearted individual. Tendulkar produced Sakharam
Binder after this play. Some critics commented about this play that for
many decades no play has created such a sensation in the theatre
world of Maharashtra as Vijay Tendulkar’s Marathi play Sakharam
Binder. It brought more resistance from the censor boards than
Gidhade had. In the words of Arundhati Banerjee,

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 The play is probably Tendulkar’s most intensely
naturalistic play. The play grew around the central
character Sakharam, a book-binder, who thought a
Brahmin, is the antithesis of the general idealized
conception of a member of that caste.8

Through the delineation of this character, Tendulkar explores

the manifestations of lust and violence in human beings. What
Tendulkar is able to achieve in his characterization, not only of
Sakharam but also of Laxmi and Champa, is an almost total
objectivity. All kinds of moralizing and judgment are avoided.
Tendulkar seems keen to demonstrate the basic and essential
complexity of human nature, which is neither black nor white, but
varying shades of grey.
The function of art is not to provide answers or solutions but to
raise questions. While exposing hypocrisies and foibles of an
individual as well as society, Tendulkar urges upon the audience to
ponder over problems. All the characters of Tendulkar are
combination of good and evil, weakness and strength. Sakharam,
though apparently crude, aggressive and violent, has his own laws of
personal morality. He is a man who is primarily honest and frank.
This opener of his personality becomes in itself a criticism of the
hypocrisy of the middle-class. Sakharam ridicules the double
standards of the middle class society. His straightforwardness in
dealing with helpless women such as Laxmi, demands a certain
admiration.
Tendulkar’s another play in naturalistic manner is Kamala. It is
also a topical play. It was inspired by a real life incident based on the

89
‘Indian Express’ exposed by ‘Ashwin Sarin’, who actually bought a
girl from a rural flesh market and presented her at a press conference.
At the centre of the play Kamala is a self-seeking journalist, Jaising
Jadhav. Jadhav treats the woman he has purchased from the flesh-
market as an object that can buy him promotion in his job and a
reputation in his professional life. He is one those modern day
individuals with a single-track mind, who pursue their goal doggedly.
Jadhav never stops to think what will happen to Kamala after this
depiction. Tendulkar makes a dig at the much talked-about modern
concept of the so-called investigative, journalism which stresses the
sensational unmindful of the damaged psyche of the victim. Tendulkar
depicts Jadhav’s concept of newspaper reporting in a critical light by
highlighting the rat-race that goes on in this scenario.
Tendulkar’s play portrays different aspects of human
characters. All of them underscore the complexity of human
relationships. Most of his plays deal with the individual pitted against
the society and explore the tensions between the two. In all of them,
women play key roles in the plot. All the plays contain a subtle
critique of modern middle-class and lower middle-class Indian
society. Most of Tendulkar’s dramas follow the naturalistic model of
dramaturgy. Although there is similarity; the plays are clearly distinct
from each other. Silence! The Court is in Session combines social
criticism with the tragedy of the individual. Gidhade (Vultures) deals
with a strange blend of brutality and compassion, the economic and
moral degeneration of a family. Sakharam Binder shows the great
objectivity and complications in human nature, two necessary
components of which are sex and violence. Kamala is a denunciation
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of the success-oriented male dominated society where women are
often victims or stepping stones in men’s self-advancement.
Tendulkar’s plays open end may be seen as one of its striking
features. In his article, Vijay Tendulkar and the Metaphor of violence,
Sudhir Sonalkar rightly refers; In Tendulkar’s plays,
… the ethical question remains
both untouched and UNanswered.9

In the same way Asha S. Kanwar, observes;

By leaving the ethical questions open, Tendulkar is
perhaps inviting his audience to think about the solutions
for themselves.10

We observe there are variations in Tendulkar’s theme as well as

form; from purely naturalistic plays and dark tragedies to farces, from
musical set in traditional folk modes to absurd drama and from full
length plays to one act plays. In the thematic point of view, his plays
are ranged from social individual tensions to the complexities of
human characters. From the exploration of man-woman relationship
to the reinterpretations of historical episodes, the greatest quality of
Tendulkar as a creative writer and dramatist rests in the fact that he
can simultaneously involve and distance himself from his creation.
This affords his works with infinite subtlety. Two other hallmarks of
his creative self are his sense of humour and his intense compassion,
which are sometimes difficult of notice because of their invisible
quality. Tendulkar is a great name in Marathi theatre and he has
refurnished it with vigour and vitality to awaken the dormant
conscience of society through the medium of art.

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 Tendulkar is named ‘Arthur Miller’ of India’s theatre. His
social conscience, the role he has scripted for women, his fight for
justice, modern representation of gender roles, his criticism of class
system in India and his dialogue with western theatre ranked him to
the forefront of modern Indian theatre.

Other Writings of Tendulkar:

Short Stories:
Tendulkar was a versatile figure in Marathi literature. He
started his career in literature beginning short stories. He confessed
once that ‘Who Will Love on Us’ is his first story written in 1948.
Later on he published fifty two stories under five anthologies.
Tendulkar’s dramatic outlook and middle class characters took birth
from his short stories. His middle class characters chosen in plays are
reckless and vulgar than his short stories. Tendulkar selects the weak
point of common men in his short stories. Tendulkar indulge himself
as a demonstrator in short stories. Self demonstration is one of the
characteristics of Vijay Tendulkar’s short stories. Characters used in
short stories of Tendulkar are in quiet and in sorrow mood. Once
Tendulkar admitted during an interview that writing story is straight
forward, so he turned towards it.

Tendulkar’s Journalism and Literary Writing:

Tendulkar’s literary writing through journalism touches to the
then social, cultural and political, situations. He wrote in the columns
of ‘Maharashtra Times’ daily (1967). He says this column writing
helped him to border the horizons or writer within him. Tendulkar’s
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daily writing in news-papers shows his tender, poetic language style.
He is an inveterate observer of humankind. Once he said that he faith
in beauty, believe in spiritual love and sacrifice. He expresses,
At a very early stage of my life I had developed a
curiosity for people... without consciously trying to have
an ear for the speech habits of people and also an eye for
their mannerism and personal peculiarities... Everything
gets recorded and stored in the computer of the brain. I
don’t have to call for it as I write it comes by itself....11

Tendulkar has composed some biographical sketches like ‘Sir,

Pal Muni, Jaiprakash Narayan, Sohala (Hansa Wadkar), One era
(Vijaya Mehata), Chief minister (Vasantrao Naik) Politician
(Chimanbhai Patel), One evening (Baba Amte) etc. It shows the
qualities of writer as a truth finder and Romantic attitudinal. Thus
Tendulkar’s poetic style of representing individuals is praiseworthy.
He selects the exact words to create dramatic life of various persons.
His choice ultimately becomes our choice and his liking our liking
when reading his plays.
During 1967-68 Tendulkar wrote in Manus a weekly under the
name Ratrani. Finding truth is the only motto behind Tendulkar’s
press writing. Tendulkar has composed literary writing, political
writing, social writing, theatrical writing and experiments of common
man. According to him man is very complex animal; he doesn’t come
under any definition. Man remains far away from his given labels.
Literary writing in journals by Tendulkar shows us the keen interest of
writer in social characters and their lives.

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Film Scripts and Dialogues Writing:
Tendulkar has devoted himself for writing scripts of cinemas in
Marathi and Hindi. i.e. Silence! The Court is in Session, Ghashiram
Kotwal, Kamala, Half Truth and Restless, etc. He has written script of
Sardar Patel, a feature film. Tendulkar says that script writing and
play writing are the same arts. His skills of film scripts and dialogue
craftsmanship can be seen in Samana, Sinhasan, Umbertha, etc, in
Marathi cinemas and Nishant, Manthan, Akrosh, Gahari, Ardhasatya
etc, in Hindi cinemas. Although cinema is a business, its
commercialization doesn’t suit Tendulkar. He says that my cinemas
are business but not commercial type, while writing cinemas
Tendulkar has preserved his life beliefs. He didn’t find oppose in
writing cinema scripts as it is seen in writing novels and cinemas. Its
credit goes to Tendulkar for his new way of writing cinema scripts
and dialogues.

Fiction Writing:
Novel writing remained untouched by Tendulkar in his early
phase of writing. He thought writing novels is not an easy job. But
writing plays is natural and a thing of practice according to him.
Tendulkar’s first novel, Novel-one appeared in 1996. It is a story of
Prabhakar Surve, a middle class man. Tension, stress arising in a
family is shown faithfully by the novelist. Being one part of a family,
they behave like strangers, disjointed and ironic. Disgustedness and
frustration of modern man is rightly depicted by the novelist in this
novel. But it is clear that novelist Tendulkar’s hand does not run as
smoothly as dramatist Tendulkar.
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 Novel: two is published in September 2004. It is a story of
contemporary politics and its moral downfall. This is a farce on the
contemporary political men and their manners. Rat simile is used as
representative of political men, who lives away from the society but
they harass society. No one is ready to combat with them. One
innocent girl is killed when a rat raped her. Dirty politics, shrewdness
in it and its various black aspects which are unknown to common men
are presented faithfully by the novelist. He is the politician who starts
communal riots and he is the same who condemns it. Permanent truths
in politics are displayed by the writer in this novel. It is one of a
realistic attempt by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar and His Translated Literature:

Tendulkar has translated some European novels into Marathi.
Some of them are Devachi Manse (Men of God), Gele Te Divas (That
days have gone), Me Asa Zalo (I have developed in this way), original
writer is Robert Ruark. Aage Badho (Be ahead) original writer G. L.
Latham. Ranful (Land flower) creator Shiley L. Arora, We Will Not
Loose creator Lara Engles Winder, Story of one pain, Love letter,
creator Henry James, and New House and New Life’ basic creator –
Grace Jorden, these are the examples of novel translation. He has also
translated biographies like, Goddess of Mercy, basic creator Helen
Boylston, ‘He Taught for us’ – Catharine Woven Pear. Tendulkar is
not behind in translating, short stories too, On the Way of Panther,
Karbhavin, Introduction of America and Five Guests, translated by
him.

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 Vasana-Chakra original creator Tennessie Williams, ‘not to
have attachment this is request’, John Mark Patrice these are the
translated dramas by Tendulkar. Some of the translations are done
only for gaining money and run home. Although this is translated
copies but it has their dignity of the translations. Half House of
Mohan Rakesh and Tughlaq of Girish Karnad are translated into
Marathi for only friendship’s sake.
Tendulkar published two miscellaneous Books Jahirnama
(Manifesto) and Samajvedh (Introspection of Society) in 1984 and
1987 respectively. Jahirnama (Manifesto) is annual, collection of
short stories, poems and other aesthetic writing. Samajwedh –
introspection of society is created for showing complex reality of
society truthfully. Tendulkar has collected articles from Bhau Padhey,
Priya Tendulkar, Kamalakar Sarang, Ravindra Bhagwat, Nilu Damale,
Vidhya Bhagwat, Pravin Patkar, etc. on their actual life experiences.
These articles are not only the photographic representations of the
society but also the introspection of society and its real problems. It
provides us awareness of the time.
Samajvedh includes Bombay (Kherwadi) riot written by Bhau
Padhey. Priya Tendulkar’s Panchatarankit, Vidoot Bhagwat’s
‘Education: Some Pages of a Diary’. These provide the exact
experiences of realistic life.
‘Divakaranchya Natyachata’ (Dramatic-monologue) is a type
of drama but it means not a small or easy part of drama. It is different
from Drama and short play. Divakar took inspiration from English
poet Robert Browning and his ‘Monologue’. Tendulkar’s first
monologue is Mahasarp (Biggest snake). Monologue and Divakar
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these two names are connected with each other. Tendulkar thinks
Monologue is now on death bed and it should be renovated. Short
story and one act plays have observed in dramatic monologue.
Tendulkar published 51 monologues in all written by Divakar from
1911 to 1931. He has also provided prologue for its better
understanding.
While reading dramatic monologue of Divakar, we remember
Tendulkar because there is much similarity between Divakar and
Tendulkar as far as their dramatic art of writing is concerned. Use of
short sentences and exact word is speciality of both the writers. There
is some relationship between Divakar and Tendulkar in their dramatic
skills too. Tendulkar’s monologues used in different dramas remind us
Divakar. There is compositional similarity between Tendulkar and
Divakar. We observe that there is a stamp of Divakar on Tendulkar’s
great works of art. Tendulkar’s Zupurza and Baby, one-act plays
resemble with dramatic monologue.

Tendulkar’s Short Plays for Children:

Tendulkar has composed some short plays for children during
1960 to 1972. Ethe Bale Miltat (Here you will get infants) –1960,
Meshpatre (1961), Patlachya Porich Lagin (Marriage of Patil’s
Daughter), Chimana Bandhato Ghar (Sparrow built a house) 1966,
Rajaranila gham hava (King and Queen need sweat), Baba Harawale
(Baba is lost), Bobychi Gost (Story of Boby). These are some of
children’s plays on his credit. Amusement of children is the basic aim
of Tendulkar behind these children’s plays. While going through this
plays we come to know that Tendulkar has studied child psychology.
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Instruction and entertainment are the basic motives behind his
children plays and Tendulkar succeeded in it. “Calamities not only
befell on others but also on us, who forgets it, he has to repent later
on. No one should debase other; no one should laugh at other.” This is
the gospel given in ‘Sparrow Built a Home’. We see in ‘Baby’s Story;
Baby is indulged into herself because her parents are office goers. “It
is true since mothers are going to office, Baby like little girls are
become so”. In ‘Baba is lost’ we see a thief who kidnaps girl. Here
Tendulkar advise us and children how to behave in Bombay like
cities.
Tendulkar uses simple but concrete incidences for his children
plays. We observe children are always doing mimicry of elders. But
Tendulkar’s children spectators are grown up and more respective
than common men. They accept new incidences as fast as they can.
Child spectators are more imaginative, hence they understand further
than the grown spectators. He took them in the world of fantasy–
Demon, King-Queen, Birds, Nature, Witch and Jugglers, etc.
Tendulkar’s children play emphasis more on action than dialogues.
Little children involve in comedy as well as in imaginative world.
They are sensitive and tender. Tendulkar shows some pathetic
incidences too in these plays.
Although some of the dramatist has paid need towards children
plays, maximum number of dramatist neglected it. Government,
philosophers, writers, presenters and spectators all have come together
for the issue of children plays. Tendulkar has written child-plays
during 1960-72. Some of them are translated into Hindi. After 1972
Tendulkar turned his attention to serious plays. There are some
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parallelism between children-plays and other plays. For example
‘King and Queen need Sweat’ is a child-play; its dialogue style is
reflected in ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’. Thus Tendulkar’s devotion for
child-plays is remarkable.

One Act Plays and New Dramatic Techniques:

We observe that, Tendulkar was writing stories and one act
plays at the same period. Later on he left away from these both forms
of literature. But these two kinds remember us his interest in dramatic
writing. Tendulkar is not familiar until 1963 in any one of the literary
form. Hence Shankar Sarada of Marathi Literature says, during this
period Tendulkar was searching suitable form for his expression.
Tendulkar’s one act plays are outcome of his stories. His first one-act
play is ‘Identity’. His unforgettable one act plays are Bali, Madi
(Female), Frightened, Python and Gandharva, Thief, Police! Night,
etc.
Tendulkar acquainted with Vijaya Mehta, Damu Kenkare,
Arvind Deshpande, Sulabha Deshpande, Madhav Vatave, Nandkumar
Ravate, etc. These dignitaries were doing various experiments in
Marathi theatre. Vijaya Mehata says, “Tendulkar would write and we
would perform.” One act play has got its dignity after 1950, before it
one act play was not considered equal with drama. Tendulkar’s ‘Night
and other one act plays’ are on various subjects. But Tendulkar’s one
act plays represent the inner feelings of two different persons. ‘Night’,
‘Darkness’, ‘Four days’ and Identity’ are some of his best one act
plays. ‘Bali’ is a horror one act play. Tendulkar is less imaginative but

99
more realistic writer in his literary creations. He gave a new form of
seriousness to one act plays in Marathi literature.

Tendulkar as a Dramatist in General:

The life portrayed in Tendulkar’s plays is sad, miserable and
full of contradictions. During the days when Tendulkar started his
dramatic career the names of B.V. Varerkar, P.K Atre and M.G.
Rangnekar were dominating the scene. Each one of them had carved a
niche for himself. The period between 1920 and 1950 is generally
seen as a low watermark in the history of Marathi drama. Tendulkar
started writing his plays against that background. At the beginning he
was influenced by his predecessors. It means not that he imitated
them, but he grew in their shadows. It was Tendulkar’s greatness that
he outgrew that influence and did not remain stuck there. He was
uneasy about the stereotype dramatic writing of the time and also the
stagnation of the Marathi stage. He wanted to rebel and break new
ground. He has interest in showing disharmony rather than harmony
in relationship between man and society. As a playwright with critical
acumen, he is, at once subjective and objective, personal and
impersonal, particular and general, individual and social, and, finally,
local and cosmopolitan. Tendulkar asserts,
All my creative writings begin not from an idea but from
an experience, mine or somebody else’s which then
becomes mine. It was such an experience, another’s to
begin with, that provided the starting point for
Kanyadaan.12

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 If we look at Tendulkar’s first play The House Holder and
subsequently The Rich we notice that though these plays have the
traditional dramatic structure, the individuality of the writer stands out
in the novelty of subject and treatment. Tendulkar’s earlier plays are
mainly about the middle-class sensibility and their day to day
problems. The House Holder, An Island Called Man and The Middle
Walls shows Tendulkar’s keen observation of middle class societies
and their complexities.
He does not only tell us the story of middle class families but
also makes us feel the complexities of middle class life and their
mentality and behavior. These men are simple and rough, Tendulkar
tend to show us how these personalities turn violent, how they come
to love, hate and envy each other, how they become enslaved by
passion, and why they are lonely and alienated. Ramakant in ‘An
Island called Man’ and Rama in ‘The Vultures’ are the best examples
of Tendulkar’s early plays. Through the personal relationship of his
characters Tendulkar develops the theme of man’s existential
loneliness.
Theme of loneliness is not new in English literature but it was
new in Marathi drama. Tendulkar is not one of those dramatists who
use their medium for spreading favourite socio-political ideology. He
is not giving us a particular philosophy of life. Tendulkar’s plays are
open to diverse interpretations. But the question whether Tendulkar
writes for life’s sake or art’s sake remains pointless. His plays do not
entangle in socialistic ideology.
It is clear that, there is impact of Sartre and Comus far reaching
on Marathi writers in the second half of the 20th century. Tendulkar’s
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‘An Island Called Man’ is also showing the same influence. The
theme of alienation is embodied in this play was new on Marathi
stage, before five decades. ‘Shrimant’ (1955) presents the problems of
the Maharashtrian middle class morality and the problems of man-
woman relationship. The Marathi stage had not read or seen such bold
presentation. Tendulkar has written such plays in his early phase of
writing dramas. He has done it not for shock tactics but he felt he
could express himself in that manner.
His plays put forth several questions without providing any
answers to them. The playwright seeks to present the modern man
with his predicament, his challenges, his difficulties and his
complexities. In the career of Tendulkar as a dramatist, ‘Silence, the
court is in session’ is a milestone. It is new not only by content but
also by form. The major character around whom all things revolve is
Leela Benare, a school teacher. Her bitterness with the society comes
out through the mock-court scene. Benare’s soliloquy at the end raises
many-many equations, it rises about society, man-woman relationship
etc. That almost leaves us speechless. This play was staged in 1967.
There was lot of controversy over this play about ‘indebtedness’ and
piracy. Although one cannot set aside the questions raised by Leela
Benare and her plight in Indian urban middle class ethos; Leela
Benare’s predicament is not foreign origin; it is indigenous. The
agony faced by Benare is symbolic and representative of Indian
experience. The root of Benare’s tragedy is that her suffering does not
reach the people around her. Besides empathizing with her, the society
likes to play or toy with her feelings. Benare’s blind belief is that her

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private life is her own affair and she is free to do what she likes to do
with it. But it is not possible for the middle class peoples in India.
This play is translated into fourteen Indian languages. The play
was staged all over India in different versions. After ‘Silence;’
Tendulkar is recognized all over India as a dramatist. Ashi Pakhare
Yeti (so come birds), this play is based on an original English one
‘Rain Maker of Romance’. Here the hero addresses audience directly
and explain to them how the whole story took place. In 1970-71 such
a direct address to the audience was something new to Marathi stage.
Later on such technique came into experimental Marathi theatre. The
main story between Arun and Saru and the poetic spiritual level at
which their relationship moves was also refreshingly new. The same
content is found in Pahije Jatiche (wanted men of right caste). This
play centres round the conflict between a professor and a youth,
representative of lower classes in villages. This play presents a
realistic and frightening picture of the frustration of the educated. And
the consequent collapse of the social structure. Wadikar says,
Tendulkar is out rightly a humanitarian, but for that, one
has to read his plays between the lines. Even in Silence!
The places with ‘panes’ is eloquent.13

Tendulkar always been engulfed in controversies with the plays

like The Vultures, Sakharam Binder and Ghashiram Kotwal. ‘The
Vultures’ was written by Tendulkar in his early period but it was
staged only in 1971. The Vultures moves around the interpersonal
relationship in middle class families. He has to bring out the Vulture
mentality residing in the deeper recesses of the human psyche. The

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idiom which would confront the audience with the Vulture in man
was truly shocking and unsettling. Content of the play is more
appealing than the language but unfortunately content is forgotten by
the audience. There is always and ever a general awareness of the
Vulture in man, but its dramatic representation is neglected.
According to Tendulkar The Vultures expresses all that was
unexpected in his middle class world; the shock that audience receive
is not new to Tendulkar’s dramatic skills. Hence Wadikar comments,
Tendulkar’s plays expose vices of the society like
hypocrisy, vulgarity, barbarism, corruption, narrow
mindedness etc. He attacks on society through his writing
on feudal values and his demand for the new code of
conduct and morality are clearly perceptible.14

Sakharam Binder has also an explosive subject matter. All the

incidences in this play moves around Sakharam; his lasciviousness,
his women, and his vulgar language. Tendulkar does not take sides in
this play. He is far away from his characters. He brings out the
dramatic tension among Sakharam, Laxmi and Champa. This play has
evoked extreme reactions. For some it has been ‘Hot Stuff’. Some
found it to be extremely superficial and sensational. Some others gave
the play a spiritual interpretation. One thing is clear that Tendulkar
has something significant to say about marriage institutions and man-
woman relationship through this play. Laxmi and Champa are not
only women, but two different attitudes. Because of controversy and
litigation a good dramatic work was rejected.

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 Tendulkar is interested in showing disharmony in
relationship between man and society. There are tensions
depicted in his plays; the tension between individual
identity and social existence.15

Ghashiram Kotwal appeared on stage on 16th December 1972.

Like ‘Sakharam’ this play was also caught up in controversy. The play
was written by placing Nana Phadnavis and Ghashiram Kotwal at the
centre. It is not only commentary on Brahmin cal social system in
Pune during the age of Peshwai but also personal incidents in the life
of Nana Phadnavis and Ghashiram Kotwal. Ghashiram was a Brahmin
from Kannoj who had migrated to Pune and become a Kotwal of
Pune. Soon Ghashiram became intoxicated with power. The play is an
allegory of the struggle between the individual and society, between
power and exploitation. This is a drama in verse (poetic play).
Tendulkar has used many of the devices of folk theatre in it.
Maharashtrian folk music such as ‘Naman’, ‘Lavani’, ‘Powada’ and
‘Kirtan’ are used in this play. This play is translated and staged in
many languages in different regions. The popularity credit goes as
much to Tendulkar the write as to the director of the play Jabbar Patel.
Only textual ground is not sufficient to understand the play, along
with it stage performance is immense useful. ‘Ghashiram’ gave
Tendulkar popularity outside Maharashtra and humiliation and
torment in Maharashtra. Tendulkar is one of those writers who along
with his family had to suffer a lot. The main objection on this play
was its character assassination of Nana Phadnavis. It was a blind
worship of history and tradition. To evaluate the work properly we

105
need to have unprejudiced and open mind. ‘Ghashiram’ has acquired a
global reputation.
A Friends Story is about a lesbian relationship. Tendulkar has
presented pathos and tragedy of such relationship. It was the first
attempt out of traditions made by Tendulkar in Marathi stage. This
play gives us a unique dramatic experience and makes us
introspective. This play has some relationship with ‘Kamala’ an
earlier play by Tendulkar on an auctioned woman in flesh market. It is
heroine centered drama. Kamala explores the women question.
Although Kamala is a tropical play, it has a significant place in
dramatic development of Tendulkar. In Kanyadaan, a girl from a
Brahmin family with socialist progressive orientation falls in love
with a Dalit boy and marries him. Unfortunately he treats her badly.
This play throws light, on Brahmin-Dalit relationship. But it doesn’t
give us any deep or new insight into the class structure of Indian
society. When asked, do you think you are cynical? Tendulkar
answered,
No, not in the least. I couldn’t project life cynically;
absolutely not. That might be my limitation, perhaps. But
in my approach to life, I didn’t need to have that sort of
attitude.16

Tendulkar has not tried his hand for farcical or comic mode. In
the play ‘The school for crows’, there is an element of comedy but the
tragic mode overpowers it. A play like Sari Ga Sari (Drizzle O
Drizzle) is more in the form of folk theatre as like ‘Vag’ in Tamasha.
Because of its weakness, the story does not clarify the exact intention
of the dramatist. The Emperor of the Lower Step is ‘free play’. Texts
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of Tendulkar’s plays are different from conventional texts. We cannot
apply literary standards to them. Performance of play is its criteria.
Other literary canons cannot be applied to them. Tendulkar’s plays are
performance generated plays. An Obstinate Girl is once again a play
of middle class life and ethos. It depicts the conflict between Mangala
and Tatya. Mangala is a straight forward girl whereas Tatya is sly and
hypocritical. ‘Lobh Nasava’ (Requested not to love) one finds a
similar picture into interpersonal relationship. This play was written
only for dramatic competition and so was Encounter in Umbugland.
This play reveals political scenario of mid-60 in India, it can be
updated by current political events too. Bhalya Kaka was written in
1972. It is about a constable who was once a General of the Army.
The play presents the scene in the life of Bhalya Kaka in
present and past. It is an extended soliloquy rather than drama.
Another attempt by Tendulkar in the form of Bhau Murarao did not
popularized among audience. It is depending on the medical racket of
sale of kidneys, which is now lost capacity to shock people. It
includes many faces of political leaders. It was also a flop show after
some initial attempts.
Thus as a dramatist Tendulkar has done multisided attempts in
this field of Experimental dramas and professional dramas. But it is
clear that he has never planned before dramatic career. In the middle
part of his career he turned to narrative fiction, script writing and
feature writing. Number of years he was a journalist. But Tendulkar is
stamped on the dramas. Dramatic career of Tendulkar is not
sustainable. Ability to express maximum meaning in minimum words

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has been the characteristic of Tendulkar’s writing. It is also one of the
features of absurd theatre.
Tendulkar’s use of language is marked by an intelligent use of
punctuation marks. Blank spaces, exclamation marks, question marks
are effectively employed by him. His stage directions are also
significant. He was indebt aware about the stage. That awareness
impacted Tendulkar’s dialogues and dramatic idioms. It is said that
Marathi stage lacks the verbosity and sentimentalism; they took
interest only in telling stories. He kept away right from the beginning
from telling stories in his works of art. He was interested in effective
presentation. His form and techniques nicknamed him an
‘experimental writer’, although he had got limited commercial
success; play after play he has made effective presentation of latent
violence and lust in middle class life. Devastation and essential
existential loneliness of man, is the major characteristics of
Tendulkar’s plays. His failure never deterred him from the way of
writing. He was the first man who brought the experimental drama on
Marathi stage. This may be the important trend which brought him on
the international scene. Tendulkar’s plays bring a turning point in
Marathi drama. But one has to read his plays between the lines. With
experiments in theatre, he broke the tradition of well made plays and
evolved new theatrical traditions appropriate to represent the
contemporary social reality. Arundhati Banarjee attributes. Vijay
Tendulkar has been in the vanguard of not just Marathi but Indian
theatre for almost forty years.
Thus, Tendulkar has written twenty eight full length plays, seven
collections of one-acts, six of child plays, four of short stories, three
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of essays, a novel and seventeen film scripts. That all have came out
in the course of a carrier of about fifty years. This is miraculous but
when asked how he created all that he replied, “Give me a piece of
paper, any paper, and a pen and I shall write as naturally as a bird flies
or a fish swims”. He added, “For the last forty-five years I have been
writing sitting in a newspaper offices, in the roadside restaurants, on
crowded running local trains, and when my living pace did not allow
me to be by myself and write, I have written sitting in the bathroom.
And I have written on the sickbed in the hospital in spite of the
doctor’s advice not to tax myself. He did not know and would not
accept that writing was not taxing to me at all. On the contrary it was
soothing. It was great relief. It was Joy.” When asked in an interview,
do you think that you have project man smaller than he actually is?
Tendulkar replied.
No, I don’t think so. I projected people as I saw them. I
don’t want to disturb their proportion. I try to seek them,
search them (as they are, and not as they look to me). I’m
curious about having a close scrutiny of them all. But
I’ve never imposed my personal feelings and thoughts on
them. In my guest of their true selves, I notice that they
are not complete. True, I am in guest, and I go where
from I can have better a lance of them.17

Characters were most vital trigger to Tendulkar’s play writing,

so he says, that he was never able to begin writing his play only with
an idea or a theme in mind. He had to have his characters first with
him ... living persons leading him into the thick of their lives where
they would give him the theme. It means that we can approach
Tendulkar’s work through his characters. From their language,
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structure and forms we can go through the work. Tendulkar has given
birth to memorable male and female characters. It is also clear that
naturalism is the natural expression of Tendulkar’s inborn genius.
His plays put forth several questions without providing any
answers to them. He tries to present the modern man with his
predicament, challenges, difficulties, and his complexities. He uses
drama as a means to raise questions rather than to provide solutions,
although one cannot term his plays as problem plays like those of
Ibsen, Shaw, or Galsworthy. What the plays depict is the socio-
cultural and political reality of human life. His plays do not provide
any message, nor do they provide any clues or guidelines to the
solution of them problems they deal with. These plays are thought
provoking and evoke a note of silent protest in the minds of their
audience. Tendulkar has written film scripts for the much publicized.
Sardar Patel and the same directed by Govind Nihalani. His Marxist
ideological ardour was tired during his school days. He was the
member of ‘Lal Nishan’. Later on he joined local people’s rights
organizations. His training in writing was journalistic. He worked for
Marathi newspaper ‘Loksatta’. He also edited magazines like
‘Vasudha’ and ‘Divali’. He has written enough short stories to have
appeared in sizeable collections. Tendulkar found his talent in direct
dialogues of dramatic depictions, bypassing the descriptive narrative
streams of common practice.
His success in this genre may be gauged by the honours he
received–the ‘Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Award’, ‘the Nehru
Fellowship Award’ from the Maharashtra government, ‘The Sangeet

110
Natak Akadami Award,’ ‘Padma-Bhushan,’ ‘Membership of National
Organizations,’ and so many Cultural and Literary Awards.
Tendulkar was a man with rare quietness. He was ever hiding
his sensitive features behind the beard and spectacles. A tall man, soft
spoken and appreciative when he condemns, these are some of the
characteristic features of Vijay Tendulkar. The greatest quality, which
Tendulkar can claim to himself as a creative writer and dramatist, is
his singular ability to simultaneously involve and distance himself
from his creations. This fulfils his work with infinite subtlety. New
meanings emerge as one reads his plays in the light of one’s
understanding. Other two hallmarks of his creativity are keen sense of
humour and his intense compassion. He tries to make people
conscious of their voices and limitations and, directly or indirectly,
wants to mend their way.
The life portrayed in Tendulkar’s plays is sad, miserable and
full of contradictions. But it is real. The anger and frustration of the
protagonist are not without any reasons. The dramas are thought
provoking and make the audience sensitive to the issues. All audience
leaves the theatre with their minds shocked and perturbed.
Tendulkar’s plays helped to refine Marathi Drama that was so far
polluted by propaganda for political awakening, social reforms, social
and vulgar entertainment. He turned towards drama writing after
delving deep into human relations. He did not have interest in painting
quinsy colours of the superficial society. On the contrary he touched
the simplicity and common tensions in middle class society.
Tendulkar has guided Marathi drama that seemed to have lost its
proper track and has kept leading it for over four decades. His place
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and importance in this respect shall remain unique in the History of
Marathi drama.
There are controversies regarding his greatness but his
achievements are beyond question. There isn’t doubt about this, there
shouldn’t be any. Somewhere Tendulkar has said that he had drifted to
the middle of current of life. He then felt its unfathomable depths.
Like the sea-birds, he was soaring aimlessly, casually and calmly ...
He had only one desire – How deep would be the bottom? How would
it appear? Whatever he saw, he portrayed it faithfully. Hence Shailaja
Wadikar says,
Tendulkar established his reputation as a ‘rebel’ who
wanted to register his protest against the established
conventions and who perceived the possibilities of new
spaces for the marginalized sections of society.18

All the major aspects of life psychological socio- political,

deterministic, existential, feminist and humanitarian are delineated in
realistic manner. When asked in an Interview, “Have you written
plays to change the mindset of people? Tendulkar replied, “No never
so, in one sense, you’ll find there in my own expression of the
moment. They are all reflection of my mind.” Tendulkar through his
plays gave a voice to the oppression of the individual in conventional
social codes. He was more concerned with the machinations of power
and the effects of oppression manifested in different forms.
Tendulkar’s plays represent a fictional reality in which the reality of
life assumes a new significance. His creative writings are based on the
assumption that violence is rooted in human self and it seeks its outlet
in various forms expressing man’s helpless defense against the
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adversity of the life conditions. He is called an iconoclast, who tries to
bring about a silent, gradual change in people’s attitude towards life
and its problems. One of the important aspect of Tendulkar’s plays is
that they doesn’t provide us idealized life on the contrary most of the
characters in his plays are the victims of chance or circumstances. In
the projection of life Tendulkar appears to be detached observer
neither condemning cruel nor praising good characters. Almost all the
plays I selected for study depict agonies and suffering, helplessness of
man but they are anti-sentimental and anti-emotional. Shailaja
Wadikar assumes that,
Tendulkar’s art may be seen as a liberating influence: It
liberates us from our cribbed, cabined, and confined
existence and helps us become, in one word, human - as
human as possible.19

The generation portrayed by Tendulkar is culturally, mentally

and ethically crippled one. People suffer because of their
incomprehension and fall victims to willful monstrosity. The
playwright uses harsh, abusive language to represent positive and
negative aspects of the lost and doomed generation. In Tendulkar’s
plays, to say it in Eric Bentley’s words,
We move beyond a character’s personality to
his humanity.20

In short, we can say that Tendulkar’s plays reflect socio-cultural

reality as they comprise real-life situations, events, and incidents. He
is social realist committed to reveal evils present in the contemporary
society. He has depicted marginal position of women and their

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struggle against exploitation, discrimination, class conflict,
homosexuality, sexual abuse etc. To depict reality on stage Tendulkar
has moved from Millionaire to Dalits. The playwright himself has
either met or heard of most of the major characters at one point of
time or other of his life. Tendulkar confesses. I think a lot before I
write. My creativity has been shaped more by experience than by
imagination.
He once admitted,
as an individual- or rather as a social being- I feel deeply
involved in the existing state of my society (because I
am affected by it though no immediately in some cases or
not as much as other are) and in my own way brood over
it.... As a writer I now find myself persistently
inquisitive, non conformist, ruthlessly cold and brutal as
compared to the other committed writers. As a social
being I am against all exploitation and I passionately feel
that all exploitation must end. As a writer I feel
fascinated by the violent exploited- exploiter relationship
and obsessively deep into it instead of taking a position
against it. This takes me to point where I feel that this
relationship is eternal, a fact of life however cruel, and
will never end. Nor that I relish this thought while it grips
me but I cannot shake it off. Moreover He adds, I have
not written about hypothetical pain or created an
imaginary world of sorrow. I am from a middle class
family and I have seen the brutal ways of life by keeping
my eyes open. My work has come from within me, as an
outcome of my observation of the world in which I live.
If they want to entertain and make merry, time go ahead,
but I can’t do it, I have to speak the truth.21

114
 His artistic skill helped him to disengage himself and allowed
his characters and their lives to grow on paper and this gave his plays
the ring of socio- psychological truth. When asked in an interview,
that his dispassionate approach to his characters gives the impression
of non-involvement and that his writing in general suggests a
pessimistic view of life, he answered in the following words,
The urge to create is born out of involvement with life.
Creation is the result of grief over something, anger at
something, joy about something in life. There aren’t
signs of neutrality ...but I do believe that (the character
and situation I create) have their own independent
existence and logic and I allow them to live by them
...That is not to say that their sorrow don’t sadden me,
their joys don’t make me happy as they do any other
member of the audience, but that doesn’t mean I will
intervene.22

This statement clears his social and aesthetic concerns as well

as informs some ideas and motives behind his play writing. In an
interview with Sumit Saxena, Tendulkar said,
I have not written about hypothetical pain or created an
imaginary world of sorrow. I am from a middle class
family and I have seen the brutal ways of life by keeping
my eyes open. My work has come from within me, as an
outcome of my observation of the world in which I live if
they want to entertain and make merry, fine go ahead, but
I can’t do it, I have to speak the truth.23

115
 RERERENCES
1. Tandon Neeru (Ed), Perspectives and challenges in an Indian
English Drama, New Delhi: Atlantic, 2009, p.3
2. Ibid, p. 25
3. Madage V. M. Vijay Tendulkar’s plays Delhi: Pen craft
International, 2009, p.50
4. Tandon Neeru, (Ed.) Perspective and challenges in Indian
English Drama, New Delhi: Atlantic, 2009, p.50
5. Wadikar Shailaja, Vijay Tendulkar A pioneer playwright
New Delhi: Atlantic Pub. And district. (p) Ltd, 2008, P. 141
6. Beauvoir Simon de, ‘The second sex’ New York: Vintage, 1989.
7. An Internet entry. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Samik-Bandyopadhya…
2010/09/23
8. Banerjee Arundhati, Introduction, Five Plays of Vijay
Tendulkar, Bombay: OUP, 1992
9. Sonalkar Sudhir, Vijay Tendulkar and metaphor of Violence,
the illustrated weekly of India, New Delhi: IGNOU, 1993, p. 33
10. Kanwar, Asha. Ghashiram Kotwal: A study guide, New Delhi:
IGNOU, 1993, p. 12
11. Tendulkar Vijay,‘The play is the thing,’ Sri Ram Memorial
Lecture X, Sri Ram centre for performing Arts, New Delhi:
1997, part 1, P. 11
12. Madage V. M. Vijay Tendulkar’s plays Pen craft Delhi:
International, 2009, p.50
13. Wadikar Shailaja, Vijay Tendulkar, A Pioneer Playwright,
New Delhi: Atlantic, 2008, preface, p. xii.
14. Ibid, p. xiii.
116
15. Ibid, p. xiii.
16. Ibid, P. 151
17. Ibid, p. 146. (Face to face with Tendulkar: an interview)
18. Ibid, p.151
19. Ibid, p.10
20. Gaskell Ronald, Drama and Reality, London: Rutledge and
Kean Paul, 1972, p.95
21. An Internet Entry. http//passionforcinema.com/a-conversation-
With-sir-vijay-tendulkar,
22. Tendulkar Vijay, Natak Ani Mee, Thane: Dimple Publication,
(An Interview with Shirish Pai and Priya Tendulkar), p.188
23. Saxena Sumit, A conversation with Sir Vijay Tendulkar, Passion
for Cinema, 20, Dec. 2006

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