Legendary Marathi theatre writer Vijay Tendulkar may have left the world on May 19, 2008, but his work still remains relevant. Tendulkar, who wrote classics like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghashiram Kotwal (1972) and Sakharam Binder (1972), ventured into storytelling when he was just six years old. He wrote his first story at that tender age. As a child he grew up watching western plays and he wrote his first play only at the age of 11. He directed the play and acted in it.
He went on to write a total of 28 full-length plays and 25 one-act plays in his lifetime. His much-acclaimed Ghashiram Kotwal has been performed more than 6,000 times on stage, the highest for any Indian play. The play revolves around the character of Ghashiram Kotwal, a Kotwal from Pune during the Peshwa period.
Most of Tendulkar’s work was inspired from day to day incidents or social upheavals showing a mirror to society. At a time when the entire country was yet to understand the concept of homosexuality and come to terms with it, Tendulkar’s Mitrachi Goshta (1981) narrated a lesbian love story set in the pre-independence era. Vijay Tendulkar’s plays often stirred controversy due to their social commentary and reforming messages.
His play Sakharam Binder received a lot of flak for being obscene and a threat to the institution of marriage. The play revolves around the character of Sakharam who took women abandoned by their husbands to his home. In return for providing shelter, Sakharam exploits the women by getting them to perform household tasks and, occasionally, for sexual favours.
The play was banned in several places across Maharashtra and the producers of the play had to fight a long battle in court to get it resumed.
Tendulkar also wrote the story for several successful Marathi and Hindi films including Ardh Satya, Nishant and Akrosh among others.
He earned a series of awards including Padma Bhushan in 1984 and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in 1990 for his contribution to Marathi and Hindi theatre.
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