Chapter-

Chapter-IV
A Critical Analysis in Mahesh
Dattani’s Plays
Plays
Mahesh Dattani is a man of Drama with intelligence. Most of his plays are related to
the Indian middle class family. He shows gender issues, problems of Hijra community
and place of women in Indian society. Dattani concentrates on contemporary society
and reality in the fast changing world. He is a playwright on modern urban India and
his plays are topical dramas. The question he addresses in his plays is those of gender,
sex, religion, communal tension, feminine identity, same-sex marriage, and above all,
gay and lesbian relationship. Hence, his plays show to be revolting, sometimes,
outrageous. The total corpus of his plays which include Radio plays, Screen plays and
Stage plays is sixteen. He came to limelight and shot into fame with the winning of
the first ever Sahitya Akademi Award for a playwright in 1998 for his work Final
Solutions and Other Plays.

Mahesh’s plays often feature characters who are questioning their identity, and who
feel isolated in some way. (Jeremy Mortimer, ‘A Note on the Play’, Collected Plays,
4). Mahesh Dattani frequently takes as his subject the complicated dynamics of the
modern urban family. His characters struggle for some kind of freedom and happiness
under the weight of tradition, cultural constructions of gender, and repressed desire.
Their dramas are played out on multi level sets where interior and exterior become
one, and geographical locations are collapsed-in short his settings are as fragmented
as the families who inhabit them. In his plays, Dattani takes on what he called the
‘invisible issues’ of Indian society. (Erin Mee, ‘Note on the Play’, Collected Pays
320) The most important aspect of Dattani’s Plays is that they address the “invisible
issues” of contemporary Indian society. The second important aspect of Dattani’s
plays is that they dive deep into human heart and create characters true to life
situations. The third important characteristic of his plays is the family bond that binds
its members together or the breaking of that bond through mutual distrust and suspion.
If Girish Karnad deals with myths and history, Mahesh Dattani highlights
contemporary reality in his plays. In this play, Dattani examines the psychology of
persons who are by nature ‘gays’ or ‘bi-sexual’ and the desire on the part of some of
them to turn heterosexual.Dattani’s plays embody appropriate visual images and the
scenes are well designed. He combines in him the skill of a director, the performing
art of an actor and above all.

Seven Steps Around the Fire was first broadcast as Seven Circles Around the Fire by
BBC Radio 4 on 9 January 1999. The play begins with Uma, a Ph.D. scholar in

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Sociology and wife of the Superintendent of Police. This can be interpreted as a
protest play against the injustice meted out to the downtrodden in the society. Dattani
is questioning the age old belief of marriage being based on heterosexual relationship.
He seems to say that homosexual and lesbian relationships being as natural as
heterosexual relationship, same sex marriage should be permitted in India. Laws
should be made to this effect. Secondly, the plight of hijras in our society is
deplorable. Postcolonial aspects are discussed in the play with the theme of Feminism
and Plight of women. It has been seen that before independence and after
independence situation of women is different. Because of some old belief like
“Woman’s place is only in kitchen”. Education was not given to the girl child. Some
colonial rules and British rules are the responsible for woman’s injustice.

In this play, Dattani observes the psychology of persons who are by nature ‘gays’ or
‘bi-sexuals’ and the desire on the part of some of them to turn heterosexual. This may
seem to be an unusual theme in the Indian context. But in real life such characters do
exist. Hence, Dattani has re-created the characters in their own situations. To see this
play on stage is to feel how these characters turn their inside out. Dattani has hinted at
the need for same-sex marriage in the Indian context. Plays of Dattani deals with the
discriminations against people in our society on the basis of religion, class, gender
and sexuality with insight and empathy. Mahesh Dattani, the most significant Indian
English playwright of our country deals with the theme of social exclusion in his
plays not on the basis of caste but gender. How gender relationship based on sexuality
causes social exclusion becomes a prime concern for him in some of his plays. A brief
note on the popular myths on the origin of the hijras will be in order, before looking at
the class-gender-based power implications. The term hijra, of course, is of Urdu
origin, a combination of Hindi, Persian and Arabic, literally meaning ‘neither male
nor female’. Another legend traces their ancestry to the Ramayana. The legend has it
that god Rama was going to cross the river and go into exile in the forest. All the
people of the city wanted to follow him. He said, “Men and women turn back’. Some
of his male followers did not know what to do. They could not disobey him. So they
sacrificed their masculinity, to become neither men nor women, and followed him to
forest. Rama was pleased with their devotion and blessed them. There are trans-sexual
all over the world, and India is no exception. The purpose of this case study is to show
their position in society.

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Perceived as the lowest of the low, they yearn for family and love. The two events in
mainstream Hindu culture where their presence is acceptable-marriage and birth-
ironically are the very same privileges denied to them by man and nature. (CP 10-11)
A hijra named Kamala was secretly married to Subbu, the son of a Minister. She
(Kamla) was burned to death at the behest of the Minister who hastily arranged a girl
for marriage to his son. But at the wedding ceremony, which was attended by guests
as well as hijras, Subbu brought out a gun and shot at himself. The suicide was hushed
up. Uma, the researcher moving from pillar to post to find out the man behind
Kamla’s murder, meets other hijras like Anarkali and Champa and interrogates them.
She thinks aloud about hijra community. Dattani is questioning the age old belief of
marriage being based on heterosexual relationship. Dattani has done a good job by
introducing a new theme to Indian English drama. Hence, gender studies and
postcolonial criticism both apply to this play. Dattani tries to represent here the wide
distance between the third gender and the ‘normal’gender. The story of the love affair
between Kamala and Subbu shows the impossibility of the marriage between a
eunuch and a man in Indian society. The play is about the identity crisis of the third
gender and their longing for social acceptance.

Seven Steps Around the Fire shows Dattani a master of language and characterization.
Each one of us is marginal in a way, residing in a no man’s land-between crisis and
comfort zone-trying to belong to the comfort level while the crisis pulls us back. As
we can refer the term “Subaltern” to the marginalized group this “subaltern” in Seven
Steps Around the Fire is forced to maintain silence against oppression and injustice.
In the traditional society of India, the identity of gays, lesbian, hijras, and homosexual
has not yet been organized. Dattani dramatizes the crisis of those relationships that are
not rigidly demarcated in terms of socially accepted gender constructions. Dattani’s
play Seven Steps Around the Fire represents the voice of eunuch community who are
not even allowed to show their faces in community. The play deals with the violence
inflicted on the hijras, who are unseen and unheard in the society. The play expresses
the identity crisis of the hijras and their heartfelt longing for being treated as a social
being in an indifferent society. The communication in general and the speech
situations in particular in this play are obviously influenced by the theme of the play,
as also by a whole lot of other components of a radio play. In short, postcolonial
approach is shown with the use of different themes. Condition of hijra is dramatically

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presented with the story of case study. Dattani has courage to discuss different themes
like discrimination, plight of woman, feminism and condition of hijra. Mahesh
Dattani came with new concept in Indian English Drama.

It is a protest play against the social exclusion of the hijras. Such exclusions can
be found everywhere in the Indian society like the caste, class, religion or
inclination based bias, but the hijras suffer this on the basis of their neutral
gender. Dattani underlines the fact that other than the social customs and
bindings, the hijras have a ‘self’ that longs for dignity and when it is denied
the same, it tries to break free of such customs. When they protests, most of the
times their voice is suppressed by the established order that prevails in the society.
Dattani has added a new dimension to the theatre by taking up such themes in
his plays. It is remarked:

“Dattani has done a good job by introducing a new theme to Indian English
drama. Conservatives and social activists should not turn a blind eye to
reality...We have to accept the reality of life, however, painful that might
be.” (Das, Bijay Kumar p.17)

Dattani's 'Seven Steps Around the Fire' revolves around the existential problem of
the 'third gender', the community of eunuchs their existence on the fringes of the
Indian milieu. They inhabit at the tiny pockets of Indian cities and tread areas that are
generally brushed aside to the fringes, the margins of society, as it were. This is
literally a no man's land in many senses of the term, and no woman's either.
(http://researchlink.in/FullIssue/Research%20Link%2095/4%20English%20Literatur
e.pdf18/8/13 12:19pm)

The relationship between the three characters is wonderfully crafted, and is all the
more successful for fitting within an established pattern of detective fiction. The
characters presented in the play are pleasure seekers. Their sexuality is threatened by
the norms of the society. They want to throw away the traditional and conventional
pattern of seeking love through heterosexual relationship. Their nature is different
from that of normal social human beings. There is a binary opposition between their
nature and the culture of their society. This dichotomy between nature and culture
obstructs their love and poisons their minds. The note of revolt against the society is
unmistakable. In the age of globalization, nature triumphs over culture. Dattani’s

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exactly does the same. He raises the issues from sexuality to criminality and then
moves on to topical subjects like communal violence, and deadly disease like Aids
and allows the characters to express their views freely. His plays evoke a good deal of
empathy. His theatrical language modifies his dramatic text and is reflected in the
performance of the characters.

On a Muggy Night in Mumbai deserves to feel the whole of society and to be

touched by it. It is not simply the first play in Indian theatre to handle openly gay
themes of love, partnership, trust and unfaithfulness. It is a play about how easy it is
for individuals to fall victim to the expectations society creates. (CP 45) Since love is
more in the mind than in the body, the attitude to sex varies from person to person.
No doubt, society imposes restrictions on individuals as to how to gratify their sex.
But individuals are individuals-they find a way out to fulfil their love and sex.
Dattani knows this too well and hence, his characters go in their own ways. In this
play, Dattani examines the psychology of persons who are by nature ‘gays’ or ‘bi-
sexual’ and the desire on the part of some of them to turn heterosexual. Dattani has
hinted at the need for same-sex marriage in the Indian context. In On a Muggy Night
in Mumbai, a play on gay and lesbian relationship, Ranjit asks a basic question in the
opening line of Act III, “Why do people get married?” The answer is given by
Bunny, “It is natural to the majority of the people”. That is because heterosexual love
leads to procreation. But this question and the answer to it can’t be taken as authorial
voice. In an e-mail reply to the present author, Dattani wrote, “you can be a nurturer
and provider in a same sex marriage just as you can in an opposite sex marriage,
procreation is a choice which some married couples don’t exercise”. The whole play
deals with unisexual and bisexual love relationship. Dattani examines this unusual
love relationship among individuals both at psychological and physical level. In
postcolonial era, It was a time when people were conservative and unable to speak
about open issues of the society like ‘gay relation’. But Dattani has tried to discuss
openly about this kind of issues openly through drama. He discusses about husband
wife relationship and issues in Indian middle class society. In modern era, people are
well educated and using technology, they have different technology to get answer of
his personal questions. So they are feeling well to discuss it openly with audience
too. The major differences between postcolonial and modern era is technology and

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people’s awareness in different subject like sex and social issues. As per the rules of
Indian culture and tradition, relationship between husband and wife should be dutiful
and holy in the society. But now this concept is old in Indian culture. Indian people
are blindly follows western culture and tradition and it is dangerous for family and
social relationship. Ethic, moral and values are the base of Indian culture and
tradition. But now people are not interested to handle the difficult situation and
responsibility. They are under stress and because of this they used to drink alcohol
and some other habits. The same thing is in this play too about the relationship
between husband and wife.

On a Muggy Night in Mumbai is a play which is unique because it does not

deal with one individual who is homosexual but a whole community of
homosexuals and their psychological traits. The plot hinges on Kamalesh’s
trying to hide from his sister Kiran the fact that he was in a relationship with the
man she is about to marry. Prakash and Kamalesh were deeply in love with
eachother. The separation between Prakash and Kamalesh causes immense pain
and distress in the heart and mind of Kamalesh. Thereafter, he comes in contact
with Sharad and develops a homoric relationship with him. However, Kamalesh
can’t adjust himself with Sharad as he is haunted by memories of Prakash, who
is now known as Ed and intends to marry Kiran, divorcee sister of Kamalesh.
The play samples a wide range of male homosexual presence in Indian society.
Kamalesh is a well-adjusted straight acting gay man. His ex-boyfriend Sharad is
intelligent and campy. Ed is in denial and is about to enter into a heterosexual
affair with his fiancée’s brother, Kamalesh. Bunny is a celebrity and is in the
closet. Ranjit is visiting from the Uk, working with HIV Counselors. The play
foregrounds the subjectivity of queer people in contemporary urban Indian gay
society. The play begins with the description of Kamalesh’s flat which is “too
perfect to be real” (Dattani 49) which shows his effort to create “a world where
he can belong”. He knows well that he will not be accepted by the

heteronormativeiisociety as it always tries to subordinate homosexuality. This

can be supported if we focus ourattention to the relationship that Kamalesh
shares with his flat’s security guard. The guard being conscious of his identity as
gay replies “no” when being asked by Kamalesh if he does this for money. The

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reply suggests that he is also a gay but he is ashamed to admit the fact. So, he
instantly changes the answer and says that he does this for money. The guard
knows that if he proclaims himself of being a gay then the heteronormative
society will not accept him. In order to survive he has to construct an identity
for himself. Sharad is the only character who is not afraid of homosexual
identity. Sharad obviously does not believe in performing gender. He is ready to
accept who he is. The play is the first in Indian theatre to openly handle gay
themes of love, affiliation, trust and betrayal, raising serious ‘closet’ issues that
remain generally ‘invisible’. Dattani projects the crisis that gays face as they are
torn between their true self and what the traditional Indian society thinks and
expects of the gays. Their hidden fears and feelings are carefully exposed by
Dattani, within the framework of dramatic structure and he tries to investigate the
identity crisis of the gays, who occupy no honorable space in social order.

In Indian society, the practice of homosexuals/lesbianism is not tolerated. A

consensual homosexual relationship remains a crime to this day, according to the
civil law section 337 of the Indian Penal Code. The section refers to “carnal acts
against the order of nature”. Even homosexuality is against religious values. As per
the law, whosoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature
with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life or
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years or
liable to fine. It is clear that Dattani feels the need to establish a firm connection
between the possibilities of greater space for the gays from the affluent society. He,
not very loudly, makes a plea for an atmosphere of acceptance and
acknowledgement for the gay and lesbian community and also brings out the gay
issues out of the closet into the open. He problematizes the whole issue of gay
relationship and analyzes the world of gay people expecting public participation on
the problem under discussion.

Asha Kuthari Chaudhari, while discussing this play, wonders:

…gay literature seems to have been beleaguered by unhappy

endings. Homosexuals invariably move towards death,
isolation, or a sham heterosexual marriage of the kind Ed and
Kiran are heading towards. (Mahesh Dattani 50)

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The reason of this apparent ‘love, sex and dhoka’ formula that seems to dominate the
lives of these gay boys is what this psychological analysis has intended to underline.
Even in Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen, the ending discloses the gay
relationship that exists between Alka’s husband Nitin and her brother Praful-her
marriage itself has been a strategy designed to conceal their gay relationship. The
plays written by Dattani highlight thehomoerotic association as a reality and hence
like any other actuality this has been depicted in all its factuality, including the
limitations that need to be revealed, scrutinized for better understanding, for it is the
compulsion of a civilized society to comprehend before complaining. Dattani himself
has stated that being ‘gay’ is not “right or wrong, it is a reality and we have to learn
to accept alternative relationships and live with them”. It has been seen since past
that people are not accepting reality. View point is completely discussed in the name
of illegal relationship. The same theme is discussed in this play. Family clash is
widely discussed in this play with the thought of women’s statement. Dattani has
dared to discuss the gay issues openly with the postcolonial era.

In Do the Needful, Dattani deals with the customary theme of marriage. The
marriage compromise of Alpesh and Lata shows the changing trend of Indian
society in which marriages take place across castes are permissive and sometimes
preferred. The dominance of modernity, rationalism in socio-cultural realm of life
and milieu gives birth to the inter-caste marriage. In spite of these realities,
Dattani, for all the time, is worried of the deterioration of Indian culture.
Though the play has been written for the British audience, he chooses the Indian
setting and the Indian system of arranged marriage, which bears wider and universal
significance for it, weaves multicultural society. Further this play deals with cultural
conflict, doubt and bias as well as unification of two families – one Gujarati (Patel’s
family) and another Kannadiga’s (The Gowda’s family).

But Dattani’s plays are not only concerned with the traditional values of Indian
culture. In fact he is more conscious to the changing socio-cultural, socio-
economical, and socio political changes and development which have very worse
impact on our society. According to Dattani gender identity ultimately makes
way for national identity. The portrayal of Indian culture which comprises the
role and status of women, Indian traditions and their importance, Indian culture
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 ethos, Hindu culture and Islamic and other religions ‘culture and heritage etc.
Play significant role in fostering national identity.
Dattani is conscious of the fact that class difference and gender difference are
prevalent in Indian society. Violence against women in form of patriarchy and
matriarchy, gender discrimination, and child sexual abuse (pedophilia) are rampant
throughout the society and they have become the part of our culture. In Indian
society and home domestic violence against women and gender discrimination are
highly prevalent irrespective of caste and colour. Physical violence as well as
explicit forms of aggression is used by the more powerful in the Household as
methods to ensure obedience of the less powerful and therefore related to power
dynamics in a household. At every stage in the life –cycle, the female body is both
the objects of desire and of control. Do the Needful is the earliest radio play of
Dattani. The play depicts the theme of homosexuality but in a quite different way.

The play was first broadcast on 14th August 1997 by BBC Radio 4.

In 1996 Mahesh Dattani was commissioned to

write his first radio play for the BBC, the result was the
somewhat unconventional ‘romantic comedy’ Do the
Needful.5

Since it is a radio play the dramatist discards elaborate stage description. The
narrative of the play occurs at two levels – exterior and interior. Dattani
writes about the society he lives in. His plays depict the dynamics and mechanism
of modern urban families. Therefore, he gives way to old theatrical device to
reveal the move and motives of the character. He uses newer devices like
‘thought’, ‘mobile phone’ conversations for revealing the feelings and thoughts of
the characters. In this play, he employs the techniques like ‘thought’, phone talk
etc.
The plot of the play revolves around the theme of arranged marriage between
Alpesh Patel, a young boy of Gujarati parents and Lata Gowda, a Kannadiga.
The p a r e n t s o f b o t h t h e p ers o n s l o o k c o n c e r n e d regarding their marriage.
The dramatic narrative shows the tension and unrest prevailing in the minds of all
the characters. Alpesh Patel and Lata Gowda are the two main male-female
characters of the play. Alpesh is thirty plus divorced and Lata is twenty four years
old and a very notorious girl. However, she is well read lady. Alpesh’s family

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is richer than Lata’s. Gowda family is very positive about Alpesh’s matrimonial
proposal. Both are well to do families and claim to have good names in their
respective communities. Even though, they intend to get their children married
outside their community. They are brought together through matrimonial
correspondence and keen to get their children married soon. Actually, the problem
prevails beneath the surface level. Alpesh and Lata are unwilling to marry each
other. Alpesh is a gay. He is in love with a man called Trilok, whereas Lata is
quite romantic in her notion. She is in love with a man called Salim who is a
terrorist. The conflicts and turmoil of their minds are brought on the surface
through ‘thought’ technique.

The play also informs about certain customs and ceremonies to be undertaken at
the time of starting something auspicious task. Gifting or donating money to
others especially poor people and poojari, priest etc. for seeking blessings upon the
task is highlited in the play. The Patels are going to visit the Gowda family at
Bangalore. Mr. Patel first gives ten rupees to liftman and one hundred and one
to the poojari for a special prayer for his son Alpesh. In the dramatic structure of
play, Do the Needful, Dattani tries to show clash between the homosexuals’
sentiments and the established and accepted notions of the society which do not
permit an individual to lead life according to the call of his/her conscience. The
play is built up on the idea of pushing forward the institution of conventional
marriage system. Being a master dramatist, he interweaves the theme of
homosexuality in the fabric of the play. He is very original in his art of adopting
technique befitting to his purpose. In an attempt to depict the complex and
conflicting mental spectrum, he resorts to ‘thought’ device for surfacing inside
story before audience properly. This is how he lays bare inside working of
Lata’s mind through‘thought’ technique.

Thus, the play Do the Needful focuses on the shared spaces between women and
the gay in the society which mainly promotes the patriarchal family set up and
discourages any change that challenges well-known and existing structure of it.
Alpesh and Lata are forced to marry e a c h o t h e r b y t h e i r p a r e n t s . Parents’
i d e a l i s m i s c o n f r o n t e d w i t h children’s individualism through the exterior

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and interior dramatic decoding devices. Lata is craving for Salim and Alpesh
is pining for Trilok. It is almost impossible for both of them to fulfill their dreams
and desire. Socio- cultural tradition prevents them from doing so.

The play Final Solution was first performed in 1993, which is about the communal
issues of India. People of India and Pakistan were divided before the independence
of India. The division of India and Pakistan was not only the geographical division,
but also Hindus and Muslims were forced to go to their respective lands, Hindus to
India and Muslims to Pakistan. Thus, the play Final Solution is about the cultural
supremacy of how Hindus suffer at the hands of Muslim Majority like the character
of Hardika/Daksha in Hussainabad, and how Muslims like Javed suffer in the set-
up of the majority Hindu community. It disturbs the normal social life and also is
hindrance for the national progress.

Chorus is the extraordinary system introduced by Mahesh Dattani which is a

symbolic way of expressing our own hatred towards another community. Another
way of narration of the communal issue is also an innovative technique as the
young girl Daksha who will be reading the diary which she wrote long back related
to the communal riot, and immediately the young girl changes into the old Hardika.
But there is no much difference between olden day’s riots and the present day’s
riots as both have the same bloodshed, same strength of violence. Daksha closes
her diary and then Hardika appears on the stage. In the living room of the Gandhis,
Aruna, Ramnik Gandhi’s wife, enters with her daughter Smita. Aruna is a God-
fearing woman who strongly follows each and every ritual, being a Hindu, Javed
and Bobby on the other side that represents Muslim community. But at the end of
the play, the writer wishes to stop this hatred and communal tension. The ‘Divide
and Rule’ policy was adopted by the British during the colonial rule. Due to that
there arouse many differences between the communities. The result was communal
hatred and many of them migrated to different places, which was completely new
for them. Hindus migrated from Pakistan to India and Muslims from India to
Pakistan. This migration was forceful and even after so many years people were not
able to come out of the shocking events caused by migration. In the play Final
Solution we find one such family to specify it’s a character by name

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Daksha/Hardika. Even after independence people of both the nation were
prejudiced by the past communal riots. The feeling of insecurity and confusion
rose. People belonging to this age had to confront many strange issues as they
settled in a new land and problems increased. The birth of religionalism, disputes in
national identities and decline of human values-these disorders led to linguistic,
ethnic and caste identities.

The play presents different shades of the communalist attitude prevalent among
Hindus and Muslims in its attempt to underline the stereotypes and clinches
influencing the collective sensibility of one community against another. This play is
different from other plays as it is neither sentimental nor simplified in its approach.
Mahesh Dattani won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Final Solutions In1998. In
the play there is clash between traditional and modern life and discussions on class
and communities.

Dattani has showed how these communal problems in the society affect our family
relationships:

As Kenneth Pickering has rightly observed that “the problem

Play is that ‘which explores a particular social problem, raising
Many questions about it and provoking the audience into
Finding answers. Such plays, sometimes known as, ‘thesis plays’
Because they mount and work out an argument, may be tragic
Or comic in essence but their ideas constitute some issue of deep
Concern to the dramatist with which he wishes to engage the
Minds and consciences of the audience. (Kenneth 70)

The outburst of a riot is like a chain reaction. The play opens with Daksha reading
from her diary. Then the young girl immediately changes into the old Hardika. “I
opened my diary” (167). Daksha is the grandmother of the Gandhis. She closes her
diary and then appears as Hardika on the stage. She feels things have changed a lot.
In her family Ramnik Gandhi, her son, and Aruna daughter-in-law and
granddaughter Smitha are there. Daksha is represented as a fifteen-year-old newly
married young girl, writing her diary; this may be considered as the past and
sometimes as Smitha’s grandmother in her late sixties in the present. So, Ramnik and
Aruna also come under the present but Smitha, Bobby and Javed may be considered
as representatives of the future. Daksha always tells Smitha that “those people are all

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demons”, which is not liked by Ramnik.
It is clear in the play that cultural hegemony can be noticed as those who are in
majority rule over the minorities-at present Bobby and Javed are the victims and
sufferers under Hindus as they are Muslims that is in the present. But when Hardika
reads the diary, in the past in the communal riots they were minorities and her father
burnt a Muslim’s shop. Javed here is a young man, who becomes a terrorist and is
exploited by politicians in the name of ‘Jehad’. He is sent to Hindu Mohalla where a
‘Rath Yatra’ is taking place. He is in the mob and he so overwhelmed that he throws
the first stone on the ‘Rath’ causing chaos, ending up in the killing of the ‘pujari’ and
the crashing down of the ‘Rath’. Bobby who is close friend to rescues him from the
violent mob and takes him to Ramnik’s house to take shelter that night. But there is a
discussion for the cause of Hindu-Muslim hatred and many terrific secrets are
revealed.
Mahesh Dattani has introduced the chorus and mob in Final Solution, which helps to
know, what is the intension of either the Muslim or the Hindu. And the mob gives
awareness about what is going on between the two communities. Through their
slogans they convey the message that they want to convey to their respective
communities. It brings out the feeling of each community.
The central theme and its layered treatment in Final Solutions, the socio-political
context of the play’s early productions, its long history of performances in English
and Hindi-Urdu, and the public attention it has drawn, make this play an immensely
rich site to explore theatre’s potential to serve as a platform for advocating religious
pluralism in South Asia. In this thesis, I will examine Final Solutions both as a
literary work and as a successful piece of theatre in this capacity. Through a detailed
analysis of the text, I will first pinpoint the specific aspects of Dattani’s play that
make it a powerful tool for addressing religious communalism. I will also explore
how political theatrical events, such as Advani’s Rath Yatras, influenced the writing
of Final Solutions. I will then turn to an examination of its prominent productions,
again paying particular attention to how the communal tensions incited by the
Ramjanmabhoomi campaign impacted them. This examination will also include a
discussion of the audience’s reactions to these performances. I will next compare the
Hindi-Urdu version of Final Solutions with the original English text. Here, I will
explore the ramifications of the two languages for the play’s effectiveness. I will ask

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if a play like Final Solutions should be written in English, a language not understood
by the majority of India’s population. Finally, I will compare the medium of theatre
to the predominant medium of South Asian popular culture: film. I will consider
whether a play like Final Solutions can have a social impact in a country dominated
by the Hindi-Urdu film industry known as Bollywood. How does the play compare
to films dealing with the same theme? I will explore this question by comparing the
play to Mani Ratnam’s Bombay (1995), a film made in response to the Babri Masjid
demolition and the Bombay riots.

During my examination of both literary and theatrical aspects of Final Solutions, I

hope to throw light on the potential of theatre to address the critical social issue of
communal violence in South Asia and contribute to the building of harmony in the
region. As noted in the introduction, the thesis seeks to examine whether the medium
of theatre, specifically theatre like Final Solutions, can make a difference in
promoting ideas of pluralism. However, before attempting to answer this question, it
is important to ask: To what genre of theatre do Final Solutions belong to? Is Final
Solutions comparable to a play of the Western theatre tradition such as Henrik
Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler? Since Final Solutions deals with issues of religion, is the play
itself related to any religious theatrical traditions of South Asia? In order to
determine what type of theatre Final Solutions is, a definition for theatre must be
established.

Colonialism and Post colonialism, while being historically reliant terms, are also
terms that demonstrate a state of mind. If colonialism sought to inculcate in the
colonialised a sense of inferiority to the Western mode of thought, creating
artificial distinctions between a superior Western Self and an inferior Colonized
Other, post – colonialist modes of thought seeks to demolish this dichotomy
by challenging the colonial modes of thinking and representation. Temporally,
post colonialism denotes that period in history when colonialism ends and
independence is achieved. But the term is not the same as ‘after colonialism’,
as John MacLeod points out, for colonial values persevere even after
independence is achieved. Actually, Ashish Nandy defines colonialism “as a
shared culture which may not always begin with the establishment of strange

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rule in a society and end with the departure of the alien rulers from the colony.”
(Nandy, The Intimate Enemy, 72). Postcolonialism demands, what Dennis
Walder calls, a “kind of double awareness: of the colonial inheritance as it
continues to operate within a specific culture, community or country; and the
changing relations between these cultures, communities and countries in the
modern world”. (Dennis Walder, 2). Theatre, in this regard, has always played a
very significant role. But inspite of this, it has received scant attention in
postcolonial studies, feels C.L. Inns. This, according to him is “surprising given
that dramatic performance raises so many issues that are central to postcolonial
cultures – questions of identity, language, myth and history; issues regarding
translatability, voice and audience; problems relating to production,
infrastructures and censorship”. In cultures where literacy is the preserve of
the, and where there is a continuing oral culture with roots in pre-colonial
traditions, drama and performance provide a means of reaching a much wider
indigenous audience and tapping into forms and conventions which are already
familiar to them. (C. L. Innes, 29) Final Solutions is an exploration of growth of
religious fundamentalism in India. As Angelie Multani points out, although
there have been several literary representations of the violence, of this traumatic
severing of countries on religious and ethnic lines, there has been very little
attempt in literature to link what is now obvious to most sociologists and even to
the layman. Namely, communal tensions and fault lines in contemporary India
have their origins in the trauma of partition as well as the lack of resolution or
forgiveness. Mahesh Dattani’s play ‘Final Solutions’ is a rare literary/dramatic
text that connects our contemporary context with the unforgiven trauma of 1947.
(Multani, 43). Multani, infact, makes a thorough analysis of the play to finally
ask:

The question remains with us - how much longer are we to be trapped

in this mindless cycle? Is there an end to violence and retaliation in
sight?

(Multani, 50)

Dattani uses for this reason three generations – the grandmother, son and the
children – of a middle-class Gujarati business family and examines their attitudes to
religious tolerance or intolerance. The design of the play revolves around, first,

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Hardika, the grandmother, who is possessed with her father's murder during the
partition chaos and their betrayal by a Muslim friend, Zarine. Her son, Ramnik
Gandhi, the second generation of the family, is troubled by the awareness that
his prosperity is founded on a shop of Zarine's father, which was damaged by his
kinsmen. Hardika's daughter-in-law, Aruna, lives by the strict code of the Hindu
scriptures and the granddaughter, Smita, the youngest generation of the family,
finds she cannot allow herself a relationship with a Muslim boy. The anxious
calm in the family is bothered when two Muslim boys, Babban and Javed, very
much seek protection in their home on being chased by a violent Hindu crowd.
Interestingly, Dattani portrays Babban as a moderate, while Javed is seen as
aggressive and violent. What follows is an exchange of judgments and angry retorts
between the characters with the hint that the only possible final solution to the vexed
issue was tolerance and forgiveness. The play establishes that as long as
communities are alienated in their memory and representation of the events of 1947,
they will never be able to forgive each other or themselves.

Dattani’s play Final Solutions is the true representative play of his

observations; it deals with one of the burning issues of communal riot. Dattani shows in
the play how the seed of riot is sowed and some vested groups reap its fruit. He
also discusses the role of politician, police and public at the time of communal riot.
The common people who live together for years, at the moment of riot, suddenly
cease to recognize each other and become enemy on the ground of religion. They
never realize that they are loser, and politicians snatch the opportunity to gain power.
This special community utilizes the opportunity to make a profit.

It is interesting to note that the present situation of religion in India is extremely

miserable. People belonging to all the sections of different communities seldom
understand the real purpose of religion. They are often seen fighting without any cause
or reasoning on flimsy ground. At this critical state where there is a broken relation, the
politician’s task is to make a compromise and bring forth a solution. But just the
otherwise we see that the champions of politics are more bent upon making a
separation between these two major groups than making a compromise to make the
society stable. Though we see in our country, India, our rich history and tradition is full of
so many ideals and slogans which lay stress on equal respect for all religions.
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The play Final Solutions also shows that the Police and the Politicians never treat the
society on equal terms. The politicians whose primary purpose is to gain the vote by
hook and crook, is often seen indulging in so many malpractices. We know that in a
democratic state, equality is the soul of the nation. In the eyes of the constitution all
men are equal. They should not be treated on the basis of caste, class and creed.
Mahatma Gandhi is of the opinion:

Men are equal. For, though they are not of the same age, the
same height, the same skin and the same intelligent, these
inequalities are temporary and superficial; the soul that is
hidden beneath the earthly crust is one and the same for all
men and women belonging to all climes. (2007:46)

The Mob is nothing but they stand for the resentment of the people. They express
their feeling that cannot be told individually. Through them the dramatist depicts the
inner feeling and thought of the people. The Hindu chorus thinks about the temple
and the Muslim chorus about the mosque. They forget the true spirit of humanity and
human- religion. Such type of division is not good for any community. The Mob, at
most of the places, uses the image of animals those are related to particular
communities. The images of ‘pig’, ‘swine’, ‘mouse’, ‘rat’, ‘lizard’, etc, hints at the
communal hatred and contempt toward other community. It suggests that such type of
arrogant remarks must be stopped in the society that spread hatred and bitterness.
Through these very words Dattani very sincerely depicts the bitterness between these
two big groups of the country. The words of Mob are clear indication of
communal disharmony of the society and its consequences are experienced by
the characters Ramnik, Javed, Hardika, Bobby, Zarine’s family etc. Dattani uses the
role of chorus in the play very effectively.

Final Solutions by Dattani was staged in the backdrop of the communal fever
gripping not only India but also many other Islamic countries, particularly in
neighbourhood on account of demolition of Babri Masjid by the so-called
Ramsewaks (worshippers of Lord Rama as per Hindu mythology) in 1992. The
play by juxta posing the people belonging to two different and dominating
communities in India-Hindu and Muslim divided on the basis of their religious
and cultural beliefs once again opens up the wounds of communal violence

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 inflicted on humanity during partition. The characters delineated in the play fall into
two categories; one group comprises of Hindus such as Hardika, Ramnik Gandhi,
his wife and daughter Samita while the other comprises of Muslims like Javed,
Bobby and their family members; even chorus which plays a very significant role
in the development of action in the play represents these two communities. Dattani
while delving deep into the psyche of his characters, analyses the process of their
attitude formation towards people belonging to different community resulting in
their communal preferences and abhorrence and consequently their aspiration
for communal hegemony, and explores possibilities of finding a solution to
the problem of communal divide and hatred. The past beckons us that in India
there have always been clashes of cultural identities between the Hindus and
Muslims and our partition in 1947 was also theresult of this religious divide and
cultural dissimilarities. Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri while supporting this point
affirms:

"For the Indian, the most important battle for the establishment of a
distinctive identity within a territorial location lay in the partitioning
of India. National identities were conceived and took shape in
accordance with the ideologues t h a t formulated these on the
basis of religions (and later, linguistic, ethnic, caste), identities. The
gruesome rioting and communal/religious disharmony that took seed in
1947 has continued to throw up countless of such incidents
independent to secular India” (Chaudhuri, 2005: 77).

Bravely Fought the Queen is one such play that makes us think and think seriously.
It is first performed in 1991, while it is published in 1992. The play has three acts
categorized into three gender segments: Women (Act I), Men (Act II), and Free for
All (Act III). As it uses a spatially segregated proscenium stage and a language
which is regarded by most as the “colonizer’s idiom,” therefore Mahesh Dattani’s
Bravely Fought the Queen (1 9 92 ) is regarded by many as hardly “Indian.” But
what is “Indian” theatre anyway? As E. Mee has pointed out, our language is
something which we internalize, work upon, fight with, accept and reject at the
same time. It is a part of our identity. Dattani’s comfort in using his third language,
English, has much to do with his upbringing, education, locale, and exposure.
And who said that his “English” interspersed with cultural markers,
indigenous expressions, local flavour, and subjective constructions is not Indian?
Instead of sticking to our ancient traditional theatrical forms, we need to look

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 around and state how such things are not enough to gauge the present situation in
India. Mee has much to say in this context. According to Mee:
What we need to do now is to look at those forms and say we’re approaching
the twenty first century, this is who we are and this is our legacy, so where do we
take t happening and that’s a matter of serious concern (Mee, 1997: 24-5).

Alka: You said you make bonsai? Lalitha: Yes. I’ve got a whole collection. Alka: How do
you make them?

Lalitha: You stunt their growth. You keep trimming the root and bind their
Branches with wire and . . . stunt them. (Bravely: 16)

This discussion between two of the female characters in Mahesh Dattani’s play,
Bravely Fought the Queen, in fact summarizes the hidden problem of the Trivedi
family, in particular, and the patriarchal social matrix, in general, where women are
coerced or conditioned to arrest their emotional and mental growth. The image of
the bonsai, a plant whose growth has been arrested artificially through human
intervention, assumes a dominant metaphor in the play for Dattani in order to
introduce the theme of stunting the mental and emotional growth of women.

Through an urban middle-class drawing room setting Dattani is able to hold up

like a mirror to society where the Jitens and Nitins romp in large numbers
throttling the spontaneity and formation of self of innumerable Dollies and Alkas.
In Bravely Fought the Queen, Dattani seeks to situate the locus of the timeless
face of exploitation of women and the sense of wrong carried about by them in
the four women characters – Dolly, Alka, Baa and Daksha – and even in the
marginal figures _ Dolly’ mother and even Lalitha. The image of the bonsai, the
detailed process of its creation, helps him to draw parallels between the stunting
of a plant’s natural growth through unnatural and artificial means with the
strategy used by patriarchy to arrest the growth of women, who are then reduced
to artificial objects capable of exhibiting the superiority of the creator but unable
to display the natural qualities it was endowed with.
Bravely Fought the Queen is a play which consciously uses the metaphor of the
Bonsai to connect its characters with it at every level and expose their role in relation
to it. When Lalitha describes the process of growing it she unconsciously seems to

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chart the process through which society conditions, fashions, clips and arrests the
spontaneous and complete maturing of its women. Lalitha’s description is applicable
to Baa, Dolly and Alka’s mother, the two sisters themselves, to Daksha, the Re-
VA-Tee model and unknown to her, to Lalitha herself too. All of whom have been
saplings at the hands of male figures who have sought to curtail their full growth
and led to the growth of grotesque artificial plants, with miniature inedible fruits,
capable of being exhibited for their aesthetic appeal but unable to serve the real
purpose of natural trees – to provide shade, fruits, flowers and shelter to the organic
world. Thus like the bonsais, the women in the play are incapable of realizing their
full potential – Baa misses her chance to cultivate her talent, Dolly cannot enjoy the
wholeness of motherhood, Alka is deprived of experiencing maternity, Lalitha has
come to delude herself to believe that her husband’s work and decisions are her own
and Daksha has been denied a normal life at the fetal stage all through the
intervention of the stunting process of Patriarchal force. The female bonsais of the
play become a silent and subtle weapon with which Dattani exposes the invisible
process through which society wires, twists, clips the heart and soul of women to
make them fit into prepared moulds of tradition.
Bravely Fought the Queen throws light on the home confined identity and
exploitation of women at the hands of not only men but also women and their
resistance. The play also exposes issue of extramarital relationship and touches
upon the issue of homosexuality. Set in the world of consumerism, the play depicts
Alka, Dolly and Baa as women whose lives are defined within the four walls of the
houses. Revolving around the Trivedi family which consists of Jiten and
NitinTrivedi, Baa, Dolly and Alka, the play depicts the exploitation of women in the
family. Indian society considers women as uncivilized, rude, and ill-mannered
needing to be polished. The process of the refinement of their actions and their
behaviour horrifies our eyes violence is the tool which is used for the socialization
of the women. Alka’s present condition is the result of this civilizing process which
also creates a rift between Dolly and Alka who are managed by their brother
Praful. This play, like Tara, also depicts women as the perpetrator of patriarchy.
Dolly suffers in the hands of her mother-in-law who provokes her son to
beat her. Like Kanyadan, this play also dramatizes women as a commodity of male
gaze. Jiten and Nitin gratify their sexual desires with market girls. The class-conflict
also constitutes the theme of the play. Sridhar is humiliated by his masters Jiten and
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Nitin who forces him not only to follow their eccentric views about campaign which
ignores women as consumer but also to work as a pimp just to manage a whore for
Jiten. The issue of homosexuality has touched upon in the play. Nitin has
homosexual relationship with Praful. Emotions and desires of women of the family
has no significance for the male member of the family and they suffer due to their
husband’s degraded morality. In the end of the play Alka and Dolly both rebels
against the male dominance and their husband’s realize their mistakes. Bonsai in the
play symbolizes the limited freedom of women.

The play has been critically commended all over the world, including Britain’s
prestigious Leicester Haymarket Theatre. The play is set in Bangalore of the 1980s
and 1990s and charts the emotional, financial, and sexual workings in the lives of an
urban Indian family of two brothers. The brothers are the co-owners of an
advertising agency, married to two sister’s women who remain mostly at home and
look after the men’s old mother, Baa. The play dramatizes the emptiness and sham
in the lives of its cloistered women and self-indulgent, unscrupulous men, blurring
the lines between fantasy and reality, standing on the brink of terrible secrets,
deception and hypocrisies.
Act II ‘Men’ transforms the sets into offices with the common component of the bar
and Baa, and in a sort of parody, the entire sequence is enacted again, this time from
the perspective of the men. With Jiten dominating the scene with his overbearing,
egoistical and corrosive presence. Nitin seems almost ineffectual while Sridhar tries
to be assertive in various ways. Apart from the repeated motif of the cancelled party,
Baa’s delirious ravings provide a sense of movement back and forth in time.
Meanwhile, the men discuss the psyche of women and the ‘ReVaTee’ brand of
lingerie that they are to market. Even as Jiten argues for a male perspective on the
item they are trying to sell women’s underwear-Sridhar tries to argue for the female.
One set of stereotypes is contested by another. Jiten forces Sridhar to fetch him a
prostitute. Sridhar gets back at him by giving him his ‘leftovers’. Nitin remains
neutral, always. The reference that is made to Praful creates a matrix of significant
suggestions that carries forward the play with increasing tension towards the ‘Free
for All’ of Act III.
The play zeroes in on an Indian joint family, with the eldest male as the certain

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head, raising a gamut of questions on the nature of the relationships between the
brothers and their wives (also sisters) and the manner in which identities form and
firmly entrench themselves within these structures. Following some of the
discussion on the family in the preceding chapters, we have noted the location to
which the women are tied down, following the diktat of their men folk-they remain
at home most of the time, with their chief duty being to care for the men’s ageing
mother Baa. As the enclosed, cloistered female world of Act I clashes with the male
world of wheeling and dealing, corruption and adultery of Act II, it becomes
obvious that both the men and the women have assumed roles that ill-suit them, and
hence all the characters have to seek support in fancy and the unreal. The veneer is
ripped apart and the revelation is made as to the nature of their true selves in the
confrontation of Act III, and the realities of their lives emerge. The braggart and
wife-beater, Jiten is revealed to be another pathetic escapist and a weakling who
literally runs away from the scene of confrontation in tears; Nitin homosexuality
becomes apparent in his revelations about Praful, the absent manipulator of the
entire situation, an even the apparently ‘correct’ and ‘sensitive’ Sridhar show
himself to be one of the many male chauvinists in the play in his game of one-
upmanship with Jiten.

The play Tara was performed as Twinkle Tara at Chidian Memorial Hall, Bangalore
on 23 October 1990 by Playpen Performing Arts Group. The plot of the play
revolves round the family of Mr.Patel. It is related with the life of congenial twins,
one girl and one boy who are joined together at the hip. Chandan and Tara are to be
separated through a surgical operation which will cause danger to one of them. Their
mother Bharati insists on giving the third leg which was common to them, to
Chandan so that he may lead a healthy life. Bharati and her father bribes the doctor
and make him save Chandan, although they know that the leg suited Tara well. Mr.
Patel remains a mute witness to the injustice imparted to their daughter. But the
operation leaves Chandan with a slight limp and Tara crippled. Thus it turns out to
be futile for both children. Bharati is shocked and goes out of her senses, and tries to
repay Tara with all her love and affection.

The plot of Tara is arranged around familial relationship where each individual in

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his own way has to stand the burden of social values and their efforts to go beyond
them, bring helplessness in their lives. In Tara, after the marriage of Mr. Patel and
Bharati, Mr. Patel was forced to leave his parental home because this relationship
was not accepted by his parents. The shadows of insecurity loom large around him.
He had a painful realization. The anxiety of the separation from parents, then the
birth of Siamese twins, makes Mr. Patel isolated. He is forced to decide for the
surgery of kids for their separation. In this surgery, the tragedy was imminent. The
surgery was conducted, Tara becomes a cripple, Bharati goes insane and Mr. Patel
becomes violent and aggressive. He ignores the identity of Tara and doesn’t care for
the consequences involving the risk of life of Tara. It directly indicates the gender
prejudices prevalent in society.

As Gajendra Kumar states, “Tara is not simply an exposition of dramatic contour

and finesse but a critique of the complexity of human relationship in a society where
life becomes chaotic and neurotic” (123).

The most striking part in the play is that Tara is discriminated by her mother who
herself is a woman. Dattani brings out the root of gender discrimination by making
the woman, the destroyer of another woman’s life. Although Bharati’s father also
plays a part in this crime, it is Bharati who has to bear the brunt of blame ultimately.
She might have done it also because of the huge fortune of her father, which he
wanted to be inherited by Chandan, his only grandson. We see the motive of crime
lying hidden in the patriarchal system in our society, where women are considered
inferior to men.

Tara, who is the innocent victim of the society’s injustice, has to carry the burden of
being physically disabled all through her life. She secretly longs for two legs, when
she says:

Tara: I would wish for both…I would wish for two of them.
Chandan: Two Jaipur Legs?
Tara: No, silly, the real ones. (Tara 266)

She thinks that it is only her mother who strongly loves her. Somehow, Tara begins

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to assume that her father hates her. But she appears to be a bold girl, who cheerfully
faces her critics and opponents. Her brother Chandan remains a strong support for
her throughout.
A patriarchal society is completely presented in Tara where the major decisions are
made by the numbers. In such a society, a woman’s identity is defined by others in
terms of her relationship with men. Patel, the head of the family is very concerned
about the future of their son, Chandan. He has great plans for Chandan and wants
him to join college, whereas he does not speak about any plans for Tara. Patel wants
Chandan to accompany him to his office. He wants Chandan to be bold and
outgoing. He gets furious when he finds Chandan helping his mother with her
knitting. He shouts at Bharati for making his sin do something considered to be
feminine.

Patel: Chandan, leave that damn thing alone!

Bharati: (Frantic.) Go! Chandan, just go!
Patel: (To Bharati.) How dare you do this to him? (256)

Patel feels disappointed at the growth of his son without any responsibility in life.
He says’ “I am disappointed in you. From now on you are coming to the office with
me. I can’t see you rotting at home!” (256)

The relationship of Bharati and Tara, mother and daughter, need specific mention.
Bharati’s inner self is divided for her different commitments as a mother and a
woman. The fractured images of her inner self cast it shadows in her love for Tara.
Her guilty conscience makes her shower love on Tara. She is always very concerned
and worried about Tara and her future. The play begins with the scene where
Bharati is admonishing Tara for not taking her milk. In another context, she remarks
to Chandan about Tara, “The world will accept you-but not her! Oh, the pain she is
going to feel when she sees herself at eighteen or twenty. Thirty is unthinkable. And
what about forty and fifty!” (254). It is only Bharati who has plans for Tara. It might
be her guilty conscience which causes her to make safe her daughter’s life. She says,
“I plan for her happiness. I mean to give her all the love and affection which I can
give. It’s what she-deserves” (255). Patel does not seem happy about the way
Bharati treats her daughter. According to him she tereats Tara “as if she is made of
glass” (DCI 257). Bharati’s mental trauma makes her go out of her senses and she

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breaks down finally. Tara, when returns home after her kidney transplant, is
depressed to hear about her mother’s illness. She feels that only her mother loves
her and she has lost it forever.

Dattani focuses on the common approach of people about everywhere to promote

boys and discard girls. He brings out the particular situation in an Indian home in
Tara. Women should be given equal opportunities to develop their potential. He
shows how women are responsible for the degradation of their own group. It is high
time men and women realize that they ought to complement each other in their lives.
A complete life is possible to us only when we learn to value our both aspects,
masculine and feminine. Then we will be able to realize a world full of possibilities.
In the play, Dattani contemplates the emotional dilemma of Chandan; hence the
action is almost internalized. All the major characters in Tara, Bharati, Mr. Patel and
Chandan suffer from an uncompromising sense of remorse and in the course of the
plays, it is evident that everyone seeks a means to vent their guilt and contribute
their share in Tara’s suffering. The psychological turmoil of all the characters is laid
bare and we can have a glimpse of their anguish. In order to compensate for his loss,
he distances himself from the societal ambience. Mr. Patel’s sadistic attitude
towards Bharati is a frantic endeavour to run away from the trauma of parental
responsibilities. Even Bharati is tense about Tara’s future. We need to comprehend
that her concern Tara is a reflection of her insecurity. This trepidation surfaces
owing to the patriarchal conventions and the disability of Tara. It is a bold attempt
on the part of the playwright to bring to the limelight such burning issues.
In this rigmarole, Tara’s bold stance and her outlook towards life is more appealing
to us. She maintains a stable position by neither brooding over her dilemma nor
extracting sympathy from her dear ones. Her confidence is supreme and so is her
sense of humour. She does not get vexed when her friend “stared at her leg, felt it
and knocked on it”. She describes herself as “Strong, Healthy. Beautiful.” Both Tara
and Chandan proudly show their legs to their neighbours without manifesting any
inhibitions. They are intellectually smarter as compared to other children of their
age. Even though Tara is required to undergo a kidney transplant, she exhibits a bold
disposition. Dan is not able to come to terms with Tara’s untimely death and has
served all ties with his own family. After her death, he learns that their separation

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was inevitable. The doctor who operated them believes that the greatest challenge
was to keep the girl alive. Patel tells Chandan that the twins had three legs. The third
leg was fed by the girl’s blood system. The chances of the leg’s survival were
greater with the girl. But Bharati and her father decided to give the leg to the boy.
With this shocking disclosure, we come to know that Bharati’s love for Tara was an
outcome of her guilt consciousness.

Though a change comes over Bharati’s behavior towards Tara, Patel remains
unchanged. Chandan considers that he was responsible for Tara’s tragedy. He
strongly believes that as he was a male, he snatched away the possibilities of a
healthy life from Tara. Dr. Thakkar is also one of the wrongdoers as he was
involved in Tara’s operation. Dan tries to overcome his agony by scripting a play
“Twinkle Tara” and dedicating it to her.

To masticate my memories in my mind and spit out the result to the

World in anger. (Picking up the sheet he has typed.) My progress, so
Far, I must admit, has been zero. But I persist with the comforting
Though t that thing can’t get any worse. I keep staring at my
Typewriter everyday wondering how best to turn my anguish into
Drama. All I find every day, without fail, so one typewritten sheet with
The title of the play, my name and address, and the date. Nothing
Changes-accept the date. (Drama: Contemporary India 232-233)

Tara is, no doubt, a victim of the tragic consequences that keep happening around
her. Adding to her misery is the attitude of the society towards the physically
challenged. Thus, the tragic element is accentuated to a great extent. Nobody
befriends Tara, owing to her disability. Bharati has to bribe Roopa with cosmetics
and other such stuffs to make her come close to Tara. Yet, Roopa has a hidden
dislike for the freaks. Towards the end of the play, there is a verbal war between
Tara and Roopa. As a result, Roopa places a poster with a slogan “WE DON’T
WANT FREAKS” agains a wall in the area. This demoralizes both Tara and
Chandan. They are shocked and are afraid of meeting new people. The element of
tragedy incorporated in the play speaks volumes of the playwright’s concern for the
disabled. To quote Bijay Kumar Das:
Mahesh Dattani frequently takes as his subject the
complicated dynamics of the modern urban family. His
characters struggle for some kind of freedom and happiness
under the weight of tradition, cultural constructions of

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 gender and repressed desire. Their dramas are played out on
multi-level sets where exterior and interior become one and
geographical locations are collapsed-in short, his setting are
as fragmented as the families who inhabit them. (Das 7,
2008)

Family tension also augments the impediments of Tara. Thus, Dattani embarks on a
mission to voice the sufferings of the handicapped and reaches out to the
multifarious issues associated with the same. He has also delved deep into the
concerns that plague the society. The play Tara vouches for the much-needed
acceptance that society needs to expand to individuals like Tara. The conversation
between Tara and Chandan shows how the twins are connected to each other. They
know each other very well and have a deep understanding of their predicaments as
well. The comments made in a lighter vein, jokes, curt replies to Roopa and debates
over choices and preferences, all go on to prove that both can’t do without the other.
That is the reason why Chandan’s approach changes dramatically when he realizes
the truth about the separation. He is the only character in the play who expresses
grief towards his beloved sister’s death. Though the play exposes the tragedy of
Tara, it focuses equally on the tragedy of Chandan (Dan) as he now understands that
the future is bleak for him and life, absurd.

Dattani reflect on the difference in the attitude of mother and father to a girl child
and shows how a woman feels when she finds her husband neglecting, ignoring,
undermining or belittling their daughter. However, woman status is that of a
homemaker does not protest to make her husband realise that he does that what he
should not do. Bharti does the same when she tells her son that his father does not
pay attention to his sister.

Bharti: “I wish your father would pay more attention to Tara.

Chandan: He does. He does not like to show his affection.

Bharti: Do not tell me about your father. Heis more worried about your career than
hers is. 11

As Mahesh Dattani in one of his interviews with Laxmi Subramanian: “I see Tara
as a play about the male self and female self.The male self is being preferred in
12
all cultures. The play is about the separation of self and the resultant angst.

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Bharti tries to shed her burden of guilt by showing maternal love and concern for
her daughter and to assert her moral superiority over her husband. She also tries to
expatiate by the act of donating kidney to her daughter, which was ultimately futile.
Dattani establishes that mother and daughter relationship is ultimately subordinated
to the directives of patriarchy. All cultures and all countries by establishing values,
gender perception and prescribe unequal means to achieve. Tara and Chandan
conjoined, Siamese twins who must be separated to survive. The dichotomy between
the twin-gendered selves is recognised and a physical separation is made through
surgery. Likewe have always been inseparable. The way we started in life two lives
and one body in one comfortable womb, until we were forced out ---And separated.13

Being a 19th century Indian writer ,Mahesh Dattani s plays have different
issues that Indian society had faced time to time and in the same way this play too
is a collection of miscellaneous indifferent chapters. Tara, as daughter
experiences maltreatment and partiality from her mother as compared to her
brother Chandan. As if his other plays addresses the misdial class .Mahesh Dattani
in this play has also presented the bizarre reality of the woman playing a secondary
role to man.

Mahesh Dattani has very skillfully revealed the theme of gender discrimination in
this play. The purpose of this play is to illuminate the minds of female gender for not
to give preference to a male child over a female child. He stresses women to look
back at their journey of life. They were like Tara, before they became women in real
sense. This play also suggests many things to the mothers. As for instance, not to feel
upset at girl’s birth not to treat girl contemptuously and not to stop them from scaling
newer heights in their life to come. Tara quips at this: “The men in the house were
deciding on whether they were going hunting while the women looked after the
cave.”(328) She highlights the dilemma of women who were supposed to be
appropriate for the domestic domain only. The play as a whole thus depicts the
relegation of the relevance of the Woman, and her upper edge whenever it does
assert itself in a male-dominated society. This is why the Grandfather and the Mother
who represent tradition prefer the male over the female; the Male is the
archetypal successor or prototype of cultural progeny. This explains why the

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author names the play after the female child whose identity is demoted otherwise; in
order to invert the dialectical pair male/female. The woman has always been hailed in
philosophy, but in practice she is treated as an object to be overlooked. As Virginia
Woolf asserts in her A Room of One’s Own:” Imaginatively, she is of the highest
importance; practically she is completely insignificant. She pervades poetry from
cover to cover; she is all but absent from history."

In the play, though Bharati dotes on her daughter Tara, she insensitively attributes a
piece of her daughter to the son. The clash between illusion and reality is yet again
echoed here. What is actually a public display of attention on part of the mother is
actually a screen to shield her guilt. The context also serves as a satire on the self-
sufficient Indian male, for whom, to accept anything feminine is beneath his dignity,
and an indelible question mark on his masculinity. Even Dan acknowledges the
same, as he writes the play. Though the craft of the play is his, he has to borrow
the material from Tara. In Tara, the deformity of the Woman is caused by the Man,
and caused in order to complete the Man. The playwright utilizes the motif
symbolically as well. This is the reason why Tara approaches her end more
quickly, and it is not owing to her inferiority. The handicap also symbolizes the
predicament of girls in Indian families who are made to forsake their chances of
getting educated as the edification of the boy becomes a priority.

The death of Tara has a more powerful impact than her existence. Just as the death of
the Star gives way to the Black Hole. The Black Hole stands for the God in the
World of Physics, it being connected to the Male Gods in Hinduism like Shiva,
Krishna, and Ram etc. who are black. Religion has also been predominantly
patriarchal. Christianity professes:”Men are God’s stars.”(Genesis 15:15-18.) By
naming his female protagonist as ‘Tara’, Mahesh Dattani puts it otherwise. The
themes of gender discrimination are all dominant in the drama, Tara. The issue
of cultural discrimination with women has been elaborately and comprehensively
dealt by Dattani in the play wherein female is subjugated and underestimated by
patriarchal society and she remain only a care taker for household utensils, ,
children, husband, other domestic requirements and tasks of fatigue. Thus Dattani’s
drama showcases the stark reality of the life and warrants the attention of the world

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towards the pressing needs of the time.

Dattani’s Dance Like a Man, first staged in 1989, can be read as a configuration of
the characteristic grip of human identity that strongly interfaces the elements
of identical autonomy and autonomous identity. Much like R.K. Narayan’s novel
The Guide, Dattani’s play is about the incidental identity crisis where the identity of
a dancer clashes with the identity of a son - the two identities of a same person.
Amritlal cannot tolerate his son to be professionally a dancer because such
profession is categorically restricted for the women. As far as the gender issues of
our socio-political status are concerned Jairaj cannot be a dancer because there is a
coincidental conflict between a manly man and a professionally dancer. The basic
unwritten laws of gender identities that are prevalent in our hegemonic society
prevent Jairaj to choose dance as his profession. But there is no problem for
Lata or Ratna to grab dance as their profession because virtually they are female
beings. Some particular roles have strictly been prescribed for men and women
separately and categorically: “Me marrying a Southie my father will tolerate, but
accepting a daughter-in-law who doesn’t make tea is asking too much of him.”
(Dattani 391) And again the readers hear: “When my mother comes here, she’ll want
to watch you make coffee. Be prepared.” (Dattani 395) The terrible stigma of
tradition has to be tolerantly endured because deviation from these rules makes one
to be a social transgressor. As far as Dattani’s presentation of the polarized
relationship is concerned, assigned gender roles are reversed through performance.
Agarwal rightly points out:

In the play Dance Like a Man, Dattani expresses his resentment

for close fisted gender roles in the conventional social framework
where the passion of an artist is quashed against the restrictions
imposed on individual according to their gender roles. (24)

Dance like a Man is a story of Jairaj and his passion for classical
dance.Oscillating between past and present, Dattani presents before us a vivid
portrayal of gender roles that we practice in Indian houses. The theme of gender
runs in a pathetic way in which the whole identity of the character Jairaj seems to
be in a crisis. He feels like his wife has ruined him and has taken away his self
esteem. Jairaj is totally dominated by his father and even by his wife. This makes

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himdoubt about his existence as a man. He asks Ratna, “Will finding a musician
make me a man?” (DLM 21).The whole play is about gender construct and the
tension and conflict that create upon a man’s life. Since Jairaj was a man, his flair for
dance is suppressed, he wants to dance but his wife wants Jairaj to be the provider. At
the end of the play Dattani, details the truth that divinity of human is neither man
nor women. “We were only human”. The protagonist Jairaj is ostracized from his
home for he chooses to dance, though dancing is a way of expressing his identity, his
personality. The social bias against the art of dance among men is highlighted in the
play. Mahesh Dattani has invariably been hailed as one of the leading dramatists
contesting discord in society at various levels. The discord, usually springing from
one’s own self, sometimes from family and friends, and also originating because of
societal forces, finds vivid and somber depiction in his plays in myriad forms. His
work probes tangled attitudes in contemporary India towards communal differences,
consumerism and gender issues and attempts to dissect what largely remains under
the carpet. Dattani takes up “the complicated dynamics of the modern society” and
vividly displays their sweeping dimensions (A. Madhvi Latha 231)

The play opens with the conversation of Lata Parekh and Viswas who are chatting
light-heartedly concerning their future. Viswas is there to get the approval of Lata’s
parents for their wedding. Lata is a classical dancer whose career is about to
commence with her maiden performance before the President of India. Unfortunately,
however, her mridangam artist Mr. Sriniwas trips over his dhoti and is injured badly.
Lata’s parents are in the hospital to see Mr. Sriniwas.

Lata tells Viswas about her ancestral house, her grandfather and parents. Later, when
she is busy making coffee for him, he opens a cupboard and removes a splendid
brocade shawl. He wears it and struts around without being noticed by Lata. He
imitates the old man in a mock fatherly voice. It is exactly at this moment when Ratna
and Jairaj enter and stare at Viswas’s frolics. Viswas gets embrassed and offers some
explanation but Ratna and Jairaj are too engrossed in their problems to pay any
attention to Viswas’s attempts to explain his situation. Dattani successfully renders a
realistic description of the frustrations and failures of the last forty years of Ratna’s
life and shows how these failures cast their shadow on their present life. Such
failures, we come to know later, have economic and social extensions which are
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further associated with one’s individual demands and gratifications. The clash of
interests that the playwright has invested in the characters remarkably exposes the
vacuity and emptiness that surrounds their relationship. The volcanic eruption of the
suppressed feelings of Ratna, for instance, makes Jairaj bitter and sarcastic. Her
remark that he “stopped being a man for the day came back to house” unhinges Jairaj
(21). When he retaliates by saying, “For forty years you’ve been holding that
against,” Ratna strikes back, “You’re right, I’m worrying about nothing, because
nothing is what we are!”(21)

The blame game starts and the reader get a sumptuous feast of contemporary
relationship where the sweetness of love and care has been replaced with spicy and
abusive accusations. Gifted with the sensibility to see beyond the stereotype
representations of men and women in society, Dattani attempts to penetrate into the
abstruse world of emotions and inner discord of his characters. This becomes the axis
around which his characters move in order to realize their strength and prove their
dignity. B. Yadava Raju rightly remarks that “human relationships and family unit
have always been at the heart of his dramatic representation.” (The Plays of Mahesh
Dattani 69)
Jairaj is taken aback when he gets the taste of genuine feelings of his wife towards
him. Their interaction and accusations expose the discord they are bound with. The
fissures in the relationship between Ratna and Jairaj become too staid to allow their
relationship run in a smooth manner. It is true that they could not become successful
professional dancers as they had anticipated. The frustration and depression of 40
years of their past life leaves an ineffaceable imprint upon their psyche and keeps on
tormenting Ratna for her supposedly failure in life. She dreams of touching the apex
of her art but her middling career makes her position doleful. Dattani skillfully shows,
Aditi De asserts, how “within platitude-ridden Indian society his characters seethe
and reveal, probe and discern, scathing their families and neighbours, leaving each
reader or watcher with a storm within as the aftermath.” (www.hindu.com)

The volcano of conflict keeps on simmering in her heart and she is no longer in a
position to control her feelings, as a result, a natural eruption of her suppressed
emotions takes place. The past of this couple leaves them down in the dumps and
scratches the very placidity of their life. Where Ratna suffers for her over ambitious
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nature, Jairaj undergoes excruciating experience both at the hands of his father and
his wife. In the nineteen forties, people could hardly wish their children, especially
boys, to go for a classical dance form like Bharatnatyam due to the social stigma
attached to it. Moreover, the association of this dance form with Devdasis, too,
blemished its image. Dattani, in aninterview with Ranu Uniyal, says:

(I) t is a dance form of the Devdasis, it’s a prostitutes dance and

People from respectable families did not perform or practice
That dance form. It is doubly difficult for the man, you know,
What business does a man have learning a prostitute’s dance?
So it brings about gender roles, what is expected of genders as
Well. And also the tensions between the couple and how they
Solve, how they felt they used their relationship to develop their
careers, dance and how they reconcile to the fact that the time
wasn’t right for them. (The Plays of Mahesh Dattani 182)

This was the reason why Amritlal could never reconcile himself to the hard fact that
his only son has decided to be a classical dancer rather than opting for any other
respectable way of living. It is pertinent to mention here that the patriarchal set-up has
a deep impact upon the psyche of the people who consider it disparaging to do
anything against the accepted social norms and customs of the society. Dattani talks
about the gender roles through the characters of Ratna and Jaiarj that man and woman
are expected to play in most of the societies including Indian. Man in Indian society is
considered as head of his family and, as per expectations and requirements, he is
supposed to act in a particular characteristic way. He is not easily accepted in the
roles usually played by women. This is the main cause of discord between the father
and the son who are unable to cope with each other because of their dissonances
regarding Bharatnatyam. Jereme Mortimer observes, “Mahesh Dattani does not seek
to cut a path through the difficulties his characters encounter in his plays; instead he
leads his audience to see how caught up all are in the complications and
contradictions of our values and assumptions.” (www.anitanair.net)

Amritlal is a freedom fighter as well as a social worker who is benevolent enough to

donate money to his friends and relatives. But, at the same time, he is not ready to
part with his money for the sake of upliftment of an art form. He regrets having
allowed his son for continuing with his dance practice in his house. He says:

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 I thought it was just a fancy of yours. I would have made a
Cricket pitch for you on our lawn if you were interested in
Cricket. Well, most boys are interested in cricket, my son is
Interested in dance, I thought, I didn’t realize this interest of
Yours would turn into an…obsession. (36)

Amritlal is unable to guage the depth of his son’s passion for dance and disapproves
of his reverence for his Guru and the art form itself. He considers his calling for
nation’s freedom superior and refiner than jairaj’s interest for dance. He is
undoubtedly an opinionated old man for whom any diversion from set standards is
deprecating and disgusting. The derision for something different is not a strange
phenomenon. The human behavior has always been like this only. Any new idea or
action has first to face severe criticism and disapproval at the hands of so-called
sophisticated people. These people writing and squeeze the desire of any individual to
experiment with new things and force them to adjust with their ideologies, however
irrelevant and irrational they may be. The trouble of Amritlal commences from the
negation of his will and order by Jairaj. He says to Jairaj that “there comes a time
when you have to do what is expected of you. Why must you dance? It does not give
you any income. Is it because of your wife? Is she forcing you to dance?”(37)

He further expresses his hatred for such practices and wishes to eradicate certain
practices which are a shame to the society. He says, “I will not have our temples
turned into brothels.”(38) At this Jairaj remarks, “And I will not have my art run
down by a handful of stubborn narrow-minded individuals with fancy pretentious
ideals” (38). He further retaliates, “You should be pleased that people from
respectable families like yours are interested in reviving this dance. You should be
encouraging us instead of being a hindrance.”(38)

An alert reader finds such episodes as representative instances of the dichotomy

between past and present, between tradition and modernity, and between patriarchy
and individuality. If Amritlal is a staunch follower of tradition and the values attached
to it, Jairaj is a rebellious youth-a protestant against the set make beliefs. He is an
educated intellectual who does not fight shy to go against his father’s stern
instructions and choose a dance form his father disapproves. If Amritlal represents
past and its heritage, Jairaj represents present which has the seeds of colorful and

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healthy future for the generations to come. His rejection of his only son, nevertheless,
has another dimention that is deeply attached to patriarchy. He is not so much hurt by
the occupation his son has chosen as he is hurt by his son’s rebellion against him.

In short, Dance Like a Man is about the differences between the male and female in
the society. In Indian society importance of male is more than female because of
some conservative ideas and old hierarchy of orthodox social rules for female. Place
of Women is at home only and Male is free to do what he likes. There is no rule for
male for his development and freedom. The same incident happens with Ratna in this
play. She is active in her profession as a dancer but her family members are not
interested in her profession. Even she is more active than her husband. Dance Like a
Man was bound to strike a familiar chord. The challenge is given in this play by the
Dattani as a writer of the play. Some familiar issues are focused in the play.

Central theme of play, Where There’s a Will is egoistic nature of the male section of
the society, especially the head of the family who always lives under the impression
that without his concern not a single leaf would be allowed to fall down. In this
play the family head Mr. Hashmukh Mehta is the symbol of what we say Hitlerism.
He does not allow including his son anyone to do as they wish. He is a symbol of
patriarchal ego. He was of the opinion that as he was the strict follower of his
father’s rules, his son Ajit too had to do the same. He believes in ‘absolute
power’. He couldn’t distribute his power among his family members because he
wanted to dominate each and everyone including his wife Komal Mehta. He is the
autocratic head who demands unquestionable obedience from his family members.
Normally in most of the literary works it is found that because of such kind of
father’s bossism or social norms only female section of the family had very
successfully depicted that in our society the root of the family always thinks that it
is he on whom the whole tree is grown. If he is cut down the tree would be laid
down, actually it is not so. Sometimes small children are also proved good teachers.
They teach the elder a lot of they keep their eyes and ears open. Hashmukh Mehta
tried to control his family even after his death. Thus he is plenipotentiary having
absolute rights or power. His dictatorship is intolerable to all members of the
family but they are not supposed to speak a single world without his permission.
To rule over them even after his death he had made a ‘will’ of his property. Kiran
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puts: ‘Hasmukh was intoxicated with his power. He though he was invincible.
That he could rule from his grave by making this will. (CP: 508). The dramatist has
introduced the ghost of Hasmukh Mehta to make watcher of his actions. When
Ajit asks his father to give him only five lakh to modernize his factory plant
Hasmukh laughs at him. He criticizes his son’s ways. He observes categorically:
“One of the richest men in this city. All by my own efforts. Forty five years old and
I am a success in capital letters. Twenty three years old and he is on the road failure,
in bold capital letters’….” (CP: 464)
Twenty three years old Ajit is a managing director of Hasmukh’s factory but he is
not permitted to take a single decision. He is married but according to Hasmukh
still he is not mature enough to take right decision at right time. So he neglects his
son’s competence to control his established business in a right way. He controls and
checks the every movement of his son. He wants his son not as partner or owner of
his property, but he wants his own son as a slave. Ajit is not entitled to use his
father’s property, for any purpose. His father does not think to include the managing
director of his factory in any decision making process. Thus like Hitler he is self-
opinioned man who doesn’t allow Ajit to use his skill and talents for the business
development. He has to listen to his father’s command carefully to obey them
keeping his talent and efficiency aside. Once Ajit asks his father, “Don’t I have any
rights at all?” Hasmukh replies, “You have the right to listen to my advice and obey
my orders.” Thus the play Where there’s a will represents the middle class mentality
of Gujarati family. In this research I have tried to compare and contrast Bernard
Shaw's Candida and Mahesh Dattani Where there's a Will. The plays (Candida and
Where There’s a Will) are based on the concept of marriage and position of women
in the society. Shaw in Candida exposes the hollowness of ideal marriage and
Dattani too puts forward the bold theme of marriage and extra marital affair in his
Where There’s a Will. How the time and ambiance changes the family bonding and
interpersonal relationships has also been showcased. The difference between
position of women and the concept of new women in 1890's and that of patriarchy
in 1980's is compared. Both the dramatist exposes the evils of society but in their
individual style. The paper throws some light on the tools and techniques used by the
dramatists who made their plays unique and successful. One is an apostle of new
drama, other the revolutionary dramatist who brought to forefront the invisible issues
of post modern society. The dramatists draw their characters from different strata
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of society. Shaw‘s characters are drawn from different strata of society (lower,
middle or elite) but Dattani‘s characters are epitome of urban society. Shaw and
Dattani though belong to different country, cultures, time span but are the votaries of
art for life's sake.

George Bernard Shaw-the follower of New Drama was born in Dublin and brought
to focus the social change that Europe has witnessed during eighteen nineties and
onwards. Shaw focused on the themes like poverty, slum landlordism, prostitution,
reality of war, marriage, religion and so on. On the other hand Mahesh Dattani was
born in Bangalore explores Post colonial and multi cultural India. He basically deals
with the issues which are considered to be invisible rather taboo by the Indian
society like gender discrimination, homosexuality, trans-genders, patriarchy,
communalism and so on. Shaw the playwright of Ideas exposes the hollowness of
ideal marriage in Candida which bears a striking similarity with Dattani‘s Where
There’s a Will. Dattani‘s play deals with the fragmented relationships in the Post
Colonial Indian society especially husband and wife relationship that is marital and
extra marital affairs. Marriage is the recurrent theme of both the plays. Candida
involves another important issue of the nineteenth century i.e. the ‗women
question‘in which women demanded equal rights with men. Dattani‘s Where
There’s a Will also deals with the similar theme.

The play Where There’s a Will has many trademark qualities of Dattani’s play.
Like other plays, the play has Gujarati milieu and successful runs on the stage.
The play presents how women in their own homes are marginalized. Though the
kitchen or home is described as the kingdom of women, they are no longer ruling
over them. Instead, they are pushed on the margins of invisibility.It is attributed:

Where There’s a Will has several interesting aspects.

Mahesh described it as the exorcism of the
patriarchal code. Women- be it daughter-in- law,
wife or mistress- are dependent on men and this
play shows what happens when they are.1
Where There’s a Will does both delight and teach. The play was first performed by

Playpen at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore, on 23 rd September 1988, as part

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of the Deccan Herald Theatre Festival. The play is translated into Gujarati and
Hindi by Suresh Rajda and Rajendra Mohan respectively. Hindi show was

performed in Tanzil Theatres, Mumbai on 25thDecember, 1992 under the

directorship of Jaspal Sendhu.

The narrative of the play takes places in the lavish house of Hasmukh Mehta, a
doyen businessman and staunch follower of patriarchal system. The dramatist has
introduced the ghost of Hasmukh Mehta to make watcher of his own actions. The
stage is divided into three spaces namely the fancy dinning cum- living room, the
bed room belonging to Hasmukh and Sonal Mehta, and the hideously trendy
bedroom of their son Ajit, and his wife, Preeti. Hasmukh strictly followed steps of
his father in his life. He wants his own son Ajit follow his footsteps in real life.
He exercises the patriarchal authority over all the members of his family. He
believes in ‘absolute power’. The dramatist focuses on fractured interpersonal
relationship within the range of familial relationship. Like all modern families,
there is a lack of emotional attachment and understanding towards others’ views and
opinions. The character of Hasmukh Mehta can be analyzed in two ways -
through his familial world and business world. He is the boss at the both the spaces.
His relationship is plagued with grievances and unrest at home. However, he is
enjoying the position of the ablest and the perfect boss at the business house.

Thus, Hasmukh Mehta is personified with patriarchal canons and tried to control
family even after his death through his ‘will’. He is both dead and alive, but his
business remains unobstructed and unceasing. The play is divided into two acts and
these two acts are subdivided each in two parts. The play begins at the lavish house
of rich protagonist Hasmukh Mehta. All the four members of the Mehta family
stand in sharp contrast to their counterparts. Hasmukh Mehta is the autocratic
head and demands unquestionable obedience from his family members, whereas
his wife Sonal is quite subservient and subordinate to her husband. She has no
choice of her own. She has learnt how to execute her husband’s instructions and
orders in toto. In this sense, Hasmukh is anti-thesis to her. The play depicts how
women are s u b j u g a t e d and s u p p r e s s e d by t h e i r m a l e
counterparts in patriarchal social set up.When the play begins; Ajit is

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talking on phone andHasmukh Mehta enters through the main door with his
walking staff.

The theatre attempts to articulate mores and manners of the society intending
to cheer people by lifting them from physical, social and mental problems and
afflictions and also offers a piece of advice for leading life in a healthier and
happier way. Dattani’ plays have Gujarati family as the setting or locate. The
present play Where There’s a Will deals with the mechanics of middle class
Gujarati family, showing how patriarchal canons control not only the lives of
women of the family but also men of the family.

Dattani’s plays reveal at the end the skeleton in the cupboard. Where There’s a Will
also has the skeleton in the cupboard. The skeleton is his mistress and his will.
Soon after his demise, the will was read. It sets forth avenues of varied reaction
and revelations, charges and counters charges, surprises and shocks, protestation
and acceptance. There is an air of turmoil and upheavals in the family of
Hasmukh Mehta caused by his ‘will’. It was soon, clear among them that
authorization patriarch and garment tycoon will continue to dictate their lives
through the terms and conditions inset in ‘will’. The will can be viewed as whip
and mistress can be viewed as the agent. The ‘will’ was very complicated and
detailed one. As per Hasmukh’s instruction, the lawyer summoned them exactly a
one week after his death to read out the ‘will’. As per the ‘will’, none of the three
Mehta family members has any legal right over the property of Hasmukh Mehta
including their present living room.

The play focuses on emptiness and uselessness of strict adherence to patriarchal

code. One of the major thematic threads that dissect from the play is the conflicting
relationship between father and son. It depicts the clash between conservative
notions and contemporary generation. Both father and son have their own view
points regarding life and business. The father strictly believes that he has right
notions regarding son’s life, whereas son rejects the idea of complete command
over his life. At the very beginning of the play, Ajit expresses his displeasure
regarding his father’s idea. He is quite young and innovative. He wants to give
touch of modernity to his plant. He needs five lakh rupees. Hasmukh doesn’t trust

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his son’s ways of world and his ability of dealing with business affairs. He considers
him “zero” in business and practical affairs, whereas Ajit feels that his father
is hard-liner and stubborn fellow. He doesn’t respect anybody’s say in decision
making process. Hasmukh thinks that his son is very novice and silly in the world
of business. He makes mockery of his son and shows his displeasure towards his
attitude.

Later in the play, Kiran Jhaveri appreciates Ajit’s invincible spirit for telling truth
on the face of his father. Ajit is not a blind follower of his father Hasmukh’s
footsteps as Hasmukh did to his father. However, Ajit doesn’t raise much
voice against the autocratic regime of his father. He j u s t disapproves his
father’s views and ideology.

Kiran appreciate his revolutionary spirit in this manner. “He may not be the
greatest rebel on earth, but at least he is free of his father’s beliefs. He resists. In a
small way, but at least it’s a start. That is enough to prove that Ajit has won and
Hasmukh has lost.” (CP: 510)

The play Where There’s a Will shows that there is no significant improvement in
the plight of the women as though there is spread of education and progress
of mankind in almost all the human sectors. It seems that male pride or ego is the
root cause of the present plight of the women in our society. Earlier, it was
strongly believed that empowerment of women can be done through imparting
proper education and employment. The play seeks to present that education and
economical empowerment has failed to improve the quality of women’s lives in our
society. This is quite explicit through the conversation between Kiran and Sonal.
Kiran is well educated and employed in the office of Hasmukh Mehta, who later
on, raises her to the position of directorship. Sonal i s n o t f o r t u n a t e enough
t o h a v e p r o p e r a c c e s s t o education. So, she considers Kiran a fortunate
lady. This is how Kiran falsifies Sonal’s notion by narrating her unhappy past.

Where There’s a Will dramatizes the social realism in a very comical and
satirical way. The play is replete with laughter and mirth. The tone of sarcasm

228
and humour runs throughout the play. Dattani’s creative genius handles sobriety
and humour side by side very successfully. The familial interaction is often
very comical and satirical. One of the most notable things is that the names of all
the characters signify certain virtues and ideas, but none of the characters act
according to the virtue or merit symbolized by their names. For example,
Hasmukh meaning a smiling face. Hasmukh never provides his family members
theopportunity to smile. In the same way, Ajit means unconquerable.
Ajit can’t win free heart accolades from Hasmukh.
The play has philosophical twist and a happy end. The play explores the
deteriorated inter-personal relationship among members of the same family. The
viewers witness father v/s son, husband v/s wife. All are shown at war and
running after money. The play stands as an outstanding for showing the protagonists
as the watcher of his own action. He realizes that he has been made victim of his
own mechanism. He vested in Kiran with powers; to fulfill his desire for his
posthumous control over family, but she exercises these powers to improve her
relationship. The ghost of Hasmukh witnesses that he has been dismissed as a
shadow of his father, a man to be pitied on, a man without his own dreams and
desire, vision etc.

Dattani’s family play, Where There’s a Will shows the intricate male-female
relationship in the family set up. Sita Raina makes an interesting observation on
this aspect:
Mahesh described it as the exorcism of the patriarchial code. Women-
be it daughter-in-law, wife or mistress-are dependent on me and this play shows
what happens when they are pushed to the edge. What interested me particularly
was its philosophical twist. To be the watcher of one’s self is to make intelligent
changes in the life. In Where There’s a Will, the protagonist has control over his
family through his money and forges an opportunity to improve his interpersonal
relationships. As do most of us. Consequently, when he became the watcher of his
actions, he perceives that his desire for control has led him to be the victim of his
own machinations unlike Kiran who uses power play to essentially improve her
relationships. (CP 451). The play dives deep into human psychology. It examines
the father-son relationship in which the father wants his son to follow his footprints
and the son refusing to toe the line.
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Where There’s a Will has numerous interesting aspects. Mahesh desdcribed it as the
exorcism of the patriarchial code. The play has control over his family through his
money and forgoes an opportunity to improve his interpersonal relationships.
Rarely has a director been blessed with actors, backstage and technical crew that
are so talented and rich in experience, which made the process of putting the play
together immensely enjoyable and fulfilling. This play can be best interpreted in
terms of psycho-analytic criticism and humanistic criticism. Dattani’s plays evoke a
good deal of empathy. His theatrical language modifies his dramatic texts and is
reflected in the performance of the characters. The movement of the characters and
events is governed by stillness, silence and sound. The whole play is about the
problems of Indian middle class family such as marriage negotiations, inheritance,
poverty caused by natural calamities like earthquakes and droughts are treated as
themes in plays.

The techniques in Dattani’s Plays are in equal with his daring portrayal of sex
relations and sexual preferences in his plays. Family issue is a center of the play.
When anybody reads plays of Dattani, he connects the theme with reality and
compares Indian middle class family issues. Dattani is in the vanguard of those who
have made this happen; he is an actor and director with his own theatre group and
has an innate sense of dialogue that is vital, stimulating, lucid and effective.
Dealing with compelling issues rooted in his milieu, he has dispelled the perception
about English theatre being just gratuitous fizz. His audiences have been large and
responsive, both to the spectacle and the language. Dattani solved the problem by
writing his own play, Where There’s a Will in 1988 that was performed at the
Deccan Herald Theatre Festival. And the playwright came into being. This is a play
where ‘traditional’ family values clash with unexpected twists in the tale that
completely subverts existing stereotypes. The story revolves around a supposedly
‘self-made’ industrialist, Hasmukh Mehta, the patriarch who is the supreme
malcontent, with the typical problems.

230
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