Chapter I

Introduction to Indian Drama

1.1 The Origin of Drama:

Drama is one of the major genres of literature. The term ‘drama’ is derived
from the Greek verb ‘drae’ which means ‘to do’. So, the word means doing action.
Drama is a literary form for the expression of human sentiments in which actors
play their parts assigned to them and utter the written dialogues.
The origin of drama is deeply rooted in religious instincts of mankind. In
the West, its origin found in the Miracles and Mystery plays which were at first
staged by the clergy in the church. Then drama moved out of the church. On some
festive occasions like Christmas and Easter, the clergies in church instead of
preaching, began to deliver their sermons through drama. The type of drama,
produced at that time was really artistically poor (B. Prasad, 140-141).
The earliest drama in its poorly developed state was not only a part of
rituals but deeply related to festivals associated with gods. Early drama depended
heavily on mythology and stories from the Holy Bible.
A drama is a story told in a way that it must be acted out by live players to
obtain its full effect. The drama has mirrored life, customs, manners and general
living habits of the people. Its purpose is both to entertain and to instruct.
1.1.1 Drama in the Western World:
Drama reached its height in the ancient Greece. Aeschylus, Sophocles and
Euripides developed tragedy whereas Aristophanes and Menander developed
comedy. The Roman writers of drama were Plautus, Terence and Seneca.
The major Spanish dramatists like Jacinto Martinz and Mortimer Sierra ;
whereas the British drama was under the influence of Christopher Marlowe, Ben
Jonson and William Shakespeare.
The noteworthy French dramatists were Moliere and Racine. Racine was a
great tragedian, famous for his simplicity of language and action. Whereas
Moliere emerged as a great comedian, known for thoughtful laughter.

1
 The playwrights Lessing and Goethe known as the pioneers of German
drama. The other remarkable dramatists from Italy is Giacinto Gallina, from
Florence Augusto Novell and from Sicily Nino Martoglio and Pirandello.
American pioneers of drama include Maywell Anderson, Eugene O’ Neill,
George Kaufman. The poetic drama had a revival in the works of W.B. Yeats, T.S.
Eliot, Dorothy Sayers, W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and Louis MacNeice.
1.1.2 Drama in the Eastern World:
The Oriental drama found in India, China and Japan in medieval times.
Like Aristotle, Bharata has composed a theory of drama in his Natyashastra
(Science of Dramaturgy) for Indian theatre. The other remarkable writers were
Kalidas, Bhasa, Harsha, Bhavbhuti, Bodhayana. According to Allardyce Nicoll,
“The Indian plays are like the Elizabethan and Jacobean plays ever reminding
Lope de Vega and Caulderon” (The Western Drama, 45).
The traditional Chinese drama is like the English opera.It is like Indian
tragic-comedies. Chinese drama has its own charm. The remarkable dramatist is
S.I. Hsiungs.
Japanese drama is realistic and historical. The remarkable dramatists are
Arthur Waley and Takeda Izomo. Anton Chekhov-Russian and , J.M. Synge-Irish
playwright were as original as William Shakespeare.
The Norwegian Hans Kinik, Swedish Per Halls, Danish Helge Rode,
Czeeh Jaroslav Vrchlicky, Slavak Jozef Tajovsky and Armanian Lesia Ulcraink
attempted Gothic poetic plays. Strinberg Ibsen, Littish Janis Rainis, Estonian
Kitzberg, Greek Tangopoulos, Hungarian Jeno Herezeg and Polish Wyspianski
wrote several poetic and folk plays of outstanding spirit.
1.1.3 The Beginning of Indian English Drama:
Indian drama in English has slowly but steadily earned national and
international recognition. The individual and collective experimental efforts of the
innovative playwrights like Mohan Rakesh, Vijay Tendulkar, Badal Sircar and
Girish Karnad in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Kannada theatres respectively in the
sixties and seventies rendered regional drama into national drama. The translations
of the works of these playwrights into English formed the main corpus of Indian
English drama. The contributions of these four regional playwrights as writers and
2
theatre men were so vital that the playwrights writing originally in English
escaped the critical attention of the academic scholars. The academic inquiries into
Indian drama in English have remained confined to these playwrights only. It
seems that the scholars in the respective regional languages also focused on the
dramatic works of these four dramatists only.
Indian drama in English, despite being a link in the continuity of that rich
heritage, is unfortunately regarded as the sad Cindrela of Indian literature in
English waiting for her prince (Khatri C. L. and Kumar Chandradeep,11)
Unlike other genres of literature such as poetry, fiction and prose, drama in
English failed to get strong roots in the Indian soil. In case of it, the critic as well
as the stalwart among the scholars Iyengar K.R.S. comments about the nature and
quality of drama in Indian English as, “ Modern dramatic writing is neither rich in
quantity, nor, on the whole, of high quality” (General Introduction, Drama in
Modern India and Writer’s Responsibility,7).
Only Sri.Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore achieved some success in the
pre- Independence phase whereas Mahesh Dattani and Mohan Rakesh proved
themselves as successful playwrights in the post-Independence phase. The reason
for this staggering development lies in the genesis and the nature of this genre
itself. Drama is a composite art form that requires for its success both stage
qualities and literary qualities. Marjorie Boulton rightly observes:

A true play is three dimensional, it is literature that walks and talks before
our eyes. It is not intended that the eye shall perceive marks onpaper and
the imagination turn them into sights, sounds and actions, which occur
literally and physically on the stage. Though infact plays are often read in
silence, if we are to study drama at all intelligently we must always keep
this in mind, (The Anatomy of Drama, 3).

1.1.4 Concept of Indian Drama:

While studying Indian drama, it is found that the origin of the drama dates
back to Christian era. The great sage Bharatmuni lends divine birth to drama.
Natyashastra says, all gods prayed to Lord Brahma, the creator of the globe, to
produce a thing of great entertainment possessed with the qualities of the visual
and the auditory sense, which can be enjoyed by all sections of society. Lord
3
Brahma, then took the nectar of all the four Vedas – plot from the Rigveda, music
from the Samveda, acting from the Yajurveda and rasas (human emotions) from
the Atharaveda and thus made drama the fifth Veda (British and Indian English
Literature : A Critical Study, 297). Bharata composed a theory of Sanskrit drama
in his Natyashastra. The remarkable Sanskrit dramatists were Kalidasa, Harsha,
Bhasa,Bhavabhuti, Bodhayana.
In the great epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, some elements
of drama are found. The poet Valmiki mentions the word ‘Nat’ or ‘Narataka’
which means actor or player whereas the epic the Mahabharata defines drama as a
blending of many things – story, poetry and action. In case of the origin of the
Indian drama, A.L. Basham, a prominent historian rightly observes;
The origin of the Indian theatre is still obscure. It is certain, however, that
even in the Vedic period, dramatic performances of some kind were given,
and passing references in early sources point to the enaction at festivals of
religious legends, perhaps only in dance and mime (The Wonder That Was
India, 434-435).
In the grammar of Sanskrit language Ashtadhyai, Panini deals with several
relevant details regarding drama.
1.1.5 Sanskrit Drama in India:
Drama in India has had a rich and glorious tradition. Indian drama dates
back to the Rigvedic / Vedic period. Folk theatre is remarkable feature of ancient
dramas. Folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the religious ritualism of the
vedic people in the 2nd millennium BC. Such type of folk theatre includes the
elements like dance, food, ritualism and the depiction of events from daily life.
It is observed that drama is a distinct art form recognized from centuries
BC. BharatMuni wrote Natyashastra (ca 200BC- 200AD), a dissertation on the
structure and purpose of theatre in society. Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra has been
compared to Aristotle’s Poetics. Bharata’s Natyashastra seems to be the first
attempt to develop the technique or rather art of drama in a systematic manner.
The Natyashastra tells not only what is to be portrayed in a drama but also how
the portrayal is to be done. To BharatMuni drama is the imitation of men and their
doings (lokavritti). Drama in Sanskrit is also known by the term ‘roopaka’ which
4
means portrayal. Bharata’s Natyashastra consists of minutely precepts of both
playwrights and actors.
Girish Karnad, referring to the Natyashastra throws light upon the
beginning of the Indian theatre in his famous World Theatre Day Message
delivered through International Theatre Institute of the UNESCO, Paris, on March
27, 2002, and also in the post script notes of his play, The Fire and the Rain. He
says:
The Natyashastra is one of the world’s earliest treatises on theatre. It dates
back to at least the third century B.C. and its first chapter tells the story of
the Birth of Drama. It was a time when the world was sunk in moral
turpitude. People had become slaves to irrational passions. A new means
had to be found (“Pleasing to the eyes and ears as well as edifying”) which
could uplift humanity. So Brahma, the Creator, combined elements from
the four Vedas (Sacred texts) to form a fifth text, the Veda of Performance.
But since the gods are not capable of the discipline of drama, the new Veda
was passed on the Bharata, a human being; and Bharata, with the help of
his hundred sons, and some celestial dancers sent by Brahma, staged the
first play. The gods enthusiastically contributed to the enhancement of the
expressive possibilities of the new art. The play Bharata presented dealt
with the history of the conflict between the gods and the demons, and
celebrated the ultimate victory of the gods. The production delighted the
gods and the humans. But the demons in the audience were deeply
offended. They therefore used their supernatural powers and disrupted the
performance by paralyzing the speech, movements and memory of the
actors. The gods in turn attacked the demons and killed many of them.
Mayhem ensued. So Brahma, the Creator, approached the demons and
spoke to them. Drama, he explained, is the representation of the state of the
three worlds. It incorporates the ethical goals of life – the spiritual, the
secular and the sensuous – its joys and sorrows. There is no wisdom, no art,
no emotion which is not found in it. He then asked Bharata to proceed with
the performance. We are not told if the second performance was any more
of a success.
5
Bharata in Natyashastra gives a detailed theory of drama which is compared to the
Poetics of Aristotle. He refers to bhavas, the imitations of emotions that the actors
perform, and the rasas (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience.
According to him, there are nine principal rasas : love, pity, anger, disgust,
heroism, awe, terror and comedy and that plays should mix different rasas but
dominated by one. According to the Natyashastra, all the modes of expression
employed by an individual viz speech, gestures, movements and intonation must
be used. The re-presentation of these expressions can have different modes (Vritti)
according to the emphasis on one mode or other. BharatMuni recognizes four
main modes : speech and poetry (bharati Vritti) dance and music (kaishiki Vritti)
action (arabhatti Vritti ) and emotions (satlvatti Vritti). Natyashastra remained an
important text in the fine arts for many centuries; so much so that it is sometimes
referred to as the fifth Veda. It remains certainly the oldest critical text on drama.
Subsequent to its scholarly treatment of dramatic theory, a host of scholars wrote
commentaries on the text. The fact indicates that there existed a continuous and
brilliantly academic tradition of theoretical discussion on theory which seems to
have lost somewhere by the 17th century.
The most famous playwrights in ancient Sanskrit drama included Bhasa,
Bhavabhuti, Kalidas, Harsha, Shudrak and Ashvaghosha and Bhatta Narayana.
The plays of these writers were specially based on epics, myths, legends and
folklore of the time.
Bhasa (2nd Century B.C.), wrote plays that were heavily inspired by the
epics, history and well known legends of his plays. His Sanskrit plays, Pratima
Natakam, Madhyam Vyayoga, Swapnavasavdatta and Charudatta are very
popular even today. One of Sri.Aurobindo’s plays in English Vasavdatta is
inspired by Bhasa’s Swapnavasavdatta.
The next Sanskrit dramatist is Kalidasa (1st century B.C.), ancient India’s
greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by him
are Malvikagnimitra, Vikramurvasiya and Abhigyanshakuntalam. The last play
was based on a myth taken from the great epic Mahabharata. It was the first
Sanskrit play translated into English and German by Sir William Jones in 1789.

6
Shudraka’s Mrichhakatikam is also a popular romance based on ancient history
and folktale which captivates the Indian audience as it did centuries ago.
Another medieval dramatist Bhavabhuti (7th Century A.D.) is said to have
written MaltiMadhava, Mahaviracharita and Uttara Ramacharita. The Indian
emperor Harsha (606 – 648) is credited with having written three plays ;
Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.
Sanskrit drama usually begins with a prayer to the gods with the Sutradhar
establishing a link between the dramatic world and the audience. It also has minor
characters like the Sakhi or confidante of the Nayika and Vidushaka, and laughter
provoking wily and confidante of the Nayak. Thus, even in ancient and classical
times one finds the popular myths, legends and folklore of the period being
dramatized by the Indian dramatists. Sanskrit drama was highly stylized as far as
its performance was concerned. It was dance drama and therefore, it cannot be
fully appreciated in the light of naturalistic modes of presentation. Scholars have
pointed out that Sanskrit word for drama, Natak goes back to the root word
‘Nritta’ which means dance.
By the end of the fifteen century, the Sanskrit dramas were performed on
stage in Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Theatre in medieval India witnessed a new genre of Indian drama with the
introduction of classical Indian Dance Drama. Songs, dance and recitation plays
like Rasaleela, Ramlila, Bhand, Noutanki and Wang ruled the drama pattern in the
medieval India based on the epics.
In shaping the medieval Indian theatre, religion played an important role.
Devotional, mythological and religious plays were the products of the medieval
theatre and was aura of the ‘Bhakti Movement’. Historically during fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, the folk-theatre emerged forcefully within respective regional
languages.
With the decline of the Sanskrit theatre in the country, the popular (folk)
theatre of the masses (people) in local languages dealing with well-known themes
went on growing in both quality and quantity.

7
1.1.6 Folk Theatre:
The beginnings of Loknatya (People’s theater) are noticed in every state of
India from the 17th century onwards. One sees in Bengal ‘Yatrakirtaniya’, ‘Paol’
and ‘Gaan’, in Madhya Pradesh ‘Mach’ in Kashmir ‘bhandya thar’and in Gujarat
the forms were ‘Bhavai’ and ‘Ramleela’ in Northern India there were ‘Nautanki,
Bhand, Ramleela and Rasleela’, in Maharashtra ‘Tamasha’, in Rajasthan ‘Raas’
and ‘Jhoomer’, in Punjab ‘Bhangra’ and ‘Song’, while in Aasam it was ‘Ahiyanat’
and ‘Ankinatya’ in Bihar it was ‘Videshiya’ and Chhari.’
One of the reasons for the popularity of the folk theatre was that in the
process of metamorphosis, the folk theatre adopted the Sutradhar, the Vidusaka
and some other classical conventions (S.K. Bhatt 3).
The arrival of the Europeans and the desire of educated Indians to imitate
the West, added to their urge for finding a new theatre, sowed the seed of the
modern movement.
1.1.7 The Beginnings of the Modern Indian Theatres:
For the first time in the history of modern Indian theatre, two comedies
‘Disguise’ and ‘Love is the Best Doctor’ were translated from English into Bengali
by Lebedoff (Russian) and Goloknath Das in 1795. The first Bengali theatre (The
Hindu theatre) was established by Prasannakumar Tagore in 1831. Vishnudas
Bhave Produced his play Sitaswayamvara in 1843 and thus shaped the Marathi
theatre. In 1850-1853, the famous ‘Parsi Theatre’ was launched in Bombay
(Mumbai) which influenced the whole country in a very little time. Postagi
Pharmji was the pioneer in establishing the Parsi Theatre company in India. Many
new theatre experiences were brought up on stage during Parsi Theatre evolution
in India.
The amateur theatre also developed with the work of Bharatendu
Harishchandra, the father of Hindi drama. Apart from that, Britishers opened a
theatre named Play House in Calcutta in 1756. It is said to be the first English
theatre in India. In 1777 ‘Calcutta Theatre’ was established by the Britishers.
Shakespeare’s plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello Richard III, along with
some other English plays were staged in these theatres. The translated version of
Shakuntala by Sir William Jones was also staged in 1789 in Calcutta theatre. Mrs.
8
Bristo, an English drama lover, also established a private theatre Chourangi in
1789. She produced a play Poor Soldiers and she herself participated in the play.
It was the first time that a woman staged and acted in a play in public theatres in
India. ‘Bombay Theatre’ was opened in 1770 at Horniman Circle, out of public
contributions. In 1848, ‘Royal Theatre’ came into existence, it was established for
the Parsi players by the leading public figure of those days namely, Jagannath
Shankar Seth. The Parsis then started their own drama company. Their plays were
popularly known as ‘Company Natak’, this theatre paid much attention to stage
decoration and stage specialities. They toured various parts of the country with
their drama troops and thus had a lions share in popularizing the Indian theatre in
modern times.
Slowly, other theatres began to emerge in the Western, Southern as well as
in the Eastern part of the country. Very soon, the Bombay region in the West,
Calcutta in the East and Madras in the South became the hubbub of the dramatic
activities in India. Between 1850 and 1940 there was a great resurgence of theatre
in different parts of the country. So, these theatre groups had a significant
contribution in the development of the Indian theatre. Dr. P.D. Kulkarni rightly
says, ‘These hundred years can rightly be called as the Golden age of the Indian
Theatre in any language’ (The Dramatic World of Sri. Aurobindo, 18).
1.2 Indian Drama in English:
The Indian Drama has a glorious and rich dramatic tradition in the regional
languages. Indian creativity in English language has made a noteworthy
contribution to English literature in poetry and novel. It is seen in the history of
Indian drama that with the Britishers’ adventures, English language spread its
roots in India. It took quite a long time for firmly setting in Indian land. Indians
first began composing poems and bits and pieces of prose in English, later the
English dramatic creativity started its own form, in an experimental manner.
About Indian English drama, M.K. Naik rightly observes, “ Indian drama in
English is called Cinderella of Indian English literature” (Dimensions of Indian
English Literature, 151).
Indian English drama can be studied into two phrases as Pre-Independence
Indian English Drama and Post-Independence Indian English Drama.
9
1.2.1 Pre-Independence Indian English Drama:
Comparing with the British tradition of drama, Indian English dramas are
not numerous in quantity but in quality. The first Indian play written in English is
Krishna Mohan Bannerji’s play ‘The Persecuted or Dramatic Scenes Illustrative
of the Present State of Hindu Society in Calcutta (1831). But the real journey of
Indian English drama begins with Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s play Is This Called
Civilization? (1871). Prema Nandkumar, in the book ‘Critical Essays on Indian
Writing in English’ observes: “ In the field of Indo Anglian Literature, drama is
but sparsely cultivated. We have had very few dramatists, and one can easily count
the number of good dramas” (191).
Rabindranath Tagore and Sri. Aurobindo, the great sage poets of India.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote primarily in Bengali but almost all the Bengali plays
are available in English language. Rabindranath Tagore, versatile genius, produced
remarkable and outstanding plays. But Tagore’s dramatic talent is not properly
recognized by the critics as well as scholars of Indian drama. They considered him
pre-eminently as a poet inspite of his considerable dramatic output, 47 plays.
Many of his plays are translated or transcreated into English by the playwright
himself. They are all of different variety, themes with different techniques.
Rabindranath Tagore deserves the honour of India’s most outstanding dramatist
whose contribution to this field is remarkable.
Tagore’s creative genius has certainly enriched the Indian literature in all
its major forms like poetry, fiction and drama. He not only attained the stature of a
writer but also made an extraordinary impact in every regional literature of the
country. For his contribution to literature he got the Nobel Prize in 1913. The
Universities of Calcutta, Dacca, Benares and Hyderabad conferred on him
honorary Doctorate degrees taking into consideration his valuable contribution in
the field of education and literature.
His notable plays are Sanyasi or the Ascetic (1884), The King and the
Queen (1889), Sacrifice or Visarjan (1890), Chitra (1894), Karna and Kunti
(1897), Gandhari’s Prayer (1897), Malini (1896), The King of the Dark Chamber
(1910), The Post Office (1912), Natir Puja (1926), Chandalika (1933). The music
of ideas and the symbols are the soul of his plays.
10
 Sri. Aurobindo, one of the great sage poets of India, is the first notable
dramatist in English worth considering. He wrote five complete blank verse plays
besides his six incomplete plays. His complete plays are Perseus the Deliverer,
Vasavdutta, Rodogune, The Viziers of Bassora and Eric, the King of Norway.
These plays were written in English as original dramatic creations. Among these,
only Perseus was published in Sri.Aurobindo’s life time. The play Perseus,
Rodogune and Eric take us back to Syria and Norway of ancient times, while
Vasavdutta and The Viziers of Bassora take us to ancient India and Persia
respectively. All his five plays are steeped into poetry and romance. The present
research will focus on the dramatic art of Sri.Aurobindo concerning his five
complete plays. Sri. Aurobindo’s incomplete plays are The Witch of Ilni (1891),
Achab and Esarhaddon, The Birth of sin (1942), The Maid in the Mill (1962), The
House of Brut (1982), Prince of Edur (1961), The Prince of Mathura and
Vikramorvasie. He chooses the poetic language and the Elizabethan structure in
his plays.
The verse dramatic play Nala and Damayanti consisting of 5 Acts and 27
Scenes by Vasudeva Rao. It is a play in blank verse. It is the familiar Mahabharata
story. Another verse play, The Flute of Krishna by P.A. Krishnaswamy (1950). It
is a bhakti story of Vidyaratna to her God Krishna.
Another important playwright made his significant contribution to Indian
English drama is Harindranath Chattopadhya. He has always been noted for his
versatality. He has a number of plays and playlets to his credit. He started his
career as a playwright with Abu Hassan (1918). There are seven verse plays to his
credit published under the title of Poems and Plays (1927). All his seven plays are
based on the lives of Indian saints. His Five plays (1929) are written in prose
where the writer’s socialist beat of mind is quite palpable. The Window and the
Parrot deals with the lives of the poor whereas the Sentry’s Lantern is a symbolic
play of the expectation of the advent of new age for the downtrodden people.
Siddharta: Man of Peace (1956) is his most ambitious play, an adventurous
effort to dramatise Buddha’s life. In short, his plays are mainly remembered for
his rich romantic verse.

11
 Chattopadhya, though essentially a poet, makes a brave attempt to
dramatize events in the lives of saints and to focus the current problems of society
in the form of short plays. But inspite of his knowledge of the ancient Hindu
dramatic tradition, he fails to meet the demands of the stage so far full length plays
are concerned.
The next great name in the history of Indian English drama is A.S.P. Ayyar.
A.S.P. Ayyar wrote half a dozen plays. Some of them are A Mother’s Sacrifice, In
the Clutch of Devil, Sita’s Choice, The Slave of Ideas and The Trial of Science for
the Murder of Humanity. All his plays deal with contemporary problems and
situations. In case of Ayyar, K.R.S. Iyengar said “a vigorous critic of
contemporary life” (Indian Writing in English, 242).
Another outstanding dramatic voice on the Indian literary scene is T.P.
Kailasam. The full name of T.P. Kailasam is Tyagraja Paramsiva Kailasam (1885-
1946), popularly known as T.P. Kailasam, though he was a Kannada playwright,
occupies a prominent place in English. His knowledge of ancient Indian lore is
quite remarkable. His plays breathe throughout a deep reverence for Indian ancient
culture and values of life through the modern critical approach. His plays are full
of wit and humour.
T.P. Kailasam, though hailed from Kannada Theatre, earned a permanent
place among the Indian English Playwrights. He was a scientist, sportsman,
linguist, an actor, playwright, a wit and a bohemian. He was acquainted with the
rich tradition of Kannada Theatre and the cultural heritage of the country.
Apart from his plays, he composed some thirteen English playlets. But
none of these has been published. The playlet, The Burden, the theme of which is
from Ramayana, is an indirect attempt at modification of Bhasa’s Sanskrit work
Pratima –natakam (The statue play), whereas his play, The Purpose, a play in two
acts is one of the main contributions made by Kailasam to Indian English drama.
Kailasam’s next playlet Fulfilment is a natural sequel to The Purpose. The Curse
or Karna, a play in five acts, is based on the story of Karna appearing in the Adi,
Sabha and Karna Parvas of Mahabharata. It appears that it was originally designed
by Kailasam to be a screen play.

12
 Kailasam’s last play Keechaka is a posthumous publication. It is said that it
is based purely on the memory of the playwright’s close associates like B.S. Rama
Rao.
V.V. Srinivasa Iyengar, was mainly a master of social comedy, describing
the elements in the lives of the sophisticated middle class people most frequently
encountered in the cities like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. The plays
included in two volumes of his Dramatic Divertisements consist mainly of
interesting situations and dialogues. ‘The Surgeon General’s Prescription’ and
‘Vichu’s Wife’ are his enjoyable farces.
Bharati Sarabhai, the most distinguished of the women dramatists has
written two plays: ‘The Well of the People’ (1943) and ‘Two Women’ with
considerable measure of success. The Well of the People is based on a real story
published in Gandhiji’s Harijan in which an old Brahmin widow unable to
achieve her ambition of going on a pilgrimage to Benares and have a dip in the
holy Ganges, decides to get a well dug for the untouchables in her village.
J.M. Lobo-Prabhu is the last great name in Pre-Independence Indian
English drama. J.M. Lobo-Prabhu has written over a dozen plays but only,
‘Mother of New India’, a play of the Indian village in three Acts (1944) and
‘Death Abdicates’ (1945) appeared before independence. His work Collected
Plays was published in 1956. Lobo Prabhu’s energy is obvious.
Apart from these dramatists, the names of a few more playwrights may be
taken into account for their contribution to Indian English drama as Sudhindra
Nath Ghose (Colours of a Great City), R.K. Narayan (The Watchman of the Lake )
; K.R.S. Iyengar (The Storm in a Tea Cup and the Battle Optional) ; Balwant
Gargi : (The Vulture and Other Plays) and Mrinalini Sarabhai (The Captive Soil)
In short, the pre-Independence phase presents quite a good number of
playwrights who employed the dramatic genius in various ways by using social
and historical themes. Most of these plays deal with the contemporary society’s
problems exploitation of the poor by the rich, the corruption practiced in the name
of religion, effects of caste system, widow marriage and many other social evils.
The playwrights made use of myth, legends and folklore in their dramas, whereas
most of the playwrights wrote their plays under Greek and Elizabethan influence.
13
The writers like Sri. Aurobindo, Tagore and Kailasam were the masters of
language but they wrote in blank verse. These writers made use of pure Sanskrit
words, their use of blank verse caused the loss of action. And hence the plays of
Sri. Aurobindo, Tagore lack the stageability.
1.2.2 Post- Independence Indian English Drama:
The pre-Independence Indian English drama is noteworthy for its poetic
excellence, thematic variety, symbolic significance and its commitment to human
and moral values. But in the post-Independence era the dramatists were not
successful to evolve an independent dramatic convention to suit Indian climate.
Interference of modern technology is one of the cause, television, films and also
lack of finance. The post-Independence Indian English drama was benefitted by
the increasing interest of the foreign countries in Indian English drama to prove its
identity in regional languages. A good number of plays by Indian playwright Assif
Currimbhoy, Pratap Sharma, G.V. Desani and Gurucharan Das were successfully
staged in England and U.S.A, but the plight of Indian English drama is that no
regular school of Indian English drama was established in the country. Drama
received encouragement from several quarters but it was monopolized by the
theatre in the Indian regional languages, whereas Indian English drama “continued
to feed on crumbs fallen from its rich cousin’s table” (Naik, M.K. 225).
The dramas in the post-Independence era have been written in prose as well
as verse. According to M.K. Naik, “...the Tagore - Aurobindo - Kailasam tradition
of poetic drama continues, but with a difference in the hands of Manjeri Isvaram,
G.V. Desani, Lakhan Deb and Pritish Nandy” (A History of Indian English
Literature, 256).
But the number of prose playwrights is larger in comparison to verse
playwrights.
Indian drama in English did not flourish much until the appearance of the
‘New Dramatists’ on the scene. Some significant playwrights among them are
G.V. Desani, Assif Currimbhoy, Pratap Sharma,Gurucharan Das, Lakhan Deb and
Nissim Ezekiel.

14
 G.V. Desani is one of the notable dramatist from the post- Independence
age. ‘Hali is his major dramatic work, and autobiographical play also. The play,
Hali is everyman’s story. The play is known for its symbolism and imagery.
The most prolific versatile playwright of the post-Independence period is
Assif Currimbhoy who has written and published, twenty –nine plays. He has
staged twenty –two plays out of his twenty-nine plays over the period of eighteen
years. His plays are The Tourist Mecca (1959), The Restaurant (1960), The
Doldrummers (1960), The Captives (1963), Goa (1964), Monsoon (1965), An
Experiment with Truth (1969), Inquilab (1970), The Refugee (1971), Sonar Bangla
(1972), Angkor (1973) and the Dissident MLA (1974). K.R.S. Iyengar in his
academic discourse appreciates the creative calibre of Currimbhoy in his own
critical framework. “Farce, comedy, melodrama, tragedy, history, fantasy,
Currimbhoy handles them all with commendable ease” ( Indian Writing in
English, 732).
The speciality of Currimbhoy’s plays is interesting situations, dialogues,
sense of atmosphere and above all his plays are actable. For Assif Currimbhoy’s
contribution to Indian English drama, he is rightly hailed as India’s first authentic
voice in the theatre.
The next playwright is Pratap Sharma. He has written two plays, A Touch
of Brightness and The Professor Has a War Cry. The play A Touch of Brightness
portrays a real picture of slum area as well as corruption in the office. In case of it,
the playwright himself says, “It deals with matter, which is highly undesirable to
show on the stage,” ( S.K. Bhatt, 153). Whereas his second play, The Professor
Has a War Cry describes the relations of a woman, who is deserted by a Hindu
professor.
Another important playwright is Lakhan Deb. His historical and poetical
plays, the remarkable one, are his two plays, The Tiger Claws (1967) and Murder
at the Prayer Meeting. (1976). The first play The Tiger Claws depicts the
adventure of Shivaji, the great Maratha King. The playwright describes killing of
Afzal Khan by the great King Shivaji. Lakhan Deb’s second play, Murder at the
Prayer Meeting based on the last day of Mahatma Gandhi. In his plays, three
classical unities are observed.
15
 Nissim Ezekiel, the famous poet, wrote Three Plays (1969) including
Nalini: A comedy, Marriage Poem : A tragi –comedy and The Sleep-Walkers :An
Indo American farce, are considered to be a wel-come addition to the dramaturgy
of Indian English drama. Songs of Deprivation (1969) and Don’t Call it Suicide
are the plays by Nissim Ezekiel.
Gurucharan Das, the former chairperson of the Vicks Veporub (Proctor and
Gamble ) has written three plays. His plays are Larins Sahib, Mira and 9 Jakhoo
Hill, whereas the play Larins Sahib is a landmark among the historical plays. In
the drama, Larins Sahib, the dramatist describes the intrigues in the court of Dalip
Singh who is a 12 years old heir of late Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. This play was a
great success on the stage also, C.V. Venugopal comment about it as follows :
The dialogue in Larins Sahib rarely sounds unbelievable, while it serves
the many functions expected of it fairly fully. […] It creates besides, the
Indian ethos perfectly, without much recourse to interpolating Indian terms
and phrases or giving the natives some sort of Indian English as the Indian
novelist in English has been doing, with a language often characterized by
wholesale translation from the native tongue. […]. Larins Sahib can boast
of enough elements that ensure great success on the stage … Telling
dialogues, exotic setting humour and pathos, irony and comedy, and plenty
of action … (179).
Gurucharan Das’s second play, Mira (1971) is about the transformation of a
young bride Mira in to Mirabai and her love for devotee of Lord Krishna, whereas
Das’s third play 9 Jakhoo Hill is related with urban setting.
Girish Karnad a writer, director, actor, recipient of Jnanpith Award is a
living legend in the arena of contemporary Indian English drama. His dramatic
sensibility was moulded under the influence of touring Natak companies and
especially Yakshagana which was in those days not accepted as the purified art
form. His well known plays are Yayati (1961), Tughlag (1964), Hayvadana
(1971), Nagmandala (1988), Tale Danda (1989), Girish Karnad’s recent plays are
Bali : The Sacrifice (2004), Broken Images (2005) and Wedding Album (2009). He
borrowed his plots from history, mythology and old legends but with intricate

16
symbolism he tried to establish their relevance to contemporary sociopolitical
conditions.
Vijay Tendulkar began his career as a journalist from his first play Grihasth
(1955). His other plays are Chimaniche Ghar Hote Menache (1960), Kalojanchi
Shalai (1968), Ek Hoti Mulgi (1967), Shantata ! Court Chalu Ahe (Silence ! the
Court is in Session) (1968), Ghasiram Kotwal (1972), Sakharam Binder (1972),
Kamla and Kanyadan (1982), and Safar (1992). Vijay Tendulkar is a prolific
playwright of Marathi language. He has to his credit twenty –eight full length
plays, twenty-four one-act plays and eleven children’s dramas. Most of his plays
have been translated into English and in some other languages of India. His play
Ghasiram Kotwal made him a writer of international fame in the mid seventies.
The beauty in most of his plays lies in Tendulkar’s art of dramaturgy. Diction is
one of the important feature of Tendulkar’s plays.
Badal Sircar is a prestigious name in the realm of the contemporary theatre.
He represents New Theatrical Movement in India. He has created People’s theatre,
a theatre supported and created by people. He created ‘Third Theatre’ influenced
by Godowsky’s Poor Theatre: His dramatic career began with a humorous play
like Solution X. His other plays are Evan Inderjit (1962), That Other History
(1964) and There Is No End (1971). All these plays are based on political, social,
psychological and existential problems. His other plays are Pary Konodin, Jadi
Aur Ek Bar, Palap and Pagla Ghoda, Procession, Bhoma and Stale News are
based on the concept of Third Theatre. In Indian English drama, the contribution
of Mohan Rakesh cannot be ignored. He wrote in Hindi, but his plays have been
translated into English and other regional languages. His plays are Ashadh Ka Ek
Din (1958), Leharon Ke Rajhansa (1963), Adhe Adhure (1969), the play Pair Tale
Ki Zamin was completed by Kamleshwar after his death and published in 1974.
Mohan Rakesh Perceived drama as a complex art of involving the uniform
contribution of actors, scenic effects, light and music and effective stage direction.
Some other playwrights and their plays are as follows ; V.K. Gokak’s The
Goddess Speaks (1948), B.S. Mardhekar’s Prometheus Rebound (1950), K.
Nagarajan’s Chidambaran A Chronicle play (1955), M. Majeeb’s Ordeal (1957),
V.D. Trivedi’s My Forest (1963), Santha Rama Rau’s A Passage to India (1968),
17
M.V. Rama Sarma’s Towards Marriage (1957), The Carnival (1960), Sakuntala
(1978), The Mahatma (1977).
Manohar Malgaonkar’s Line of Mars (1971), Shiv K. Kumar’s The Last
Wedding Anniversary (1975), Ahmed Akhtar’s Anarkali (1978), Dina Mehta’s The
Myth Makers (1969), Huusenali Chagla’s The Mussalman (1966) and The
Director General (1968), K.S. Rangappa’s Gandhiji’s Sadhana (1969), M.D.
Melwani’s Deep Roots (1970), Dilip Anch or a Clond (1972) and two one-act
plays : Apply, Apply No Reply (1977) and A Clean Break (1978) P.S. Vasudev’s
Lord Ravan of Lanka (1974), Gieve Patel’s plays Princess (1970) Savaksa and
Mister Behram. Syed Amanuddin’s The King Who Sold his Wife (1978). These
plays have shown that, “Playwriting in English by Indians is not impossible”
(Contemporary Indian Literature, 47)
1.2.3 Female Playwrights:
Apart from the male playwrights female playwrights also give their
contribution to enrich the soil of Indian drama by projecting their inner psyche. It
can be attributed as a ‘Theatre of Protest’ because women writers expressed their
resentment against the politics of exploitation on the basis of gender
discrimination. They placed the traditional myths of Sita and Savitri in their plays.
Mahasweta Devi emerged as a dramatist having a quest to explore something
challenging and new. Her five plays are Mother of 1084, Aajir, Urvashi, O’ Johny,
Byen and Water. Dina Mehta’s The Myth Makers, Shri Devi Singh’s The Purple
Braided People (1970), Kamla Das wrote A Mini Trilogy (1971), Mrinalini
Sarabhai’s Vichar (1971), Tripurari Sharma, established her own theatre company
‘Alarippu’.
Swarna Kumari Devi, the gifted sister of Rabindranath Tagore wrote plays
along with her poems and short-stories. They are Paak Chakra and Koney Badal.
Other remarkable women playwrights from Bengali theatre include Joyoti Bose,
Chandra Ghosh Dastidar, Zarine Choudhary, Supriti Mukherjee, Dolly Basu and
Rakhi Ghosh, Manu Bhandari (Mahabhoj) Kusum Kumar’s Dilli Ooncha Soonati
Hai, Om Kranti Kranti, Sanskar Ko Namaskar, Suno Shefali and Ravan Lila.
Tripurari Sharma Kaath Ki Gaadi and A Tale From The Year 1857 : Azizum Nisa
are the women playwrights who kept Hindi drama alive in the twentieth century.
18
 Women started writing plays in Marathi. In 1890’s The notable prominent
women playwright are Hirabai Pednekar, Kashibai Phadke, Malati Bedekar,
Muktabai Dikshit. These playwrights focus on romantic love and mythological
characters but later on they focuses on social issues in their plays like Paradh,
Jugar, Soubhaghya Kangshini, Jyoti respectively. Shirish Pai, Sai Paranjape, Jyoti
Mhapsekar and Prema Kantak are the leading women playwrights in the present
times.
Hema Pattana Shetty (Hennu) Vaidehi and Mamta Sagar (Mayye Bhara
Manare Bhara) are the women playwrights contributing the Kannada theatres.
The modern Punjabi theatre was shaped by the Irish lady Norah Richards.
A school of drama run by her produced significant contributors to Punjabi theatre
like Balwant Gargi, Gurucharan Singh, J.C. Nanda and the actors acted in such
dramas were Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Balraj Sahni. Women in Punjab have
contributed more as producers, directors than playwrights. Manjit Pal Kaur and
Neelam Mansingh Chowdhari are the only two playwrights.
Manjit Pal Kaur was a poet and playwright. Her plays include Sahiban,
Saraap and Sundran whereas Neelam Mansingh Chowdhari, a theatre director.
She produced plays like Saajan Bhaey, Kotwal, Heer Ranjah, Heth Vage Darya,
Sheher Me di Pagal Aurat, Yerma and Fida.
The scholarly translations, introductions and commentaries made by the
women scholars like Priya Adarkar, Aparna Dharwadkar, Arundhati Banerjee,
Tutun Mukherjee, Vanashree Tripathi, Maya Pandit, Veena Noble Das and other
have provided many discussions on Indian English drama.
The women playwright in English and modern Indian languages have
added new dimensions to Indian drama in their own way. Their contribution has
remained untouched and unexplored in the academic research world.
1.3 Contemporary Indian English Drama:
The dramatists of outstanding merit such as Uma Parameswaran, Mahesh
Dattani, Manjula Padmanabhan, give their utmost contribution to the Indian
English drama. They have tried with the best of their abilities to each Indian
English drama and to make the English theatre popular. These playwrights added
new ideas, new techniques, new zeal, new dimensions to Indian drama through
19
their contributions. The quantity and quality of their dramatic output are quite
praiseworthy. According to Dr. P.D. Kulkarni, “They are now known as pillars of
the modern Indian English dramatic world”( 20).
Girish Karnad a writer, director, actor, recipient of the Jnanpith Award, is a
living legend in the arena of contemporary Indian English drama. His greatness
lies in the fact that he has given new directions to the post- Independence Indian
drama. Girish Karnad is one of the pioneer’s of the ‘New Drama’ in India. Of his
manifold contributions, his achievement as a dramatist has made his place secure
in the galaxy of world playwrights.
The next contemporary writer is Mahesh Dattani. Mahesh Dattani, the
youngest writer, an actor, director, a playwright, a theatre personality draws
inspiration from Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar. Dattani concentrates on
contemporary society and reality in the fast changing world. The themes which he
handles through his plays are related to religion, feminine identity, same sex
marriage, gay and lesbian relationship and hence his plays appear to be revolting.
Dattani believes in the production of his plays. The two collection of his plays
entitled Collected Plays. Vol –I (2000) and Collected Plays, Vol-II (2005). The
total corpus of his plays include Radioplays, Screen plays and Stage plays.
His first Collection contains eight plays such as Seven Steps Around the
Fire, On Muggy Night in Mumbai, Do the Needful, Where There’s Will. The
second collection contains ten plays, eight new and two of his early plays, ‘Dance
like a Man’ and ‘Seven steps Around the Fire: The eight new plays are Thirty
Days in September, Clearing the Rubble, Mango Souffle, The Swami and Winston,
Morning Rage, Uma and the Fairy Queen, Ek Alag Mausam and The Tale of a
Mother Feeding Her Child. He got the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998 for his
work Final Solutions and Other Plays.
Dattani’s plays address the invisible issues of contemporary Indian society
like homosexuality and lesbianism which are unacceptable to Indian society even
today. The plight of hijras (eunchs) who are neither male nor female but wanting
to be both, artistically presented in his plays. His characters are true to life
situations. The next important aspect of his plays is family bond that binds
together to extra marital relationship. As Dattani believes in the magic of words,
20
lays emphasis on stage directions. Hence there are a lot of stage directions in his
plays. Thus reality and objectivity are the hallmark of Dattani’s plays.
The next contemporary dramatist is Usha Ganguli, a Bharatnatyam dancer
turned dramatist. She has formed her own theatre company ‘Rangkarmme’ to
create meaningful theatre for the masses. Her stage adaptation Rudaali depicts the
predicament of Indian women in general and low caste women specifically.
At present Uma Parmeswaran and Manjula Padmanabhan head the
contemporary women theatre.
Uma Parmeswaran, a versatile writer, works as a professor of English at
Winnipeg. She has six plays to her credit namely Sons Must Die (1960), Meera
(1971), Sita’s Promise (1981), Dear Didi and My Sister (1989) and Rootless but
Green are the Boulevard Trees (1998). All these plays deals with different themes.
Manjula Padmanabhan, a well-known journalist earned fame as a dramatist
when her play Harvest won the first prize out of 1470 plays from 76 countries at
the first Onassis International Cultural Competition in 1997. The play focuses on
dehumanizing tragic predicament on poor youths in Mumbai who are compelled to
sell their body organs for money. Her recent play ‘Lights Out’ depicts a tragic
event of the daily rape of the prostitutes and general indifference of the citizens.
In short, it is observed that Indian English drama has achieved a
considerable measure of success in the recent decades. Yet it has to go long way to
compare with other literary genres in Indian English literature. It is still struggling
for its authenticity and identity going towards its destination.
Another reason for the slow development of drama, among many, was that most of
the major playwrights tried their hands at drama as a by product while their major
corpus lied in poetry or fiction, for example, the poetical works of Sri. Aurobindo
Ghosh in the pre-Independence times and Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve patel in the
post Independence times overshadowed their plays; therefore their plays did not
receive due critical attention. So, the plays of Sri.Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and
Gieve Patel have remained in oblivion. No serious study arrived at the proper
assessment of Sri.Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel as playwrights. The
purpose of the present study is an analysis of the dramatic art of Sri.Aurobindo,

21
Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel, a comparative assessment of the dramatic art of
the playwrights.
1.4 Review of Literature:
Many scholars have undertaken research work in the field of Indian English
drama. A brief review of such sources is taken below.
Bhatta S.K. Indian English Drama: A Critical Study.Bangalore Sterling
Publishers, 1987. Dr. Krishna Bhatta’s study is a pioneering work of considerable
significance. It is a systematic attempt to map the course of Indian English drama
from its early days up to the nineteen seventies. In this study S.K. Bhatta also
offered reasoned evaluations of plays and dramatists tries to analyze the peculiar
problems faced by the Indian English playwright and concludes with a balanced
assessment of the achievement in this field.
Pandey Sudhakar and Taraporewala Freya: Contemporary Indian Drama (A
Collection of Papers) New Delhi, Prestige Books, 1990.
The book is a collection of papers, in which it is seen focus on theme on
contemporary Indian Theatre, Experimental Marathi Theatre, Vijay Tendullkar :
The Man Who Explores the Depths of life protest as Art: Contemporary Hindi
Drama, The Development of Girish Karnad as a Dramatist : Hayavadana.

Haksar, A. N: Indian Horizons, Delhi, Bharti Printers, 1995.

Indian Horizons is a quarterly journal of cultural relations past and present
between India and the world. Incorporating and descended from Indo Asian
culture, founded in 1952 by the Indian Council for cultural relations, it is one of
the six periodicals published under quarterly by the council. The intention in
bringing out the present volume is to provide for the modern day reader, both in
India and abroad, an informative survey of Sanskrit literature, included as a special
feature is a select anthology of translated excerpts from well-known Sanskrit
classics.

Anand T.S. and Gupta Shalini Trends in Indian English Literature, New Delhi,
Creative Books Pub. 1997. The present study is a collection of papers concerning
the various trends in Indian English Literature, focusing on themes such as post-
22
Independence Indian English Literature: A Silver Lining in the cloud, Images of
India and the Matrix of Indianness, Emerging Trends in post – Independence
Indian English Drama.

Banhatti Rajendra and Jogalekar, G.N: A History of Modern Marathi Literature

Volume I, Pune, Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, 1998.
Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, apart from its multifarious literary activities,
has been a pioneer in carrying out a very prestigious and unique project of the
history of Marathi literature. The span covered is from its inception to 1950, a
period of almost nine hundred years, compiled in six volumes consisting of about
six thousand pages. The work is in Marathi and mainly for the use of the Marathi
readers, writers and scholars. This book (Volume) covers a period of about two
hundred years from 1800 to 1990 and includes chapters on the socio cultural
background of the period and four major literary forms namely poetry, drama,
novel and short-story.

Dodiya J.K. and Surendram K. V: Indian English Drama: Critical Perspectives,

New Delhi, Sarup and Sons Publications, 2000.
The study (book) analyzes critical papers on the various aspects concerning
Indian Egnlish drama like tradition and achievement.

Kumar Gajendra : Indian English Literature, A New Perspective New Delhi, Sarup
and Sons Publications, 2001.
The present study discusses the various aspects like poetry, prose, drama,
novel, short-story concerning Indian English Literature like The Poetic Paradigm
of Nissim Ezekiel, The Critical Kaleidoscope of Sri. Aurobindo.

Gupta Balarama, G.S. Indian English Literature, New Delhi, Anmol Publications,
2003.
The present collection of fourteen essays focuses on Indian English
Literature.

23
Khandagale, M.H. The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Rabindranath Tagore (Thesis)
Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. 2005.
The study analyzes the dramatic craftsmanship of Rabindranath Tagore
regarding his various dramas like Malini, Chandalika, The King of the Dark
Chamber, The Post Office, Mukta Dhara etc.

Mirajkar, Vibhakar K. Vijay Tendulkar : A Critcial Study (Thesis) Swami

Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. 2005.
The study analyzes critical study of Vijay Tendulkar’s five plays such as
Shantata Court Chalu Aahe (Silence ! The Court is in Session), Mukabala,
Gidhade, Sakharam Binder and Ghasiram Kotwal.

Das, Bijay Kumar: Critical Essays on Post Coloinial Literature, New Delhi,
Atlantic Publications, 2007.
The present book is an attempt to analyze some of the outstanding post
colonial writers like Arundhati Roy (Booker Prize Winner, 1977) Vikram Chandra
(Commonwealth Prize Winner 1997) Derek Walcott (Nobel Prize Winner)
Margaret Atwood (Booker Prize Winner, 2000) Jayanta Mahapatra, Dom Moraes,
Nissim Ezekiel, Keki N. Daruwalla, Kamla Das,Shiv K. Kumar, Anita Desai,
Shashi Deshpande, Ruskin Bond (All Sahitya Akadeni Award Winners ) in the
light of post colonial theory. Apart from analyzing individual authors, an attempt
has also been made to show the thematic study of the trends in post colonial
poetry, Indian English fiction, Orissan contribution to post colonial Indian English
literature, post colonial English studies in India.

Prasad, Amar Nath : British and Indian English Literature , New Delhi, Sarup and
Sons Publications, 2007.
A critical study is humble attempt to evaluate critically some well-known
authors of British and Indian Literature in English. It is a collection of more than
twenty papers. The papers analyse the work of the Great Masters in the light of
Vedantic concept and Indian aesthetics.

24
Das, Bajay Kumar: Form and Meaning in Mahesh Dattani’s Plays New Delhi,
Atlantic Publications, 2008.
The book analyses with insight and precision, various themes in Dattani’s
plays. As drama is a performing art, it also highlights his techniques of stage
production. He has examined issues of gender inequality, social exclusion,
fundamentalism and the impact of dreaded disease HIV/ AIDS on people’s mind.
What distinguishes him from other playwrights is his courage of conviction in
depicting the innovative themes like portrayal of sex preferences by men and
women which were until recently considered to be a taboo in Indian society.

Kulkarni, Praful Dhondopant, Myths, Legends, Folklore in Indian English Drama:

A study with focus on Tagore, Aurobindo and Karnad. (Thesis) Swami Ramanand
Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, 2008.
The study analyzes the diverse aspects of Tagore’s plays with an intention
to highlight its contemporary relevance and significance. The present study is an
attempt to highlight the use of myths, legends, cultural symbols, the use of ancient
tales in the plays of Rabindranath Tagore, Sri. Aurobindo and Girish Karnad.

Bedre, R.T. Critical Essays on the Plays of Girish Karnad. Nanded, Creative
Publications, 2009.
The study (book) is a collection of papers on the diverse aspects of
Karnad’s plays. It is a collection of critical writings throwing a flood of light on
the multiple aspects of Karnad’s plays. The plays discussed in the study are
Yayati, Tughalag, Tale Danda, Hayavadana, the Fire and the Rain, Bali : The
Sacrifice , Broken Images, Flowers and The Dreams of Tipu Sultan.

Kamble, Raghunath, Dhondiba. The Structures of Communication in Girish

Karnad’s Plays (Thesis) Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University,
Nanded. 2009.
In the thesis the writer discusses about the communication structures in
Girish Karnad’s plays like Yayati, Tughalag, Tale Danda, Hayavadana and Bali:
The Sacrifice.
25
Budholia, O.P. and Agrawal, K.A. Indian English Literature, Retrospect and
Prospect, Book Enclave Publications, 2010.
This book includes four essays of literary criticism on the development of
Indian English poetry during the last fifty years, the post structural method in
textuality, the universal application to Indian aesthetics and the growth of Indian
short fiction in English. Apart from these essays on criticism, the book takes in the
fictional works of Raja Rao, Manohar Malagaonkar, Khushwant Singh, Anita
Desai, Kamala Markandaya, the poetic works of Toru Dutt, Nissim Ezekiel and
the dramatic works of Sri. Aurobindo, Assif Currimbhoy and Girish Karnad.

Mehrotra, A.K. A Concise History of Indian Literature in English, Ranikhet,

Permanent Black Publication, 2010.
The study is a collection of intelligent papers concerning various aspects of
Indian English literature. Focusing on the themes like the English Writings of Raja
Ram Mohan Roy, The Beginnings of the Indian Novel, Sri. Aurobindo, The
Dramatists, Two Faces of Prose: Behramji and Govardhanram Tripathi, the
English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore.

Gangarde, Kalyan and Sabnis Vaibhav : Indian Literature in English, Some

Reflections, Parbhani, New Man Publications, 2012.
The present book consists of twenty-eight scholarly articles dealing with all
the genres of Indian Literature. The writers that have been focused are Shashi
Deshpande, Kamla Markandaya, Anita Desai, Arundhati Roy, Anita Nair, Shashi
Tharoor, Bharti Mukherjee, Arvind Adiga, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee,
Divakaruni, Utpal Dutt, Vijay Tendulkar, Badal Sircar, Tanvir Habib, Nissim
Ezekiel and Kamla Das.

M.A.Sami Siddiqui Re-Exploring Indian Drama in English, Jaipur, Vital

Publications. 2012.
The study (book) analyses the review, the multiple perspectives concerning
Indian English drama. In this book, there is an attempt to explore the post
26
Independence drama in English. The issues discussed in the book are the
Panoramic view of Indian theatre, women characters in post Independence Indian
English drama, Indian English women playwrights: The unheeded talents, gestic
feminist dramaturgy: A study of contemporary Indian feminist plays.
1.5 Need of Research:
Since no independent research is undertaken on the plays of Sri.
Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel, the present study is needed to define
contribution to the subject as they were popular as poets. The study is necessary to
bring out a fresh assessment of these three playwrights who have been
overshadowed by their own poetic works.
1.6 Hypothesis:
1. The poetical works of Sri. Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel
overshadowed their plays, therefore, those plays did not receive due critical
attention.
2. The plays of Sri. Aurobindo in the pre-Independence period and those of
Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel in the post-Independence period have remained in
oblivion.
3. No serious study arrived at the proper assessment of Sri.Aurobindo, Nissim
Ezekiel and Gieve Patel as playwrights.
4. The contribution of Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel to Indian
English drama remains unexplored.
1.7 Objectives of the Research:
 To analyze the dramatic works of Sri. Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve
Patel.
 The research proposes to interpret the multiple issues discussed in the plays
of these playwrights in the context of their times.
 The research will also focus on why these poets of eminence Sri. Aurobindo,
Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel failed to earn status as playwrights.
 The present study will have comparison, the plays of the playwrights
understudy with those of the contemporary successful playwrights.

27
 The present study will attempt an assessment of the contribution of Sri.
Aurobindo, Nissim Ezekiel and Gieve Patel to the development of Indian
English drama.

28
Works Cited

Anand T.S. & Gupta Shalini. Trends in Indian English Literature,

New Delhi, Creative Books Publications,1997.

Basavraj S. Tallur.The Western Drama, New Delhi, Atlantic Pub.

Ltd. 2010,pp. 45.

Bashan, A.L. The Wonder That Was India, Rupa Co. New Delhi,
1987, pp. 434-435.

Bhatta, S.K. Indian English Drama : A Critical Study, Bangalore,

Sterling Publishers, 1987.pp.3.

Bedre, R.T. Critical Essays on the Plays of Girish Karnad Nanded,

Creative Publications, 2009.

Budholia, O.P. and Agrawal, K.A. Indian English Literature,

Retrospect and Prospect,Jaipur, Book Enclave Publications, 2010.

Contemporary Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, 1981,pp. 47.

Das, Bijay Kumar: Critical Essays on Post Colonial Literature,

New Delhi, Atlantic Publications. 2007.

---. Form and Meaning in Mahesh Dattani’s plays, New Delhi, Atlantic
Publications, 2008.

Dodiya, J.K. and Surendram, K.V. Indian English Drama : Critical

Perspectives, New Delhi, Sarup and Sons Publications. 2000.

Gangarde, Kalyan and Sabnis Vaibhav. Indian Literature in English,

Some Reflections, Parbhani, New Man Publications, 2012.
29
Gupta Balarama, G.S. Indian English Literature, New Delhi,
Anmol Publications, 2003.

Haksar, A.N. Indian Horizons, Delhi, Bharti Printers, 1995.

Iyengar, K.R.S. Rabindranath Tagore Bombay. Popular 1985

Rpt.1995. Indian Writing in English, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers.
1965.

---. Indian Writing in English, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers,1962 Rpt.2012.

---.Indian Writing in English, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers, 1995.pp.732.

Kulkarni Praful Dhondopant. Myths, Legends, Folklore in Indian English

Drama : A study with focus on Tagore, Aurobindo and Karnad (Thesis)
Swami Ramanand Teerth MarathwadaUniversity, Nanded. 2008.

---. The Dramatic World of Sri.Aurobindo, Nanded ,Creative

Publications, 2010.pp.18-20.

Kamble, Raghunath Dhondiba. The Structures of Communication in

Girish Karnad’s Plays (Thesis) Swami Ramanand Teerth
Marathwada University, Nanded, 2009.

Khatri, C.L. and Kumar Chandradeep: Indian Drama in English,

Preface, Jaipur, Book Enclave Pub. 2006,pp.11.

Khandagale, M.H. The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Rabindranath

Tagore (Thesis) Swami Ramanand Teerth University, Nanded. 2005.

30
Kumar Gajendra. Indian English Literature, A New Perspective, New
Delhi, Sarup and Sons Publications, 2001.

M.A. Sami Siddiqui. Re-Exploring Indian Drama in English, Jaipur,

Vital Publication. 2012.

Mirajkar, Vibhakar K. Vijay Tendulkar: A Critical Study (Thesis)

Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. 2005.

Mehrotra,A.K. A Concise History of Indian Literature in English, Ranikhet,

Permanent Black Publication, 2010.

Naik, M.K. The Achievements of Indian English Drama, Dimensions of

Indian English Literature,New Delhi,Sterling Publishers. 1994.

---. A History of Indian English Literature, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers.

1995.

Ibid,pp. 256.

Nandkumar Prema, Bharati Sarabhai’s English Plays, Pub. in Critical Essays

on Indian Writing in English, edited by M.K. Naik, S.K. Desai, G.S.
Amur, Madras, Macmillan, 1977.pp.191.

Prasad, Amar Nath. British and Indian English Literature, New Delhi.
Sarup and Sons Publications. 2007.

Pandey Sudhakar and Taraporewala Freya, Contemporary Indian Drama

(A Collection of Papers) New Delhi, Prestige Books.1990.

Venugopal, C.V. Larins Sahib. Persepectives of Indian Drama in English.

M.K. Naik and S.Mokashi – Punekar. Eds. Madras. OUP. 1977.
31