WIKIPAEDIA talks about the play :
Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972, as his response to the rise of a local political party, Shiv Sena, in Maharashta. The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. Based on the life of Nana Phadnavis(1741-1800), one of the prominent ministers in the court of the Peshwa of Pune. Its theme is how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless.It was first performed on 16 December 1972, by the Progressive Drama Association in Pune. Jabbar Patel’sJ's production of the play in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre …The play stands out also for the use "Tamasha" Genre in the play so you have a lot of singing and dancing used here to good effect, here the "abhangas" (devotional songs) mixed in with the "Lavnis" (Love songs)…. This play caused a lot of controversy because some people believed that it hurt the feelings of the Brahmin community and that it showed the statesman Nana Phadnavis in a bad light. Hence it was temporarily banned in the state.
Ghashiram Kotwal has been seen as an entrance of Indian drama in a newer arena of modernity in theatre. Vijay Tendulkar has brilliantly transformed the Marathi folk forms while imbibing it in his drama. The fusion of the Dashavatar Khel and the Tamasha could be seen as providing a desired effect to the play having a modern flavour. The Dashavatar form is used ironically in the play as it is a folk dance drama where ten incarnation of Vishnu would destroy the evil. What one witnesses in the play is just the opposite. Even Tamasha is a dance drama where the story is mainly about the adventure and romance of the protagonist. However, the playwright has even twisted this form by using it to spin a tale of misadventure of Ghashiram Savaldas and lustful indulgences of Nana Phadnavis. This amalgamation even helps in creating a plot which has to be justifiably historical for the audience should feel transported back in time. The musical and rhythmic structure of the play gives it a racing speed as desired. So, the folk forms — pantomime of the Dashavatar and the wit of the Tamasha — give a historical ambience to the play. However, it is obviously not a folk but a modern drama owing to the fact that it juxtaposes the past forms with the present concerns. This unison results in a chaos that is traced back to human psyche presented through the characters of the two protagonists. Besides, the centrality of the plot where the story seems to have gone through a vicious cycle gives the play an altogether different structure.
The play is widely known in its Theatre Academy Production directed by Jabbar Patel, with more than three hundred performances to its credit, in India and abroad. The play was first performed on 12 December 1972 at the Bharat Natya Mandir, Pune and it won several awards in 1972-73 at the Maharashtra state Drama Competition. Five thousand people witnessed one of these performances. The success was due to the rigorous177 endeavour of the members of the Progressive Dramatic Association of Puna. The troupe did rehearsals form 9:30 pm till 2:30 am rigorously every day for three months. Only young people were chosen for this since it demands a great deal of physical strain. The rehearsal was divided in to four parts.
1) Learning to do every pace in the rhythm.
2) Learning to sing in tune.
3) Blending all these to set the pace for the production and
4) Doing the costumes.
All this scrupulous planning and hard work paid rich dividends in the form of the great success of the play and also winning several awards. But after nineteen performances the president of the Progressive Dramatic Association banned the play. The executive committee of the Association passed a resolution supporting the president’s decision. They objected to the play on the grounds that
1) It was anti-brahmin
2) The character of Nana Phadnavis as conceived by the playwright was not historically correct
3) There was a fear of revolt in the audience and a strong possibility that the play would be publicly abused by the audience if the performances continued.”
Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972, as his response to the rise of a local political party, Shiv Sena, in Maharashta. The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. Based on the life of Nana Phadnavis(1741-1800), one of the prominent ministers in the court of the Peshwa of Pune. Its theme is how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless.It was first performed on 16 December 1972, by the Progressive Drama Association in Pune. Jabbar Patel’sJ's production of the play in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre …The play stands out also for the use "Tamasha" Genre in the play so you have a lot of singing and dancing used here to good effect, here the "abhangas" (devotional songs) mixed in with the "Lavnis" (Love songs)…. This play caused a lot of controversy because some people believed that it hurt the feelings of the Brahmin community and that it showed the statesman Nana Phadnavis in a bad light. Hence it was temporarily banned in the state.
Ghashiram Kotwal has been seen as an entrance of Indian drama in a newer arena of modernity in theatre. Vijay Tendulkar has brilliantly transformed the Marathi folk forms while imbibing it in his drama. The fusion of the Dashavatar Khel and the Tamasha could be seen as providing a desired effect to the play having a modern flavour. The Dashavatar form is used ironically in the play as it is a folk dance drama where ten incarnation of Vishnu would destroy the evil. What one witnesses in the play is just the opposite. Even Tamasha is a dance drama where the story is mainly about the adventure and romance of the protagonist. However, the playwright has even twisted this form by using it to spin a tale of misadventure of Ghashiram Savaldas and lustful indulgences of Nana Phadnavis. This amalgamation even helps in creating a plot which has to be justifiably historical for the audience should feel transported back in time. The musical and rhythmic structure of the play gives it a racing speed as desired. So, the folk forms — pantomime of the Dashavatar and the wit of the Tamasha — give a historical ambience to the play. However, it is obviously not a folk but a modern drama owing to the fact that it juxtaposes the past forms with the present concerns. This unison results in a chaos that is traced back to human psyche presented through the characters of the two protagonists. Besides, the centrality of the plot where the story seems to have gone through a vicious cycle gives the play an altogether different structure.
The play is widely known in its Theatre Academy Production directed by Jabbar Patel, with more than three hundred performances to its credit, in India and abroad. The play was first performed on 12 December 1972 at the Bharat Natya Mandir, Pune and it won several awards in 1972-73 at the Maharashtra state Drama Competition. Five thousand people witnessed one of these performances. The success was due to the rigorous177 endeavour of the members of the Progressive Dramatic Association of Puna. The troupe did rehearsals form 9:30 pm till 2:30 am rigorously every day for three months. Only young people were chosen for this since it demands a great deal of physical strain. The rehearsal was divided in to four parts.
1) Learning to do every pace in the rhythm.
2) Learning to sing in tune.
3) Blending all these to set the pace for the production and
4) Doing the costumes.
All this scrupulous planning and hard work paid rich dividends in the form of the great success of the play and also winning several awards. But after nineteen performances the president of the Progressive Dramatic Association banned the play. The executive committee of the Association passed a resolution supporting the president’s decision. They objected to the play on the grounds that
1) It was anti-brahmin
2) The character of Nana Phadnavis as conceived by the playwright was not historically correct
3) There was a fear of revolt in the audience and a strong possibility that the play would be publicly abused by the audience if the performances continued.”
Here i put video about movie clip Part-1 Starting of the play...
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