Tendulkar and Violence

Director: Atul Pethe

November 27, 2007
Little Theatre, National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

This documentary explores the theme of violence in Vijay Tendulkar’s plays. Tendulkar is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of modern India. He heralded a revolution in Indian theatre, both in the content and the style, by his bold themes and natural expression. He was the first Indian playwright to consistently explore the theme of violence in a direct way. This documentary examines the origin, expression, and character of violence in Tendulkar’s plays. Violence in his plays is explored in the context of the period of writing as well as similar attempts worldwide.

Makarand Sadie interviews Vijay Tendulkar, Ram Bapat, G.P. Deshpande, Nilu Phuley, Shreeram Lagoo, Jabbar Patel, Vijaya Mehta and Satyadev Dubey. The documentary includes rare archived excerpts from Tendulkar’s plays as well.