Mahesh Dattani

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Mahesh Dattani
Born (1958-08-07) 7 August 1958 (age 66)
Bangalore, Mysore State
(now Bengaluru, Karnataka), India
Awards Sahitya Akademi Award

Mahesh Dattani (born 7 August 1958) is an Indian director, actor, playwright and writer. He wrote such plays as Final Solutions, [1] Dance Like a Man, Bravely Fought the Queen, On a Muggy Night in Mumbai, Tara , Thirty Days in September 2007 [2] [3] and The Big Fat City.

Contents

He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award. [4] His plays have been directed by eminent directors like Arvind Gaur, Alyque Padamsee and Lillete Dubey.

Dattani makes a bold move when he chooses to address the issues concerning gender discrimination. His writings then become important when you wish to explore how deeply certain stereotypes are rooted in society. [5]

Early life and background

Mahesh Dattani was born in Bangalore to Gujarati parents. [6] [7] He went to Baldwin Boys High School and then went on to join St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. [8]

Dattani is a graduate in history, Economics and Political Science. He completed his post-graduate in Marketing and Advertising Management because he wanted to become a copywriter. He worked with the Bangalore Little Theatre, where his first role was in Utpal Dutt's Surya Shikhar. [9]

After reading Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? early in his life, he became interested in writing. He was also influenced by Gujarati playwright Madhu Rye's Kumarni Agashi and developed an interest in play writing. [10]

Career

Mahesh Dattani began his career as a copywriter in an advertising firm. In 1986, he wrote his first full-length play, Where There's a Will, and since 1995, he has been working as a full-time theatre professional. [11] He has also worked with his father in the family business. [9]

Dattani is also a film director. His debut film is Mango Souffle, adapted from one of his plays. He also wrote and directed the movie Morning Raaga . [12]

Playwright

Filmography

Director

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ Deepa Punjani. "In Retrospect: Select plays of the 9th National Theatre Festival at Nehru Centre, Mumbai". mumbaitheatreguide.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  2. ↑ Romesh Chander (30 March 2007). "Lifting the veil". The Hindu . Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Stage On & Off". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 19 November 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2006.
  4. ↑ PTI (29 December 1998). "Sahitya Academy awards announced". The Indian Express . Retrieved 2 April 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ "30 years on, Tara's messages on gender discrimination, disability still resonate". 4 September 2019.
  6. ↑ Rajan, Anjana (18 June 2014). "Paradox at play". The Hindu .
  7. ↑ "Drama is about character revelation". The Thumb Print. 1 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Mahesh Dattani". www.mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  9. 1 2 De, Aditi (14 July 2001). "The Drama in Mahesh Dattani's Life". Man's World . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum - Article".
  11. ↑ Madur (10 October 2011). "Mahesh Dattani" . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Bhawana Somaaya (22 November 2004). "Story teller". ScreenIndia. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  13. ↑ Drama critics. "Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions". Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  14. ↑ Dattani, Mahesh (15 July 2013). Seven Steps around the Fire: A Radio Play. Penguin UK. ISBN   9789351182153.
  15. ↑ Saraswat, Surbhi. "Writing Wrongs: Mahesh Dattani's Thirty Days in September as a Trauma Narrative." Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry 12.3 (2021).
  16. ↑ Saraswat, S., “Urban Materiality and Social Change: Mapping the Urban Reality in Mahesh Dattani's the Big Fat City”, ECS Transactions, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 13701–13708, 2022.
  17. ↑ Diwan Singh Bajali (20 February 2003). "Going bananas over Mango Souffle". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 July 2004. Retrieved 2 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

9. G Baskaran, ed., Girish Karnad and Mahesh Dattani: Methods and Motives, Yking Books, Jaipur, 2012.

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