Mahesh Dattani (born 7 August 1958) is an Indian

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, actor, playwright and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. He wrote such plays as ''Final Solutions'', ''Dance Like a Man'', ''Bravely Fought the Queen'', ''On a Muggy Night in Mumbai'', ''Tara'', ''Thirty Days in September'' and ''The Big Fat City''. He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

. His plays have been directed by eminent directors like

Arvind Gaur Arvind Gaur is an Indian theatre director known for innovative, socially and politically relevant plays in India. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social politica ...

Alyque Padamsee Alyque Padamsee (5 March 1928 – 17 November 2018) was an Indian theatre personality and ad film maker. He played Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the 1982 British period film ''Gandhi''. Besides being involved in Indian theatre as an actor and produce ...

and

Lillete Dubey Lillete Dubey (born 7 September 1953) is an Indian actress and theatre director. She has worked in Indian and international theatre, television and films in Hindi and English languages. Dubey began her career with Barry John in Delhi and was the ...

Early life and background

Mahesh Dattani was born in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

parents. He went to

Baldwin Boys High School Baldwin Boys' High School (abbreviated BBHS, informally referred to as Baldwins) is a private boys school for boarders and day scholar, founded in 1880 in Bangalore, India. The school is run by Methodist Church in India under the chairmanshi ...

and then went on to join St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. 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''. After reading Edward Albee's play ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'' 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.

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. He has also worked with his father in the family business. 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''. Mahesh Dattani appeared as
guest on the podcast
The Literary City with Ramjee Chandran.

Playwright

* ''Where There's a Will'' (1988) * ''Dance Like a Man'' (1989) * ''Bravely Fought the Queen'' (1991) * ''Final Solutions'' (1993) * ''Do The Needful'' * ''On a Muggy Night in Mumbai'' (1998) * ''Seven Circles Round The Fire'' (Radio play for BBC) (''Seven Steps around the Fire'') (1998) * ''30 Days in September'' (2001) * ''The Girl Who Touched the Stars (2007) * ''Brief Candle'' (2009) * ''Where Did I Leave My Purdah'' (2012) * ''The Big Fat City'' (2012)

Filmography

Director

* ''Mango Souffle'' * '' Morning Raga'' * ''Dance Like a Man'' * ''Ek Alag Mausam''

Awards

* ''Dance Like a Man'' has won the award for the Best Picture in English awarded by the National Panorama in 1998 *

Sahitya Academy award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his book of plays ''Final Solutions and Other Plays'' *

Sahitya Kala Parishad Sahitya Kala Parishad (साहित्य कला परिषद) (Academy of Performing and Fine Arts) is the Cultural wing of the Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) of Delhi for music, dance, drama & fine arts, established ...

selected ''Final Solutions'' (1993), ''Tara'' (2000) and ''30 Days in September'' (2007) as best productions of the year, directed by

References

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

External links

* Bhattacharya, Anindya. "Desire and the Postcolonial Nation" in ''Seven Steps around the Fire'' and ''Final Solutions''. ''The Plays of Mahesh Dattani: An Anthology of Recent Criticism''. Ed. Tutun Mukherjee.

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

: Pencraft International, 2012 (), pp. 184–196. * Roy, Pinaki. "Mahesh Dattani's ''Final Solutions'': A Brief Rereading". ''Mahesh Dattani: His Stagecraft in Indian Theatre''. Ed. Bite, V.

: Authors Press, 2013 (), pp. 111–24. * Das, B.K. "Mahesh Dattani's ''Dance Like a Man'': A Thematic Study". ''The Atlantic Literary Review 15.3 (2014)''. Ed. Rama Kundu.

: Atlantic Pub., 2014 (), pp. 73–80. * Das, B.K. "In Search of Shakespearean Echoes in Mahesh Dattani: A Study of ''The Big Fat City'' as a Critique of Contemporary Urban Indian Society". ''Yearly Shakespeare'' Vol. XIV (2016). Ed. Goutam Ghosal.

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

: Sri Aurobindo Study Centre, 2016 (ISSN 0976-9536), pp. 60–69. * Das, B.K. "The Tale of an Imperial Kin: Unfolding the East-West Problematic in Mahesh Dattani's ''The Tale of a Mother Feeding Her Child''". World Journal of Gender & Literature 4.1 (June 2017). Ed. Lata Mishra. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2017 (ISSN 2349-1620), pp. 135–142. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dattani, Mahesh 21st-century Indian film directors Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male stage actors Male actors from Bangalore Indian male film actors Living people 1958 births Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Film directors from Bangalore Screenwriters from Bangalore 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers Gujarati people