''Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy'' is a two-act play written in the

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

. It has been written by Pradeep Dalvi (Mauli productions). It is based on the book ''May It Please You Honour'' written by

Gopal Godse Gopal Vinayak Godse (d. 26 November 2005) was a Hindutva activist convicted of conspiring to Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, assassinate Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Biography A 2021 book about Gandhi's assassination stated that Gopal Godse worked a ...

. According to Karline McLain the play "enacts Godse's defense plea" and thus "explores the assassination of

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and the trial of Godse from Godse's point of view.

Staging and controversies

In 1989 Dalvi was denied permission by the Maharashtra government to stage the play. The play was first staged in 1997. It ran 13 successful shows but was banned thereafter, by the governments of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The producer approached the high court in 1998, which permitted staging the play in 2001. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld the high court's ruling. It was staged in

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

's auditorium Gadkari Rangayatan in April 2001 facing opposition from parties like

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

; it was not presented again in Thane until 2011. An

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

news story quotes director

Vinay Apte Vinay Apte (17 June 1951 – 7 December 2013) was an Indian film and television actor. He acted in several Marathi movies and television shows in his almost 40-year-old career. He has also acted in Hindi movies such as ''Chandni Bar'', ''Ek Cha ...

regarding the intimidation that artists connected with the play faced, such as the incident when the bus used by the artists while touring was set on fire by Indian National Congress activists in

Mulund Mulund (Pronunciation: uluɳɖ is a suburb in the north-east of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is also a railway station on the Central Railway line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is also the first railway station of Mumbai Suburban dist ...

a suburb of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Despite this 627 shows were staged in other cities. In February 2011, the play re-opened to a packed house at the same Gadkari Rangayatan, in Thane. Two

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

s of state reserve police and 350 regular policemen under the direction of senior officers provided security. According to

Tushar Gandhi Tushar Arun Gandhi (born 17 January 1960) is an Indian author and son of Arun Manilal Gandhi, thus great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. In March 2005, he led the 75th anniversary re-enactment of the Dandi March. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Goodw ...

, Gandhi's great-grandson, the play creates martyrs of murderers who after "murdering him (

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...

) are now trying to murder his memory". It starred

Sharad Ponkshe Sharad Ponkshe is an Indian actor and writer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is a speaker and an actor in Marathi film, theater and television. Career Ponkshe started his career in the year 1988 and worked in multiple fields incl ...

as Nathuram Godse.

Criticism

Both the play and its ban have been criticized by

Shriram Lagoo Dr.Shriram Lagoo (16 November 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Indian film and theatre actor, in Hindi and Marathi, in addition to being an ENT Surgeon. He was known for his character roles in films. He acted in over 250 films including Hindi ...

a view which was considered representative of the views of other theater workers such as

Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as ...

Satyadev Dubey Satyadev Dubey (13 July 1936 – 25 December 2011) was an Indian theatre director, actor, playwright, screenwriter & film director. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Scree ...

and

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he ...

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

in its article ''Banning a play is not the solution''. Civil liberties activists have opposed the ban though they consider the play "vicious".

Nathuramayan

Yashawant Dinkar Phadke in his book ''Nathuramayan'' has criticised Dalvi's play as presenting "distorted and falsified facts". Political activists opposing the play have urged Dalvi to answer questions put forward by Phadke in ''Nathuramayan''.

References

{{Mahatma Gandhi Entertainment in India Marathi-language plays Censorship in India Indian plays Works about the Mahatma Gandhi assassination 1997 plays

Staging and controversies

Criticism

Nathuramayan

See also

References