Ghashiram Kotwal

Vijay Tendukar, best known for his emotionally charged protest plays and filmscripts, chooses a different genre for Ghasiram Kotwal—that of the musical historical. Set in Maharashtra in the late eighteenth century, it recounts a power game played out in terms of caste ascendancy in politics. The work draws on several Maharashtra folk styles, and has an obvious relevance in the context of individuals playing the game of politics, taking advantage of situations, rising to power, and crashing to impotence at the whims of more powerful players in the same game—a typical phenomenon in almost any political complex. The play is widely known in its Theatre Academy production directed by Jabber Patel, with more than three hundred performances to its credit, in India and abroad. In the translation by Eleanor Elliot and Jayant Karve it retains its racy vigour and musical charm—all that went to make the production a hit. This edition also contains a production casebook, a biographical note on the playwright, and critical studies of the play.