Tendulkar, Vijay Dhondopant

▪ 2009

      Indian playwright and screenwriter

born Jan. 6, 1928, Kohalpur, Maharashtra state, British India

died May 19, 2008, Pune, India

wrote more than 30 full-length Marathi-language plays and numerous one-act plays, short stories, and movie scripts about controversial social themes, including violence, poverty, women's rights, and corruption. Some of Tendulkar's most famous plays include Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe (1967; “Silence! The Court Is in Session”) and Sakharam Binder (1971). Ghashiram Kotwal (1972; “Ghashiram the Constable”) was recognized as one of the longest-running plays in the world, with more than 6,000 performances staged internationally. Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers and had a daily column in the Maharashtra Times. It was the play Shrimant (1956; “Affluent”), however, that made him a household name. In addition to his plays, Tendulkar wrote screenplays in both Marathi and Hindi. His script for Manthan (1976) won the National Film Award for best screenplay; for his literary accomplishments, Tendulkar received (1984) the Padma Bhushan award, one of India's highest civilian honours. In 1998 he won the lifetime contribution award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. Tendulkar is the subject of the documentary Tendulkar and Violence: Today and Yesterday and a short film, Ankahin (“The Untold”), both released in 2007.

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