Vijay Tendulkar was one of the most influential theatre playwright, essayist and movie and television writers in Marathi literature. He has been considered as the most influential and innovative dramatist for past five decades in Marathi theatre. He is best known for his plays "Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe", "Ghashiram Kotwal", and "Sakharam Binder".
Background
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on 7 January 1928 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, where his father held a clerical job and ran a small publishing business. The literary environment at home prompted young Vijay to take up writing. He wrote his first story at age six. He grew up watching western plays and felt inspired to write plays himself. At age eleven, he wrote, directed, and acted in his first play. At age 14, he participated in the 1942 Indian freedom movement, leaving his studies. The latter alienated him from his family and friends. Writing then became his outlet, though most of his early writings were of a personal nature, and not intended for publication.
Education
He did not acquire any great education, but learnt his lessons well in the school of life, and poured these lessons and experiences into his writings.
Career
Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers. He had already written a play, " Amchyavar Kon Prem Kamar" (Who will Love us?), and he wrote the play " Gruhastha" (The Householder), in his early 20s. The latter did not receive much recognition from the audience and he vowed never to write again.
Breaking the vow, in 1956 he wrote "Shrimant", which established him as a good writer.
Vijay Tendulkar began his playwriting career in the 1940’s, initially for college societies and later for the Bombay group Rangayan. An important contemporary Playwright, he has to his credit a large body of work including some forty plays. Among his plays are "Shantala ! Court Chalu Ahe", which received the Kamladevi Chattopadhyay Award in 1970, "Ghasiram Kotwal", "Gidhade", and "Manus Navache Bet". Vijay Tendulkar received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for playwriting in 1970 and the Padma Bhushan in 1984.
Tendulkar was equally at ease in the medium of films. Among his well known screenplays are "Nishant" (1975), "Manthan" (1977), "Akrosh" (1980), "Ardhasatya" and "Samna" (1985).
His short stories are collected in five volumes: "Kachpatre" (1958), "Meshpatre, Dwandwa" (1961), "Gane" (1966) and "Phulapakharu" (1970). His journalistic writings on people and events are collected in "Raatrani" (1971) and "Phuge Sabanche" (1974).
Amidst his multifarious activities, Tendulkar had found time to enrich Marathi literature by translating into Marathi, works of Mark Van Doren, Tennessee Williams, Henry James, Girish Karnad and Mohan Rakesh.