Dance like a man.pdf

Dance like a man.pdf

• 1.
  UNIT - I DRAMA(DETAIL) DANCE LIKE A MAN: MAHESH DATTANI LIFE AND WORK OF AUTHOR Mahesh Dattani was born on 7 August 1958 in Bangalore to Gujarati parents. He went to Baldwin Boys High School and then went on to join St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. He is a graduate in History, Economics and Political Science. He is a post-graduate in Marketing and Advertising Management. After reading Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" early in his life, he became interested in writing. He was also influenced by Gujarati playwright Madhu Rye's Kumarni Agashi. Mahesh Dattani began his career as a copywriter in an advertising firm. In 1986, he wrote his first full length play, "Where's There's a Will", and since 1995, he has also worked with his father in family business. He is an Indian director, actor, playwright and writer. He wrote such plays as Where There's a will (1998), Dance Like a Man (1989), Tara (1990), Bravely Fought the Queen (1991), Final Solutions (1993), On a Muggy Night in Mumbai(1998), the Murder That Never was (2000). Thirty Days in September (2001), The Big Fat City (2012) and He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award. His plays have been directed by eminent directors like Arvind Gaur, Alyque Padamsee and Lillete Dubey. Introduction to the Play
• 2.
  The play DanceLike a Man a stage play in two acts, is one of the most wonderful dramatic creations written by Mahesh Dattani, an Indian in English. He is one of the finest and most prominent playwrights in India. He is the first playwright in English to have won the Sahitya Akademi Award. Here he tells the story of three generations; their personal ambitions, sacrifices, struggle, compromises, internal conflicts and the way they try to cope up with life; and mainly focuses on a dancing couple. Characters in the play 'Dance Like a Man' Jairaj (Husband) Ratna (Jairaj's wife) Amritlal (Jairaj's father) Lata (Daughter of Ratna) Viswas (son-in-law) SUMMARY The story revolves around three generations. Dance is a very significant factor in this play that means different things to different characters. Jairaj and Ratna are the central characters in the play. They want to develop their career as dancers and for them dance is not only a hobby but also life and soul. It is not only their passion but also a tool that will help them to gain desired success. Personally for Jairaj, dance is a form or a means to express emotions and stands as the tool of defiance, revolt, negation of a particular way of life that was decided by his father, Amritial. He starts dancing as hobby or rather a fancy that his father thought would perish after a period of time but it does not happen that way. Present
• 3.
  The play opensin the living room of an old-fashioned house. Viswas and Lata enter. The occasion being a sort of assessment by the Parekhs of the future son-in-land, unfortunately a handover, one of their musicians, the mridangam player has met with an accident and both Jairaj and Ratna have gone to the hospital. Meanwhile, Lata and Viswas are engaged in a light-hearted boaster which gradually unfolds in detail the Parekhs, Lata's parents. Jairaj and Ratna are dancers like Lata. She informs that her parents are of a different type. The house they are living in is forty to fifty years old. Since it is located in the centre of the city, there seems to be a demand for the site on which it is situated. But Jairaj is not willing to sell it because of sentimental reasons. Lata's parents learnt how to dance together under the same guru in that house. When she saw them dancing together, it was nothing less than magic for the little girl. But this did not go well with Jairaj's father, Amritlal, a freedom fighter and social reformer. Inspite of the old man's dislike for a man dancing the dance of the devadasi i.e. Bharat Natayam. Jairaj had deep respect for his father. While Lata is making coffee in the kitchen, Viswas looks around the living room and finds an ornate cupboard. He opens it and removes a splendid brocade shawl. He tells Lata that he is going to ask for the shawl as dowry from her father. But Lata replies that her father will not part with the shawl as he is very fond of its and that is his 'mast prized possession'. After some time Viswas once again takes out the shawl, wears it and struts around without being notice by Lata. He goes on imitating the old man in a mock fatherly voice. Jairaj and Ratna enter a store of Viswas's antics. Viswas is embarrassed and fretted to offer some explanation to Ratna's parents.
• 4.
  But preoccupied withtheir own problem as they do not pay attention to what Viswas is saying. They are busy discussing Lata's forthcoming dance performance because their mridangam player has put them in a tizzy by tripping over his dhoti, breaking his arm and landing himself in hospital. They are hard but to finding a substitute for him. Jairaj's attempts to calm. Ratna backfire on him and she begins to blame Jairaj and his late father Amritlal Parekh for their present misfortunes. She accuses Jairaj for being a 'spineless boy' who could not leave his father's house for more than forty-eight hours. Jairaj complains that Ratna has been holding this against him for the last forty years. Past thus casts its shadow on present. The audience gradually learns that the relationship between Jairaj and Ratna is not smooth and healthy. Having watched all this, Viswas tries to leave the house. But Jairaj stops him and offers him drinks. He also tells Viswas about his father, Amritlal Parekh, the Sethji of the city. There was a lot of acrimony between the father and the son, which is quite difficult from Lata has been telling Viswas so far Jairaj informs him that he is trying to remove all the memories of his father, including his gardens as Amritlal was fond of gardening. Viswas then talks about the shawls and asks Jairaj the reason for keeping them. Jairaj doesn't answer the question, but he agrees to give it to him when he marries Lata. Ratna re-enters, she has now come round to Jaira's earlier suggestion that they could asks Chandra Kala a rival dancer, to lend the services of Mr. Sebhadri, her own mridangist, for Late's dance performance. That brings to an end crisis faced by Parekhs. But once again they dig up their past. Now it is Jairaj who begins by asking Ratna how they could have continued living with her unde's behaviour was the reason behind Jairaj's decision to return to his father's house Both
• 5.
  of them agreethat their decision to leave Amritlal Parekh's house was 'impulsive. But with the mention of Shankar, the chasm between them is once again revealed. Just before retiring to his bedroom Jairaj notices the shawl. He picks it up and tries to put it back into the cupboard but changes his mind and speaks to himself. "Your last memory, soon I'll be rid of you too. Then I won't see you wearing this shall a walking about this room... walking about... wearing this shaw!" At this stage the audience has no clue either to Shankar's identity or to the mystery of the shawl. All that we learn that there is a kind of not-so-healthy relationship between Lata's parents Jairaj and Ratra Parekh, which surfaces at the slightest possible provocation. The past Jairaj continues his practice of traditional dancing in spite of all the opposition from his father and overtly presents himself as a rebel He becomes more headstrong because of the support of his wife, Ratna who also was interested in traditional form of dancing. The reason behind Amritial's opposition suggests that his mind was not ready to accept his son as a Bharatnatyam Dancer. More than that he was shocked on knowing the fact that Jairaj was planning to grow his hair long just like his Guru, which would enhance his Abhinaya. Amritlal saw dance as something that was practised by prostitutes, which was turning temples into Brothels He gave his son the freedom to practice dance but he was worried that the passion of dance would not lead his son anywhere and he would not be able to support his family in future. In the society everyone wants
• 6.
  the male toearn that much so that the house would run properly but he knew that dance would not help Jairaj to eam enough money and that would make him unworthy in the eyes of his wife Ratna. For Amritlal, dance was good as far as it remains a hobby but it was not proper to be taken as a profession. So the traditional dance, especially for male was not considered a respectable profession in the olden days in India. Jairaj leaves and takes Ratna along with him. But the results are disastrous. They stay at Ratha's uncle's house and he tries to take advantage of her and so they leave the house only to return. The quote said by Amritlal to Jairaj to restrict him from dancing: "A woman is man's world is considered progressive. But a man is a woman's world is considered pathetic" Back to the present: The present part of Act II opens with the telephone ringing in the living room. Ratna pick up the phone to receive calls. From all the VIPs in the city congratulating her on the success of her daughter Lata's performance. All the newspapers have published save reviews and Parekhs are excited. Lata has been described as "the star of the Festival. "A Shining Star in the sky of haramatayam" etc. Lata, Viswas and Jairaj are reading the reviews. Lata says that these reviews are because of her mother's efforts". But Jairaj would not give her the credit entirely". Viswas's ignorance of dance is exposed in the conversation that ensures, one of the reviewers praises Lata's "tearful expression and says that her heaving bosom was heaving because she was "breathless" from the "Vernon". But Viswas does not like the comment that "it was too erotic". Lata understands that Viswas, like many people has his own quirks' about dance and
• 7.
  that misconceptions aboutBharatnatayam continue till today. Later a verbal duel takes place between Jairaj and Ratna about the rave reviews of Lata's dance performance. While Ratna thinks that the recitals are because of her own efforts, Jairaj disagrees. He asserts that Lata" deserved" all the praise heaped on her performance and that the reviewers were not doing Ratna. He tells her that in this respect at least she has a daughter to be jealous of. Another Flashback With the comment the scene again moves back to the past when Ratna just returned from a dance programme in a splendid Bharatnatayam costume and shawl covering it. Once again the living room changes into the rose garden and the dancers change accordingly. Act II continues with the flashback of Act I focusing on the events of the 1940s. Jairaj and Ratna return to Amritial out of sheer helplessness within two days of leaving the house. Amritial Parekh exploits this helplessness by imposing certain restrictions on them. He asks Jairaj" not to grow his hair any longer" He then later makes a deal with Ratna. He says that he will allow her career to take off if she helps him pull Jairaj out of his passion and make him a more 'manly' man. The character of Ratna can be called as that of a selfish one because she agrees to her father in-law's demands and also considers that there would be one less person to compete with. She constantly misguides him and plays with his emotions in spite of being his partner. Though Jairaj was a male member, he never forced his opinions on anybody and instead of that Ratna would always dominate and take decisions for herself, for him and now their daughter as well. She wanted her own career to proper and so she is willing to sacrifice her husbands' career in the process. She was blinded by her passion so much so that she joined hands with Amritial. She married him because Jairaj himself was a dancer and he would never stop her from dancing even after getting married. Had it been that she would have married another man; there was a possibility that she would be deprived of her career and her passion and she would be helpless.
• 8.
  When Jairaj possiblyknew about her motives, the purpose was already achieved, that he was a failed dancer and that he did not make much out of his life. He had become an alcoholic She constantly took advantage of Jairaj's love for her and being his wife. She pushed him into the world of dance and also knew that he was not a great dancer himself, to reach amongst the top dancers, that he was just a mediocre one. She was responsible for his undoing as a character as well as a danc Unfortunately she did not stop here only but went beyond and consciously shaped her daughter's life also as traditional dancer. Lata, her daughter, was used by her to fulfill her inner suppressed desires to earn fame and money nationwide and abroad. Unknowingly Lata falls in the whirlpool created by Ratna and becomes the object only. Ratna's endeavors seem very ambitious and manipulative. She was ready to establish her daughter's career on the right track right from the very beginning and for that she schemes, manipulates and uses all her contacts and links. It is very clear that Ratna saw her own self in her daughter Lata and therefore acted so violently to create a firm, concrete base for her. Symbolically Lata in the play is none by Young Ratna, who succeeds with the help and support of his mother. Jairaj hoped that he would teach their son little Shankar, the dance of Shiva, the dance of man. He wished that Shiva would dance the "tandava nrityam" right on the head of his grandfather when he becomes a young man. But this desire of Jairaj remained unfulfilled as Shankar died in his childhood. Jairaj blames his wife for their son's death as she wanted to be successful and she had left him home along with a nanny. The nanny had given him a sleeping dose so that he would stop crying and that she could also sleep peacefully but unfortunately, she gave it too much in quantity which ultimately led to his death. Jairaj blames her for his unsuccessful career and discharging her duties as a mother and as a wife. The play ends with Jairaj's admission that they were only human and locked the 'grace, brilliance and magic the dance like God".
• 9.
  मराठी सारांश Dance LikeMan' हे महेश नी लिहिलेले नाटक आहे. हे नाटक व्यक्ती विरुद्ध समाज या रूपात वर्णन करण्यात आले आहे. या नाटकातून पितृत्व प्रधान समाजाचा चेहरा लोकांसमोर आणण्याचा प्रयत्न करण्यात आला आहे. या नाटकातील नट जयराज हा भरतनाट्यमचा नर्तक बनू इच्छितो जयराजची मनातून इच्छा असते की त्याने नर्तक बनावे परंतु अमृतलाल पारेख जयराजचे वडील मुलाच्या या निर्णयास विरोध करतात. अमृतलाल पारेख हे स्वातंत्र्य सेनानी आणि समाज सुधारक असतात. त्यांच्या मते हा प्रकार म्हणजे वेश्या व्यवसाय होय. तरीपण ते स्वतःच्या मुलास म्हणजे जयराजला रत्ना सोबत जी की भरतनाट्यम नर्तिका आहे, तिच्यासोबत लग्न करण्याची परवानगी देतात. परंतु जयराज हा बायकोच्या प्रभावाखाली येऊन तिच्या सोबत साथीदार म्हणून तिला भरतनाट्यममध्ये सराव आणि कार्यक्रमासाठी तयार होतो. जयराजच्या मते नृत्याद्वारे मनुष्य सुद्धा पैसे कमवू शकतो. अशाप्रकारे जयराज एक नर्तक बनतो. अमृतलाल जयराजच्या नृत्यावर बंधने आणण्याचे प्रयत्न करतो. तरीपण तो जयराजला खर्चासाठी पैसे किं वा नृत्य शिकविणारे गुरू वाद्य संगीत साथीदार यांना पैसे देण्यापासून मनाई करीत नाही. अमृतलाल मुलाचे क े स वाढविणे किं वा बायको सांगेल त्याप्रमाणेबागणे या गोष्टीला त्यांचा फार विरोध असतो. या विरोधात जयराज व रत्ना बंड करतात व ते अमृतलालचे घर सोडून निघून जातात. परंतु जयराज व रत्ना ४८ तासांच्या आत परत अमृतलालच्या घरी येतात. कारण रत्नाचा काका की ज्याच्याकडे ते जातात तो रत्नाकडे शरीरसुखाची मागणी करतो. आता अमृतलाल त्याच्यावर जास्तीचे बंधने लादतो. अमृतलाल फक्त रत्नाच्या नृत्यास कोणताही विरोध करीत नाही, परंतु तो जयराजला भरतनाट्यम पासून दूर ठेवण्यासाठी प्रयत्न करीत असतो. याप्रकारे पिता-पुत्र यांच्यात संघर्ष निर्माण होतो. यामुळे जयराज अमृतल्गलचा तिरस्कार करीत असतो. ज्यावेळी अमृतलाल मरतो त्यावेळी जयराज त्याच्याशी निगडीत संपूर्ण बाबी नष्ट करतो. तो गुलाबाचे उद्यान नष्ट करून तिथे नृत्य सरावासाठी मोठा हॉल तयार करतो. तरीपण वाईट बाब ही की तो (जयराज) बायकोसारखी प्रसिद्धी मिळवू शकत नाही. यातून रत्ना जयराजला कमी लेखते. यातून जयराज निराशेच्या गर्तेत जातो आणि त्याला वडिलांचे बोलने आठवते. या सर्व प्रकारातून त्याला दारू पिण्याचे व्यसन जडते. आता जयराजचा एकमेव उद्देश असतो की त्याच्या मुलास-शंकरला एक सर्वोत्कृ ष्ट नर्तक बनविणे की जेणेकरून त्याने भगवान शंकरासारखे तांडवनृत्य करावे, ते पण अमृतलालच्या डोक्यावर तांडव नृत्य करून जयराजचा बदला पूर्ण होईल. परंतु शंकर लहानपणीच मरण पावतो कारण आयांनी त्याला चांगली झोप लागावी म्हणून त्या नशायुक्त पदार्थ अफ ू चे जास्त प्रमाण देतात, त्यातून शंकर मरतो आणि या सगळ्या प्रकारास फक्त रत्नाच जबाबदार असते की जिने स्वतः च्या प्रसिद्धी पोटी, व्यवसायापोटी मुलाकडे लक्षच दिले नसते. यामुळे जयराज़ आणखी निराशेच्या गर्तेत अडकतो. रत्ना आज फार प्रसिद्ध नृत्यांगना म्हणून नाव लौकिकास येते. व तिची इच्छा असते की काही वर्षानंतर मुलीस-लताला सुद्धा याच प्रकारात पारंगत करणे. चंद्रकला जी रत्नांची दुश्मन आहे तिच्या मते, जयराज हा पुरूष म्हणून त्याची वाढ त्याच दिवशी खुंटली ज्यादिवशी तो परत अमृतलाल पारेखकडे परत आला आणि स्वतःवर अटी लादून घेतल्यात व देवाला आवडणाऱ्या गोष्टी म्हणजे सौंदर्य, बुद्धीमत्ता चमत्कार याकडे पाठ फिरवली. अशा तऱ्हेने नाटक संपविण्यात येते.