Vijay Tendulkar’s Pancchi Aise Aate Hain is more than just a delightful comedy. It is a story of a wanderer, Arun, who walks into the life of a middle class family, who are facing the eternal problem of getting an unattractive daughter married. It features a complicated love-affair, much harassed father, a typical mother, a good-for-nothing brother, a devoted suitor and of course a stuck up girl and our gallant hero.
Vijay Tendulkar (Marathi: विजय तेंडुलकर) (7 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. He is best known for his plays, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder (1972).Many of Tendulkar’s plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh realities. He provided his guidance to students studying “Playwright writing” in US universities. For over five decades, Tendulkar had been a highly influential dramatist and theater personality in Mahārāshtra. Early life Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar was born on 7 January 1928 in a Bhalavalikar Saraswat brahmin family 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. Early career Tendulkar began his career writing for newspapers. He had already written a play, “Āmchyāvar Kon Prem Karnār” (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. “Shrimant” jolted the conservative audience of the times with its radical storyline, wherein an unmarried young woman decides to keep her unborn child while her rich father tries to “buy” her a husband in an attempt to save his social prestige. Tendulkar’s early struggle for survival and living for some time in tenements (“chāwls”) in Mumbai provided him first-hand experience about the life of urban lower middle class. He thus brought new authenticity to their depiction in Marathi theater. Tendulkar’s writings rapidly changed the storyline of modern Marathi theater in the 1950s and the 60s, with experimental presentations by theater groups like “Rangāyan”. Actors in these theater groups like Shreerām Lāgoo, Mohan Agāshe, and Sulabhā Deshpānde brought new authenticity and power to Tendulkar’s stories while introducing new sensibilities in Marathi theater. Tendulkar wrote the play, “Gidhāde” (The Vultures) in 1961, but it was not produced until 1970. The play was set in a morally collapsed family structure and explored the theme of violence. In his following creations, Tendulkar explored violence in its various forms: domestic, sexual, communal, and political. Thus, “Gidhāde” proved to be a turning point in Tendulkar’s writings with regard to establishment of his own unique writing style. Based on a 1956 short story, “Die Panne” (“Traps”) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Tendulkar wrote the play, “Shāntatā! Court Chālu Aahe” (“Silence! The Court Is In Session”). It was presented on the stage for the first time in 1967, and proved as one of his finest works. Satyadev Dubey presented it in movie form in 1971 with Tendulkar’s collaboration as the screenplay writer. 1970s and ’80s In his 1972 play, Sakhārām Binder (Sakhārām, the Binder), Tendulkar dealt with the topic of domination of the male gender over the female gender. The main character, Sakhārām, is a man devoid of ethics and morality, and professes not to believe in “outdated” social codes and conventional marriage. He accordingly uses the society for his own pleasure. He regularly gives “shelter” to abandoned wives, and uses them f
Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents or social upheavals, which provides clear light on harsh realities. He provided his guidance to students studying "playwright writing" in US universities.
This play is about a person Arun Sarnayak. It starts with his monolgues telling few things about himself and his mind-set about marriage and kids.
He enters a house where he knows no one but pretends to. Although family doesn't recognise him as they actually never knew him, they still pretend they remember and welcome him with open arms. They have a daughter whose marriage they are trying to fix but every guy rejects her. Dejected the girl doesn't even want to try. But Arun is kind of miracle worker, he knows how to make her feel beautiful.
You don't have to be beautiful to feel beautiful, you just have to think you are.
The twist was good, Arun handles it well but ending wasn't upto my liking. We all love some happy ending although it doesn't always happen in real life.
I would have loved some pretty end to this Marathi drama.
Tendulkar's writing is fun and his grasp over the Marathi language is mind-blowing. The confidence that oozed from Arun was kind of a proof that not only protagonist but the one who created the protagonist could woke wonders too.
I listened to audiobook on storytel and Chandrakant Kulkarni has voiced Arun, his voice and tone are just perfect for arun. Other characters were good too.
"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." – Sophia Loren
In Ashi Pakhare Yeti, Vijay Tendulkar paints the portrait of a woman who does not so much bloom as she does awaken.
Saru enters the stage like a bird with folded wings—dejected, hesitant, and unsure of her own colours. Her diffidence veils her charm, making her presence easy to overlook. Then comes Arun—not as a lover at first, but as a mirror, reflecting back to her a version of herself she had never dared to see. In his company, her silences loosen, her thoughts take flight, and a quiet radiance begins to gather around her. It is this gift of self-belief, more than any romantic gesture, that draws her heart towards him.
Vishwas, another figure in her orbit, respects her choices and never cages her in obligation. He becomes the still water against which the ripples of her transformation can be felt more deeply.
Tendulkar’s brilliance lies in revealing that beauty is not bestowed from without, but kindled from within—a flame that, once lit, can never be extinguished. Saru’s journey is not the conquest of love, but the claiming of herself.
When the curtain falls, Ashi Pakhare Yeti leaves us with an aftertaste both tender and profound: that the most enduring romance is the one a woman has with her own soul.
सई परांजपे की 'कथा' देखते हुए बीच में इस नाटक का ज़िक्र आया था. नाटक नहीं देखा लेकिन पढ़कर जिया. भाषा इतनी आसान और प्रवाहमय है कि पन्ने तेज़ रफ्तार में पलटते चले जाते हैं. शब्द सिर्फ शब्द नहीं दृश्य खड़ा करते हैं. अगर आप अपने आप को खुला छोड़ दें तो एक अतिरिक्त किरदार हो जाएंगे. एक घर की अच्छी खासी चल रही दिनचर्या में घुसे अरुण पर चिल्लाएंगे. सरु का दु:ख समझेंगे. अन्ना की झल्लाहट महसूस करेंगे. बाकी मैं क्या बताऊं- पढ़कर आनंद लीजिए.
I am A bit irritated with the new rollout of Goodreads. I had a plenty of things on my mind about the little drama this book is but this new feature has taken over and left me feeling annoyed.
I listened to this book. Dramas are best listened to as a first time reader you miss many things. The story is intriguing and takes a good twist towards the end. It's done 50 years before and is as fresh as any contemporary book around.
The progressive thoughts about marriage, about self-esteem, choice, life - I am amazed to see it 50 years back in existence. Albeit it was like a river in desert, it did exist. The characters take the reader in confidence from the first scene. I loved the little tricks the MC plays. And the message it brings, without caring about society, is phenomenal. We need more dramas, more essays, more tales which celebrate progressive people, and mock the rules which no longer hold significance, like an old man hanging on the the branch of banyan tree for dear life.
Have you read it? Please please pick up. Is it translated in English? If yes, give me name of the book.
I was simply mesmerised by the narrative style that Tendulkar employs in this play. The protagonist, Arun, starts off with a monologue which involves interacting with the audience. However, he doesn't stop at that. Throughout the play he is talking to the audience, at the same time conversing with the other characters in the play.
What makes this play further interesting is Tendulkar's command over the language. The dialogues are apt and employ regular spoken language. Yet, there is a guileless superior quality to them, which makes you savour the conversation much more.
Last, but not the least (as it is about the story itself); what starts off as a regular story-line takes an interesting turn as the play progresses. It'll ensure that you're hooked till the end!