One of the most interactive and vibrant forms of storytelling that has been around for centuries is none other than the Theatre arts and generations have grown up watching, learning and being entertained by this art. India has one of the richest theatre cultures and some of the best playwrights, whose work has gotten them national and international fame.
Here are some of the most famous Indian plays, which are acclaimed internationally as well:
1. Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq
This play explores Muhammad Bin tughlaq’s psyche, the Sultan of Delhi in the 14th Century and how his ‘idealist’ philosophies had resulted in disillusionment, and this play showcases how the sultan’s genius vision turned in to bitterness and chaos among his people.
2. Ajay Shukla’s Taj Mahal Ka Tender
Taj Mahal Ka Tender is a hilarious take of Ajay Shukla, on the ‘sad state of officialdom’ and it takes us on Shahjahan’s journey had he to construct the Taj Mahal in today’s day and age, with the stark nakedness and corruption playing as a crucial theme. The play has received rave reviews as is a hit all over India and abroad.
3. Badal Sarkar’s Ebong Indrajit
Badal Sarkar has captured the existential crisis that every urban middle-class dweller faces in today’s day and age, with a theme of ‘the loneliness of post-independence urban youth’. The play explores creative minds that suffer from frustration and discontent and is a hit on a global level.
4. Girish Karnad’s Yayati
Written in 1960, this is Girish Karnad’s first play and it won him the Mysore State Award in 1962. Yayati is based on one of the episodes of Mahabharata, (Yayati was one of the ancestors of Pandavas) where he was cursed of premature old age by his father-in-law, Shukracharya, who was incensed by his infidelity.
