IANS/Mumbai
In a big loss for Indian theatre, well-known playwright and director Satyadev Dubey died here yesterday after several months of illness. He was 75.Dubey, who had slipped into coma after suffering an epileptic attack, had been in hospital since September, his family said. He died at around 12.30pm.Dubey was known for plays like Pagla Ghoda, Adhey Ahdure and Evam Indrajit, but one of his most famous productions was Andha Yug.Born in Bilaspur, now in Chhattisgarh, in 1936, Dubey moved to Mumbai aiming to become a cricketer but ended up joining the Theatre Unit run by Ebrahim Alkazi, which also ran a school for many budding artists.Later when Alkazi left for Delhi to head the National School of Drama, he took over the Theatre Unit and went on to produce many important plays.He produced Girish Karnad’s first play Yayati, and also his noted play Hayavadana and many others.He is credited with staging Dharmavir Bharati’s Andha Yug, a play that was written for radio. Dubey saw its potential and sent it across to Alkazi at the National School of Drama.He has made two short films Aparichay ke Vindhachal (1965) and Tongue In Cheek (1968), and also directed a Marathi feature film, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe in 1971, based on Vijay Tendulkar’s play, which in turn is based on Friedrich Durrenmatt’s story Die Panne.He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He also won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika and 1980 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award for Junoon.In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards. “He was one of the founders of contemporary Indian theatre. He was extremely talented, vibrant, outspoken, revolutionary in his approach. He always found a reason to not to agree, to dissent,” said theatre director Amal Allana. “He constantly challenged what was acceptable on stage. His plays shocked people. Even in his old age, he was young...a revolutionary, he was an advocate of free speech and the rights of theatre people,” Allana, the son of Alkazi, said.Theatre director Bhanu Bharti, who directed Andha Yug recently, said: “He was a controversial figure. You would dislike him in the beginning, and get excited by what he said. And in the end, you would end up liking him despite all his venom.”“He was the doyen of Indian theatre. He was the first Indian director who discovered Dharamveer Bharti’s Andha Yug - a verse play in Hindi. This heralded a new epoch in the history of Indian theatre,” Diwan Singh Bajeli, a theatre critic, said.“He was a bold director following his own ideology reflected through his numerous works. He has directed more than 60 plays in Hindi, Marathi and English. And most of his works are considered milestones in Indian theatre.”