Mahesh Elkunchwar

Mahesh Elkunchwar (born October 9, 1939) is an Indian playwright with more than 15 plays to his name, in addition to his theoretical writings, critical works, and his active work in India's Parallel Cinema as actor and screenwriter.

Born to a Telugu Brahmin family in Parwa, Maharashtra and raised outside of Indian urban centers, Elkunchwar has experimented with many forms of dramatic expression, ranging from the realistic to symbolic, expressionist to absurd theatre. Having influenced modern Indian theatre for more than three decades, Elkunchwar emerged onto the national theatre scene with his play Sultan in 1967. A number of commercial hits followed such as Holi (1969), Raktapushpa (1971), Party (1972), Virasat (1982), and Atamkatha (1987). Elkunchwar's plays are written in Marathi, the Indian language that is spoken by approximately ninety million people. The plays have been subsequently translated into multiple Indian and Western languages (including English, French and German).

In 1984, his play, Holi was made into a film, Holi by Ketan Mehta, for which he wrote the screenplay, and in the same year, Govind Nihalani, directed a film, Party, based on his eponymous play.

Elkunchwar's plays have gained national and international critical attention, and his growing body of work has become part of India's post-colonial theatrical canon. He has been honored in India with the Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1976–78), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, annual award for best playwright (given by the National Academy of the Performing Arts, 1989), Nandika (1989), Maharashta Gaurav (1990), the Maharashtra Foundation Award (1997), the Sahitya Akademi Award (given by the National Academy of Letters, 2002), and the Saraswathi Samman, one of India's highest literary awards (2003), and internationally with the Brittingham Fellowship (2005). The prestigious Janasthan Puraskar was pronounced on him on Jan 17, 2011 for his service to the theater.

Plays by Mahesh Elkunchwar

• Rudravarsha (The Savage Year), 1966
• Sultan (one act), 1967
• Zumbar (one act), 1967
• Eka Mhatarachya Khoon (An Old Man's Murder, one act), 1968
• Kaifiyat (one act), 1967
• Ek Osad Gaon (one act), 1969
• Yatanaghar (The Chamber of Anguish), 1970
• Garbo, 1970
• Vasanakand (The Episode of Lust), 1972
• Party, 1976
• Wada Chirebandi (Old Stone Mansion), 1985
• Pratibimb (Reflection), 1987
• Atmakatha (Autobiography), 1988
• Magna Talyakathi (The Pond), 1991
• Yuganta (The End of an Age)
• Wasanani Jeernani (Tattered Clothes), 1995
• Dharmaputra (Godson), 1998
• Sonata, 2000
• Eka Natachya Mrityu (An Actor Exits), 2005
• Rakta Purush

External links

• Mahesh Elkunchwar at the Internet Movie Database

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Name	Elkunchwar, Mahesh
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Date of birth	October 9, 1939
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