Asif Currimbhoy

Asif Currimbhoy (born Mumbai, 1928) is an Indian playwright.

A non-practising Muslim, Currimbhoy laid the foundation of modern Indian drama in the 1950s. Initially most of his plays were not accepted because of their sensuality. The audience saw it as a blatant exposition of life borrowed from the West. Most of his characters are societal underdogs, like the dwellers of Mumbai shantytowns or tortured and unwashed untouchables who had no say in the society at the time when he was actively writing.

His plays are characterised by variety and versatility. In his plays, he stretches his material beyond the confines of the particular to produce not a social document, but an imaginative re-creation of the egocentric human in conflict with the social and political system.

Currimbhoy seldom relies on a structured plot. Instead the physical action of his plays supports his thoughts orchestrated with other dramatic elements like diction, music and spectacle. His choice of titles is notable for his coinage of new words.

Works

His plays include:
*"Goa"
*"Refugee"
*"The Miracle Seed"
*"The Doldrummers"
*"The Thorn on the Canvass"
*"The Captives"
*"Monsoon or a Noah's Ark"
*"The Alien... Native Land"

Most of his plays have been published by the Writers Workshop, Kolkata.

References

Currimbhoy, Asif. "The Dolldrummers", Kolkata: Writers Workshop 1975