Bollywood mourns the death of theatre guru, Satyadev Dubey

Renowned director and actor Satyadev Dubey, a maverick theatre guru who went on to become an icon, died on Sunday after remaining in coma for the past four months.

Often controversial, 75-year-old Dubey, a veteran screenplay writer, had suffered a seizure at Prithvi Theatre Cafe in suburban Juhu in September this year, and since then has been in a state of coma.

"He was in coma for the past few months. He suffered a brain stroke and passed away at the hospital at 11:30 am," said Satyajit Dubey, his grandnephew.

Bollywood mourned the death of Dubey, calling him a giant of the theatre world.

"Satyadev Dubey the icon of the world of theatre has passed away! Fond memories of our days of wandering invade me. Alvida Dubeyji! Love," filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tweeted.

Dubey's health was fragile for quite some time and he was in and out of hospital in the last few years.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, Dubey had become a legend in Marathi-Hindi theatre. Though born in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, he made Mumbai his home, and became a towering figure of the Marathi theatre.

Dubey often courted controversies for `tinkering' with the plays, in order to shape them as per his interpretations. For example, while producing the French play Antigone, he simply cut out a few characters, deeming them to be unnecessary.

In his long career, he produced/directed plays of all the prominent playwrights of post-Independence period: Girish Karnad (Yayati, Hayavadana), Badal Sarkar (Evam Indrajit, Pagla Ghoda), Chandrashekhara Kambara (Aur Tota Bola -Jokumaraswamy in original Kannada), Mohan Rakesh (Aadhe Adhure), Vijay Tendulkar (Gidhade, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe).

He also penned film scripts/dialogue, including Shyam Benegal's Bhumika.

His theatre workshops too were much sought-after among the amateurs and professionals alike.

Born in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, in 1936, Dubey's first ambition was to become a cricketer, which brought him to Mumbai in his college days.

But after coming to the metropolis, he gave up that ambition, and was attracted to the post-1947 theatre that was emerging in the city. He joined Theatre Unit, the theatre group-cum-school founded by Ebrahim Alkazi.

Although, he came from the Hindi heartland, he was equally at ease on Marathi and Gujarati stage.

He penned screenplays/dialogue of some acclaimed films in the 1970s, including Shaym Benegal's Nishant, Ankur, Kalyug and Bhumika, and also acquired a distinct identity as theatre director-teacher.

He is also credited with 'discovery' of Dharam Vir Bharti's play Andha Yug, which he recommended to Alkazi.

Thanks to his theatre workshops, he acquired a reputation as a maverick teacher. He laid a great emphasis on enunciation, and Amarish Puri was his favourite actor.

His political views too were unconventional. When many in the Indian theatre had leftist leanings, Dubey was once associated with right-wing RSS.

"The theatre stalwart Satyadev Dubey passed away half an hour ago. Its been a terrible year for artists…he was a giant of theatre," veteran actress Shabana Azmi tweeted.

"The Giant of Hindi Theatre Satyadev Dubey is no more. He was ruthlessly brilliant in his commitment to theatre. Great loss. RIP," veteran actor Anupam Kher said.

"Sad to hear of the demise of Satyadev Dubey, he had very kindly conducted an acting workshop with the all new cast of Ishq Vishk," director Ken Ghosh said.

Producer Viveck Vaswani said, "No celebration for entertainers this year! We have all suffered."