Turning plays into great acts was Satyadev Dubey's forte

In continuance of its reputation as the annus horribilis which has claimed so many creative stalwarts, 2011 snatched theatre legend Satyadev Dubey, 75, on Sunday morning. The critically acclaimed director, actor and screenplay writer passed away in Mumbai after being bed-ridden due to prolonged illness.

“He was in coma for the past four months. Around 11.30am on Sunday, he had a stroke and passed away,” his grandnephew Satyajit Dubey told DNA. His mortal remains were brought to the Shivaji Park electric crematorium where the who’s who from the world of Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and English theatre; the film industry and the world of music and dance were present to pay their respects.

The veteran playwright-director suffered a seizure at Juhu’s Prithvi theatre — where he was regular fixture in animated discussion with artistes and students — in September this year and slipped into coma.

The Padma Bhushan awardee was suffering from several health complications for a while and had been admitted to hospital on several occasions in the last few years.

Born in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, in 1936, Dubey came to Mumbai because of his fascination for cricket. Instead of wielding the bat, he ended up joining Ebrahim Alkazi’s Theatre Unit, a school for budding artistes. Later, when his teacher left to head the National School of Drama in Delhi, he took over the school and went on to give Indian theatre some of its most memorable plays.

He produced, Girish Karnad’s first play Yayati, and also his much-acclaimed Hayavadana, Badal Sarkar’s Ebang Indrajit and Pagla Ghoda, Chandrashekhara Kambara’s Aur Tota Bola (Jokumaraswamy in original Kannada), Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhure, Vijay Tendulkar’s Khamosh! Adalat Jaari Hai, and A Raincoat For All Occasions and Jean Anouilh’s Antigone in 2007.

In fact, the latter led to a controversy as he simply removed characters he called “unnecessary.”

Dubey is credited with the discovery of Dharmavir Bharati’s radio play Andha Yug. He saw its potential and sent it to Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama. The rest is history. When staged in 1962, Andha Yug created an entirely new nuance and paradigm in Indian theatre.

His asscoaiton with cinema has seen him writing dialogues and/or screenplay for critically acclaimed films like Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Bhumika (1977), Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1980), Aakrosh (1980), Vijeta (1982) and Mandi (1983). In fact, he made two short films Aparichay ke Vindhachal (1965) and Tongue In Cheek (1968), and directed a Marathi feature film, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe in 1971, based on Vijay Tendulkar’s play, which is itself an adaptation of a German story Die Panne by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

His much sought after theatre workshops and lec-dem sessions were a big draw with both amateurs and professionals alike. Known to be a stickler for detail, he was known for speaking his mind irrespective of who was in front of him. Though this would anger some, it would always push them to work harder and deliver better on stage. His compliments would also be equally forthcoming admit almost all theatre persons who have worked with him.