Ghasiram Kotwal, the magnum opus written by Vijay Tendulkar, Sangeet Natak Academy Fellowship awardee, and one of India’s leading playwrights, has been staged for over 50 years. Since its first opening in 1972, it has inspired legions of actors, directors, and avid theater enthusiasts. Currently being staged in the Bay Area by Naatak as its 112th production, the political satire set in 18th-century Pune opened to sold-out shows. Director Harish Sunderam Agastya speaks to India Currents about his adaptation and the challenges of staging a musical masterpiece.
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This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
IC: The play has been adapted in Hindi with music in Marathi. Why this blend?
Harish Agastya: I felt it had to be in Hindi for the cosmopolitan Bay Area audience to be able to understand and experience it. At the same time, for it to be authentic, Marathi was important, so I preserved a lot of the original language. A Hindi translation of the play exists, but it lacks the essence. So in my adaptation, we bring Marathi in through the music, the songs, and a few of the dialogues. It works because according to the script, Ghasiram is Hindi-speaking from North India.
IC: Tell us about how the music was created.
Harish Agastya: In the 1972 production, the music by Bhaskar Chandavarkar was a masterpiece. I heard the original music score and that has always inspired me. I did not want to lose the flavor so I decided to retain those tunes to the extent possible. For the music, I wanted to work with Nachiketa Yakkundi because his voice is amazing and we are completely aligned in creative terms, that is, how the music fits into this theatrical production; it’s not concert music but a mechanism to move the story forward and drive emotions in our audiences. Nachiketa composed some additional tunes suited to the mood and the progression of the play. People who have seen the original play or have heard the music can still connect with it.
IC: You’ve directed other plays for Naatak. How was this different?
Harish Agastya: I had this play on my mind right from the time when I joined Naatak, about 25 years ago. However, I did not anticipate being able to take it on for many years because of logistical reasons. For one, our cast and crew are all volunteers, and staging Ghasiram Kotwal requires many actors who can sing, and dance, who are multidisciplined yet hold day jobs. It is a very intense and complex play which is also a musical.
The whole planning process has been unique. I have not had to deal with it in any of my prior castings. We need people who are trained in music and dance, so finding that kind of talent is always a challenge. The last couple of years at Naatak we talked about staging so I raised my hand and said ‘Let me take this on’. We’re now fortunate to have a group of specialist actors and dancers, people who have trained in dance or music from childhood, and others who are naturally gifted at acting, come together for this play.
The role of Nana (Phadnavis) was very challenging because it would draw immediate comparisons to Mohan Agashe, and I think Chaitanya Godsay fit the bill very well. For the rest of the cast, they were very sporting and willing to shave their heads as the script demanded. We also had dance auditions to ensure people could do folk as well as classical.
IC: Did audience expectations weigh on your mind?
Harish Agastya: Yes, it was daunting. When you think of an adaptation of a classic like this you always feel am I going to end up like Ram Gopal Verma when he decided to remake Sholay? (Laughs) But you have to trust your instincts. With this play, I know that the music stands on its own; plus there have been some very iconic actors that have played these roles before. Mohan Agashe as Nana would be top-of-the-mind for anyone familiar with the play. I was not aspiring to match up to that, but I thought this is my production and I’ll give it the Harish approach. That has to be my contribution to it.
IC: How did you bring your vision to the play?
Harish Agastya: There were some things in the script that I could bring my vision to. In the traditional presentations of the play and from the stage directions written in the script, the Brahmin chorus stands in a line and sings for most of the play. While that may have worked in 1972, it would not have sustained audience attention for a 110-minute play today. I also made edits to the script to tighten the presentation. Rather than have the sutradhar – the narrator – talk or sing to the audience, I have the Brahmins or the others enacting them.
Further, in the original script, there is just one woman dancer in the kotha who dances for the Nana. I gave it a harem-like approach with a madam, and dancers and singers under her. With the dances, we presented the various dance forms of Maharashtra. In the original script, the play ends with a prayer to Ganesha. I changed that considering the roller coaster emotional ride with Ghasiram in the play. I thought it needed a much stronger ending. These are areas where I have taken a different directorial approach.
When Vijay Tendulkar wrote his masterpiece in 1972, he wrote it with a certain mindset for a certain audience that he was expecting would watch the play. Now in the Bay Area, 53 years later, things have changed and it is my responsibility to present that work as authentically as possible, but in a way that also makes it a thought-provoking experience in the same way as he would have intended for this audience. So that’s my responsibility as the director.
IC: Thematically, how relevant is Ghasiram Kotwal today?
Harish Agastya: Ghasiram is an iconic play and still very relevant. Imagine the coming to power of an autocratic leader who seeks to take away all those freedoms that you hold dearly. Sounds familiar? When I finished writing the script, Trump had just won the 2024 Presidency. Today think how relevant it is when your freedoms are at risk because there is a leader that’s come to the fore and is threatening to impose new rules on you. That is what the Brahmins in the play were experiencing.
I think there is a direct parallel that holds true today in this polarized world we live in. When Vijay Tendulkar wrote it, he used Ghasiram Kotwal and his rise in Nana’s rule as a metaphor for the rise of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Earlier, we didn’t have to question the basic values and the Constitution itself, as we are doing every single day right now. Now it’s more of a wait and watch to see how much further things can go. So, yes, it is very relevant.