Controversy and the play Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy have gone hand in hand for over a decade since Pradeep Dalvi wrote the story of Mahatma Gandhi’s assasin. The fight initially was to get the mandatory Censor Board certificate, then to have it staged in 1997, after which it was banned by the Maharashtra Government which provoked Dalvi to go to the Bombay High Court to have the ban lifted, then to stage it again and now, in a curious turn, to have its performances banned again. Producer Uday Dhurat who was Dalvi’s alter ego through all this, is now the villain in Dalvi’s eyes. Why? Because, he claims, Dhurat and director Vinay Apte have played little tricks on stage so that Gandhi’s character is ridiculed which the Sangh Parivar heartily applauds.Dalvi is a well-known playwright, Dhurat a successful producer and Apte, a renowned director of the Marathi stage. Together, they could have put up a play that would mark a new high in political theatre but as the controversy stands now, Dhurat-Apte performances have turned political as Dalvi has invoked the current communal situation in Gujarat and in small towns in Maharashtra to persuade Chhagan Bhujbal, Deputy Chief Minister, to have the performances banned. For the last two weeks, the three have been bitterly fighting, back-biting and openly rubbishing each other.Mee Nathuram. is Godse’s version of the story, his justification and logic for taking Gandhi’s life. The play has only two pieces of action — Gandhi’s assasination and Godse being hanged. For the large part, Godse simply talks, even engaging the audience in a dialogue. He is both the character and the narrator. Act I in the script ends with Gandhi being shot and the play ends with Godse paying for his deed. Writer Dalvi, in his letter to Bhujbal, said that the performance is not faithful to his script. In other words, Godse cannot emerge a total hero and Gandhi is a figure of ridicule.This is surprising because Dalvi’s affiliation to the Shiv Sena is an open secret while Apte’s links to the BJP are well-known. If anything, they should have not battled about Gandhi’s character but Dalvi insists that it is his artistic concern that made him request for a ban on the Dhurat-Apte version. There is nothing wrong with the script but they have changed the way Gandhi is portrayed, he says. ‘‘I don’t want communal disturbance.’’ Dalvi isn’t new to the arena. He has penned a sensitive play on eunuchs, Saha Rangacha Indradhanushya (Rainbow of six colours) and the successful ‘‘Jhale Mokale Abhal (Sky is free now). ‘‘When the audience starts cheering Gandhi’s assasination there is something wrong with the way the script’s been handled. His death is a tragic event in my script but that’s not how it comes across. Gandhi’s character is killed by underplaying his role and lines, through diction and pauses. Now, even the RSS and BJP manipulate the response by doing block bookings and cheering Gandhi’s death,’’ says Dalvi who tried to put up performances with his own group.However his artistic concern is marred a shade by the issue of royalty that Dhurat says is Dalvi’s main concern. ‘‘Dalvi is a person with a criminal mind and don’t dilute my quote,’’ he thunders. ‘‘He asked for 50 per cent royalty after the ban was lifted in October 2001 which was not possible.Director Apte maintains the script has not been tampered with. ‘‘What can we possibly change? The content is the same. The play is running houseful and performances will not stop.’’Dalvi is careful about the monetary aspect. Says he, ‘‘ Royalty is not the important thing.’’ Dalvi now wants an independent analysis by 10 qualified people on his and Dhurat-Apte performances. ‘‘Whoever is voted better will survive.’’Ironically, now Sena activists come to ‘protect’ the play when it’s performed while the Congress, for obvious political reasons, would want it out of theatres. It seems, for Mee Nathuram., the controversy just doesn’t end.
