THEME OF PORTRAYAL OF ARTISTS’ CONFLICT IN THE PLAYS OF MAHESH DATTANI

Abstract

The following paper discusses the issue of portrayal of artists’ conflict in the two plays of Mahesh Dattani, ‘Dance Like a Man’ and ‘Morning Raga’. In the play ‘Dance Like a Man’, the clash of motives of dancer Jairaj with his dancer wife and father involve the issues of identity crises, the stigma of social inhibitions, the perpetual conflict of man’s desires and forces of destiny. Jairaj, failed to realize his perfect stature as an individual and as a dancer. When Jairaj introspects his past, his conflict gets internalized. Even anxiety and insecurity co-exists in the expectations of Ratna. Ratna’s projection of her suppressed desires on the career of her daughter is a manifestation of the fact that she still fails to compromise with her choices. Even Lata cannot keep herself away from the fear of artist’s ego and conflict. The apprehension of Lata is an unconscious carriage of the problem of the burden of crises of her own artist parents. Thus throughout the play we find the clash of conflict in all the characters between themselves as individuals and as artists.

 In ‘Morning Raga’ Dattani delicately presents the emotional crises of an artist in whose life music is a passion, a creative art and a question of his identity. The attempt to crush it under the pressure of social conventions generates uncompromising guilt. In Morning Raga, the idea of self-guilt has been projected through the anguish of Swarnalatha, an efficient carnatic singer and uncompromising passion through Abhinay, a western music artist. Swarnalatha as an artist passes through intense conflict born out of her passion for music and the restrictions imposed on her by her family members. Even at mental level, Swarnalatha suffers with double conflict- her passion for music and her sense of loss at the death of her friend and her son. Swarnalatha can overcome her conflict only through transmitting her art of carnatic music to Abhinay.