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{{Short description|Indian Parsi theatre actor and director (1877–1907)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Amrit Keshav Nayak
| image = Amrit Keshav Nayak 2.png
| image_size =
| caption = Amrit Keshav Nayak
| pseudonym = Shivsambhu Sharmano Chiko
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1877|4|14}}
| birth_place = [[Ahmedabad]], [[Gujarat]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1907|7|18|1877|4|14}}
| death_place = [[Bombay]]
| occupation = actor, director, poet, writer
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| nationality = Indian
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genres =
| movement =
| notableworks = [[M. A. Banake Kyon Meri Mitti Kharab Ki?]] (1908)
| spouse = Parvati
| partner = [[Gauhar Jaan]]
| children = Saroj
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| years_active =
}}
'''Amrit Keshav Nayak''' (14 April 1877 – 18 July 1907) was a [[Parsi theatre]] actor-director, lyricist and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] author. He joined theatre at early age and later directed several plays including adaptations of plays of [[Shakespeare]]. He wrote plays and novels also.

==Biography==

===Early life===
Nayak was born in [[Ahmedabad]] on 14 April 1877 (Vaishakh Shukla 1 [[Vikram Samvat]] 1933) to Nayak family. He lived in [[Kalupur]] area of the city. He studied only four grades and two grades in [[Urdu]]. Nayak moved to [[Bombay]] with his father.<ref name="Sampath"/><ref name="gsp"/><ref name="toi"/><ref name="oxf"/>

===Theatre and lyricist career===

In 1888, he joined Alfred Company at the age of eleven at the salary of forty rupees a month.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=પારસી રંગભૂમિ|last=Shastri|first=Dr. Gopal|publisher=Sadhna Shastri|year=1995|location=[[Vadodara]]|pages=71–72|language=gu|trans-title=Parsi Theatre}}</ref><ref name="Choksi 2004">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતી રંગભૂમિ: રિદ્ધિ અને રોનક (Gujarati Rangbhoomi: Riddhi Ane Ronak)|publisher=Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust|year=2004|editor-last=Choksi|editor-first=Mahesh|location=Ahmedabad|pages=43|trans-title=Compilation of Information regarding professional theatre of Gujarat|editor-last2=Somani|editor-first2=Dhirendra|oclc=55679037}}</ref> After his successful roles of Baheram Irani and Pumba in Bamanji Kabraji's ''Gamde ni Gori'' (Village Nymph, 1890) and ''Bimar-e-Bulbul'' respectively,<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name=":2" /> he went to [[Lucknow]] to study theatre under Bindadin Maharaj. He learned music there. After his return in 1891, he directed ''Allauddin'' and played Laila himself whose success elevated him to post of Assistant Manager at the age of 15. He pioneered the adaptation of plays of [[Shakespeare]] in Urdu. He directed Mehdi Hasan Ahsan's ''Khun-e-Nahaq'' (Unjustified Murder, 1898, based on ''[[Hamlet]]'') and ''Bazum-e-Fani'' (Fatal Union, 1898, based on ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'') for [[Kavasji Palanji Khatau]]'s Alfred Theatre Company. He directed several plays of Urdu dramatist [[Agha Hashar Kashmiri]] including his adaptation of Shakespeare's play, ''Murid-e-Shaque'' (Victim of Suspicion, 1899, based on ''[[A Winter's Tale]]'') and ''Shahid-e-Naaz'' (''[[Measure for Measure]]'', 1904) . Following differences with Khatau in 1904, he left the Alfred Company joined Framji Apu's Parsi Natak Mandali as a director.<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name=":2" /> He produced Shakespeare's ''[[Cymbeline]]'' in Urdu as ''Meetha Zahar'' ('Sweet Poison').<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name="Sampath"/> He was married to Parvati, an illiterate girl from [[Kadi, India|Kadi]] at an early age. They had a daughter named Saroj.<ref name="Sampath"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Nayak |first=Ratilal S.|script-title=gu:અભિનય-સમ્રાટ અને સાક્ષર અમૃત કેશવ નાયક|trans-title=Amrut Keshav Nayak - A Monograph of an allround actor & Director of Parsi-Urdu Professional Theatre|language=gu|date=January 2003|edition=1st|location=Unjha|publisher=Asait Sahitya Sabha|pages=11–12}}</ref> He had a brief relationship with singer and dancer [[Gauhar Jaan]] whom he met around 1904–05 in Bombay and together they wrote and composed several hit songs like ''Pardesi Saiyyan Nena Lagake Dukh De Gaye'', ''Sar Par Gagar Dhar Kar'', ''Dilenadaan Ko Hum Samjhate Jayenge'', ''Aan Baan Jiya Mein Laagi''. He was working on his new production [[Narayan Prasad Betab]]'s ''Zahari Saanp'' before he died on 18 July 1907 (Ashadh Sukla 8 Vikram Samvat 1963) in Bombay following heart attack.<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name="Sampath">{{cite book|first=Vikram | last=Sampath|title=My Name is Gauhar Jaan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpSaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT120|publisher=Rupa Publications|isbn=978-81-291-2233-9|pages=120–122}}</ref><ref name=gsp>{{cite web|url=http://www.gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Amrut-Nayak.html|title=Amrit Nayak |publisher=[[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]|language =gu |access-date =17 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=toi>{{cite news
|archive-url = https://www.webcitation.org/6TOgftpIP?url=http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=2&edlabel=TOIA&mydateHid=31-05-2010&pubname=&edname=&articleid=Ar00200&format=&publabel=TOI
|archive-date = 17 October 2014
|url = http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=2&edlabel=TOIA&mydateHid=31-05-2010&pubname=&edname=&articleid=Ar00200&format=&publabel=TOI
|title = Bombays nightingale of 1900s had lover in city pol!
|first = Ashish
|last = Vashi
|work = The Times of India
|date = 31 May 2010
|access-date = 17 October 2014
|url-status=dead
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://m.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/recording-gauhar-jaan/article429071.ece/|title=Recording Gauhar Jaan - My Name is Gauhar Jaan - Vikram Sampath - Book Review|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=13 May 2010|first=Savitha|last=Gautam|access-date =17 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="oxf">{{Cite book|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195644463.001.0001/acref-9780195644463-e-0430|title=Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre|last=Baradi|first=Hasmukh|author-link=Hasmukh Baradi|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=9780195644463|editor-last=Lal|editor-first=Ananda|language=en|chapter=Nayak, Amrit Keshav|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195644463.001.0001|via=Oxford Reference}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

===Literary career===
[[File:Ghazal of Amrit Keshav Nayak.jpg|thumb|''Aankho Thi Vahe Chhe Dhara'', a [[ghazal]] by Nayak]]
Nayak's pen-name was Shivsambhu Sharmano Chiko ({{langx|gu|શિવશંભુ શર્માનો ચિકો}}).<ref name=gsp/>

Nayak wrote a column for ''[[Amrita Bazar Patrika]]'' and ''[[Gujarati (magazine)|Gujarati]]'' periodicals. ''Chiththa Lekhanmala'' column in ''Gujarati'' has some influence on the [[Indian independence movement]]. He wrote a play, ''Bharat Durdasha Natak'' (1909) about prevalent condition of India. His novel ''[[M. A. Banake Kyon Meri Mitti Kharab Ki?]]'' (1908) was about shortcomings of education system. His another novel, ''Mariyam'' was about a Muslim life. His incomplete and unpublished works are ''Sanskrit ane Farsi Bhasha no Paraspar Sambandh'' (''Relationship of Sanskrit and Persian languages'') and ''Nadirshah''. Apart from lyrics for songs for his plays, he wrote [[Ghazal|Gazals]] in Gujarati too.<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name="Sampath"/><ref name=gsp/><ref name=toi/><ref name="Dattavarious2006">{{cite book|first1=Amaresh|last1=Datta|author2=various|title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (Devraj To Jyoti)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1389|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|page=1389}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The Amrit Keshav Nayak Road behind Khadi Bhandar in [[Fort (Mumbai precinct)|Fort area]] of [[Mumbai]] is named after Nayak.<ref name="Choksi 2004"/><ref name="Thaker1998">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતી વિશ્વકોશ|last=Nayak|first=Chinubhai|publisher=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh|Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust]]|year=1998|editor-last=Thaker|editor-first=Dhirubhai|editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|edition=1st|volume=X|location=Ahmedabad|pages=92|language=gu|trans-title=Gujarati Encyclopedia|oclc=165832685}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Nayak |first=Ratilal S.|script-title=gu:અભિનય-સમ્રાટ અને સાક્ષર અમૃત કેશવ નાયક|trans-title=Amrut Keshav Nayak - A Monograph of an allround actor & Director of Parsi-Urdu Professional Theatre|language=gu|date=January 2003|edition=1st|location=Unjha|publisher=Asait Sahitya Sabha}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nayak, Amrit Keshav}}
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Indian male musical theatre actors]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1907 deaths]]
[[Category:Male actors from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male singers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Male actors from British India]]

Amrit Keshav Nayak - Revision history

LucretiaGoldhar at 03:55, 6 February 2025