2603:8000:D300:D0F:ECFD:2826:F5CF:5433 at 07:19, 4 June 2022

2022-06-04T07:19:00Z

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{{EngvarB|date=September 2016}}
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{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Farrukh Dhondy
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Farrukh Dhondy.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|1944}}
| birth_place = [[Poona]], India
| death_date =
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| other_names =
| education = [[The Bishop's School (Pune)|The Bishop's School]]; [[University of Poona]]; [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]; [[University of Leicester]]
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Writer, playwright, screenwriter, activist
| years_active =
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| television =
| spouse = [[Mala Sen]] (m. 1968; div. 1976)
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| awards =
| website = 
}}
'''Farrukh Dhondy''' (born 1944) is an [[British Indians|Indian-born British]] writer, playwright, screenwriter and left-wing activist who resides in the [[United Kingdom]].

==Education==
Dhondy was born in 1944 in [[Poona]], India, where he attended [[The Bishop's School (Pune)|The Bishop's School]], and obtained a BSc degree from the [[University of Poona]] (1964).<ref name="British Council">{{cite web|url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/farrukh-dhondy|title=Farrukh Dhondy|publisher=British Council {{!}} Literature|access-date=25 November 2021}}</ref> He won a scholarship to [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], where he read Natural Sciences before switching to English, earning a BA degree in 1967.<ref name=jrank>{{cite web|url=http://biography.jrank.org/pages/686/Dhondy-Farrukh-1944.html|title=Farrukh Dhondy (1944-) Biography - Personal, Addresses, Career, Honors Awards, Writings, Sidelights|website=jrank.org}}</ref> After graduating he studied for a master's degree at [[University of Leicester|Leicester University]] and was later a lecturer at [[Leicester College|Leicester College of Further Education]] and Archbishop Temple School in [[Lambeth]] in London.<ref>{{cite web|first=Pat|last=Triggs|url=http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/4/childrens-books/articles/authorgraph/authorgraph-no4-farrukh-dhondy |title=Authorgraph No.4 - Farrukh Dhondy|website=[[Books for Keeps]]|date= September 1980}}</ref>

==Early activism==
In Leicester, Dhondy became involved with the [[Indian Workers' Association]] and later, in London, with the [[British Black Panthers]], joining the publication ''[[Race Today]]'' in 1970, along with his close friend [[Darcus Howe]], and former partner [[Mala Sen]],<ref>{{cite news|first=Ash|last= Kotak|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/13/mala-sen-obituary |title=Mala Sen obituary|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date= 13 June 2011}}</ref> and discovering his calling as a writer.<ref name="Donnell2002">{{cite book|first=Alison |last=Donnell|author-link=Alison Donnell|title=Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx53zZLVM_8C|accessdate=11 August 2011|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-16989-9|page=97}}</ref>

== Writing ==
Dhondy's literary output is extensive, including books for children, textbooks and biographies, as well as plays for theatre and scripts for film and television.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0223585/|title=Farrukh Dhondy|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> He is also a columnist,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/bards-britain-854|title=The Bards of Britain|last=Dhondy|first=Farrukh|date=November 27, 2010|website=The Deccan Chronicle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202101151/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/bards-britain-854|archive-date=2 December 2010|url-status=live|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/11_4_our_islamic.html|first=Farrukh|last=Dhondy|title=Our Islamic Fifth Column|work=City Journal|date=23 December 2015|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asianage.com/opinion/oped/160618/persians-the-islamic-state-of-iran.html|title=Persians & the Islamic state of Iran|last=Dhondy|first=Farrukh|date=2018-06-16|website=The Asian Age|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref> a biographer (of [[C. L. R. James]]; 2001),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kenanmalik.com/reviews/dhondy_clr_james.html|title=Kenan Malik's review of ''CLR James'' by Farrukh Dhondy|work=New Statesman|date= 30 July 2001}}</ref> and media executive, having been Commissioning Editor at [[Channel Four]] television from 1984 to 1997. During his time with Channel Four, he wrote the comedy series ''[[Tandoori Nights]]'' (1985–87) for the channel, which concerned the rivalry of two curry-house owners.

His children's stories include ''KBW (Keep Britain White)'', a study of a young white boy's response to anti-Bengali racism. In 2011 Dhondy published his translation of selections from the Sufi poet [[Jalaluddin Rumi]], ''Rumi: a New Translation''. Dhondy also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 [[Bollywood]] historical blockbuster ''[[Mangal Pandey: The Rising]]'', starring [[Aamir Khan]] and [[Toby Stephens]]. In 2012, Dhondy scripted a short film called ''The K File''. This film dealt with a fictional take on the judgement of [[Ajmal Kasab]] and was directed by [[Oorvazi Irani]]. In 2013, Dhondy's play ''Devdas'' was premiered in London and was subsequently replayed globally. 2013 also saw the publication of his novel ''Prophet Of Love'' (HarperCollins). His collection of Rumi translations was published in 2014 and received a 4.5-star rating on [[Goodreads]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13400543-rumi |title=Rumi: A New Translation|website=Goodreads}}</ref>

Dhondy was lauded in the respected political magazine ''[[New Internationalist]]'', in its prestigious "final page", which led to the resurgence of his lifelong campaign to recruit more [[Black and Minority Ethnic|BAME]] talent at the [[BBC]], with an article subsequently printed in the ''[[New Statesman]]''<ref>{{cite web|first=Farrukh|last=Dhondy|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/03/bbc-still-hideously-white |title=Is the BBC still 'hideously white'?|website=New Statesman|date= 18 March 2014}}</ref> (covered in ''[[The Voice (British newspaper)|The Voice]]'' newspaper).<ref>{{cite news|first=Subi|last= Shah|url=http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/‘multiculturalism-tv-has-been-hijacked’ |title='Multiculturalism On TV Has Been Hijacked'|newspaper=The Voice|date= 22 March 2014}}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
* Children's Rights Workshop Other award: 1977, for ''East End at Your Feet'', and 1979, for ''Come to Mecca, and Other Stories'';<ref name=jrank />
* Collins/Fontana Award for ''Come to Mecca, and Other Stories'';<ref name=jrank />
* Works represented in ''Children's Fiction in Britain, 1900–1990'' exhibition, [[British Council]]'s Literature Department, 1990;<ref name=jrank />
* [[Whitbread Award]] for first novel, 1990, for ''Bombay Duck''.<ref name=jrank />

==Books==
* ''East End at Your Feet'' (short stories), [[Macmillan Publishers]] (London, England), 1976.
* ''Come to Mecca, and Other Stories'', Collins (London, England), 1978.
* ''The Siege of Babylon'' (novel), Macmillan (London, England), 1978.
* ''Poona Company'' (short stories), [[Victor Gollancz Ltd|Gollancz]] (London, England), 1980.
* ''Trip Trap'' (short stories), [[Faber and Faber]] (London, England), 1985.
* ''Vigilantes'' (Hobo Press), 1988
* ''Bombay Duck'' (adult novel), [[Jonathan Cape]] (London, England), 1990.
* ''Black Swan'', Gollancz (London, England), 1992, [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] (Boston, MA), 1993.
* ''Janacky and the Giant, and Other Stories'', [[HarperCollins]] (London, England), 1993.
* ''C. L. R. James: Cricket, The Caribbean and World Revolution'', 205pp, [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]], 2001.
* ''The Bikini Murders'', based on the life of Charles Shobhraj (also known as "[[the Bikini Killer]]"), 2008. Currently in production as a feature film.
* ''Rumi: A New Translation'', (trans. & ed.) [[Harper Perennial]], 2011
* ''Prophet Of Love'', HarperCollins, 2013

==Plays==
* ''Mama Dragon'', produced in London, England, 1980.
* ''Trojans'' (adaptation of a play by [[Euripides]]), produced in London, England, 1982.
* ''Kipling Sahib'', produced in London, England, 1982.
* ''Vigilantes'' (produced in 1985), Hobo Press, 1988.
* ''King of the Ghetto'' (television series), British Broadcasting Company (BBC1), 1986.
* ''Split Wide Open'' (screenplay; based on the story by Dev Benegal), Adlabs/BMG Crescendo, 1999.
* ''Devdas'', premiered in London, 2013.

==See also==
* ''[[Bandit Queen]]'', 1994 film based on late wife Mala Sen's book ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'' (1993)
* [[Red Mercury (2005)|''Red Mercury'' (2005)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name | id = 0223585}}
*[http://www.answers.com/topic/farrukh-dhondy-children-s-author Biography] of Dhondy on [[Answers.com]], from ''Gale Biographies of Children's Authors''

{{Wikiquote}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhondy, Farrukh}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester]]
[[Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:British writers]]
[[Category:British people of Parsi descent]]
[[Category:English people of Parsi descent]]
[[Category:British writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:Writers from Pune]]
[[Category:British Zoroastrians]]

Farrukh Dhondy - Revision history

2603:8000:D300:D0F:ECFD:2826:F5CF:5433 at 07:19, 4 June 2022