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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mahesh Dattani
| image =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|8|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bangalore]], India
| spouse =
| children =
| website =
| filmfareawards =
| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi award]]
}}
'''Mahesh Dattani''' (born 7 August 1958) is an Indian [[film director|director]], actor, [[playwright]] and [[playwright|writer]]. He wrote such plays as ''Final Solutions'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/features/national_theatre.asp |title=In Retrospect: Select plays of the 9th National Theatre Festival at Nehru Centre, Mumbai |publisher=mumbaitheatreguide.com |author=Deepa Punjani |accessdate=2 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301233038/http://mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/features/national_theatre.asp |archivedate=1 March 2009 }}</ref> ''Dance Like a Man'', ''Bravely Fought the Queen'', ''On a Muggy Night in Mumbai'', ''Tara'', ''Thirty Days in September''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2007/03/30/stories/2007033001470300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107204224/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2007/03/30/stories/2007033001470300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|title=Lifting the veil|author=Romesh Chander|date=30 March 2007|accessdate=2 April 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051119/asp/calcutta/story_5496713.asp | location=Calcutta, India | work=The Telegraph | title=Stage On & Off | date=19 November 2005}}</ref> and ''The Big Fat City''.

He is the first playwright in English to be awarded the [[Sahitya Akademi award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19981229/36351574.html|title=Sahitya Academy awards announced|publisher=[[The Indian Express]]|author=PTI|date=29 December 1998|accessdate=2 April 2009}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> His plays have been directed by eminent directors like [[Arvind Gaur]], [[Alyque Padamsee]] and [[Lillete Dubey]].

==Early life and background==
Mahesh Dattani was born in [[Bangalore]] to [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] parents.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/paradox-at-play/article6126322.ece|title=Paradox at play|first=Anjana|last=Rajan|date=18 June 2014|publisher=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thethumbprintmag.com/drama-is-about-character-revelation-mahesh-dattani-dance-like-a-man/|title=Drama is about character revelation|publisher=The Thumb Print|date=1 November 2012}}</ref> He went to [[Baldwin Boys High School]] and then went on to join [[St. Joseph's College, Bangalore]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/art-culture/mahesh-dattani.html|title=Mahesh Dattani|website=www.mapsofindia.com|access-date=9 May 2016}}</ref>

Dattani is a graduate in History, Economics and Political Science. He completed his post-graduate in Marketing and Advertising Management because he wanted to become a [[copywriter]]. He worked with the Bangalore Little Theatre, where his first role was in [[Utpal Dutt| Utpal Dutt's]] ''Surya Shikhar''.<ref name="Man's World">{{cite web| url=https://www.mansworldindia.com/currentedition/from-the-magazine/drama-mahesh-dattanis-life/| title=The Drama in Mahesh Dattani's Life| last=De| first=Aditi| publisher=[[Man's World (magazine)|Man's World]]| access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref>

After reading Edward Albee’s play ''[[Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' early in his life, he became interested in writing. He was also influenced by Gujarati playwright [[Madhu Rye]]’s ''Kumarni Agashi'' and developed an interest in play writing.<ref>http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010114/spectrum/scene.htm</ref>

==Career==
Mahesh Dattani began his career as a copywriter in an advertising firm. In 1986, he wrote his first full-length play, ''Where There’s a Will'', and since 1995, he has been working as a full-time theatre professional.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.karnataka.com/personalities/mahesh-dattani/| title=Mahesh Dattani| date=10 October 2011| last=Madur| access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref> He has also worked with his father in the family business.<ref name="Man's World" />

Dattani is also a film director. His debut film is ''Mango Souffle'', adapted from one of his plays. He also wrote and directed the movie ''[[Morning Raaga]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=9285|title=Story teller|publisher=ScreenIndia|author=Bhawana Somaaya|authorlink=Bhawana Somaaya |date=22 November 2004|accessdate=2 April 2009}}</ref>

== Playwright ==
* ''Where There's a Will'' (1988)
* ''Dance Like a Man'' (1989)
* ''Bravely Fought the Queen'' (1991)
* ''Final Solutions'' (1993)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sites.google.com/site/asmitatheatre/reviews--final-solutions|title=Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions|accessdate=2 April 2009|author=Drama critics}}</ref>
* ''Do The Needful''
* ''On a Muggy Night in Mumbai'' (1998)
* ''Seven Circles Round The Fire'' (Radio play for BBC) (''Seven Steps around the Fire'') (1998)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdoTAAAAQBAJ|title=Seven Steps around the Fire: A Radio Play|last=Dattani|first=Mahesh|date=15 July 2013|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9789351182153|language=en}}</ref>
* ''30 Days in September'' (2001)
* ''The Girl Who Touched the Stars (2007)
* ''Brief Candle'' (2009)
* ''Where Did I Leave My Purdah'' (2012)
* ''The Big Fat City'' (2012)

==Filmography==
===Director===
* ''Mango Souffle''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/20/stories/2003022000780300.htm|title=Going bananas over Mango Souffle|publisher=The Hindu|author=Diwan Singh Bajali|date=20 February 2003|accessdate=2 April 2009}}</ref>
* ''[[Morning Raga]]''
* ''Dance Like a Man''
* ''Ek Alag Mausam''

== Awards ==

* ''Dance Like a Man'' has won the award for the Best Picture in English awarded by the National Panorama in 1998
* [[Sahitya Academy award]] for his book of plays ''Final Solutions and Other Plays''
* [[Sahitya Kala Parishad]] selected ''Final Solutions'' (1997), ''Tara'' (2000) and ''30 Days in September'' (2007) as best productions of the year, directed by [[Arvind Gaur]].

==References==
{{reflist}}
9. G Baskaran, ed., Girish Karnad and Mahesh Dattani: Methods and Motives, Yking Books, Jaipur, 2012.

==External links==
* Bhattacharya, Anindya. "Desire and the Postcolonial Nation" in ''Seven Steps around the Fire'' and ''Final Solutions''. ''The Plays of Mahesh Dattani: An Anthology of Recent Criticism''. Ed. Tutun Mukherjee. [[New Delhi]]: Pencraft International, 2012 ({{ISBN|978-93-82178-03-3}}), pp. 184–196.
* Roy, Pinaki. "Mahesh Dattani's ''Final Solutions'': A Brief Rereading". ''Mahesh Dattani: His Stagecraft in Indian Theatre''. Ed. Bite, V. [[New Delhi]]: Authors Press, 2013 ({{ISBN|978-81-7273-737-5}}), pp. 111–24.
* Das, B.K. "Mahesh Dattani's ''Dance Like a Man'': A Thematic Study". ''The Atlantic Literary Review 15.3 (2014)''. Ed. Rama Kundu. [[New Delhi]]: Atlantic Pub., 2014 ({{ISBN|978-81-269-2052-5}}), pp. 73–80.
* Das, B.K. "In Search of Shakespearean Echoes in Mahesh Dattani: A Study of ''The Big Fat City'' as a Critique of Contemporary Urban Indian Society". ''Yearly Shakespeare'' Vol. XIV (2016). Ed. Goutam Ghosal. [[Santiniketan]]: Sri Aurobindo Study Centre, 2016 (ISSN 0976-9536), pp. 60–69.
* Das, B.K. "The Tale of an Imperial Kin: Unfolding the East-West Problematic in Mahesh Dattani's ''The Tale of a Mother Feeding Her Child''". World Journal of Gender & Literature 4.1 (June 2017). Ed. Lata Mishra. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2017 (ISSN 2349-1620), pp. 135–142.
{{Sahitya Akademi Award for English}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dattani, Mahesh}}
[[Category:21st-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Bangalore]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Film directors from Bangalore]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Bangalore]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]

Mahesh Dattani - Revision history

>GreenC bot at 02:44, 19 April 2021