Mahesh Dattani: An Introduction

Contemporary Indian Writers in English (CIWE) is a series that presents critical commentaries on some of the best-known names in the genre. With the high visibilty of Indian writing in English in academic, critical, pedagogic and reader circles, there is a perceivable demand for lucid yet rigorous introduction of several of its authors and genres. The CIWE texts cater to a wide audience - from the student seeking information and critical material on particular works to the general, informed reader who might want to know a little more about an author she has just finished reading. Cast in a user-friendly format, and written with a high degree of critical and theoretical rigour, the texts in the series will provide astute, accessible, informed entry-points into a wide range of works and writers. CIWE, we hope, will further strengthen the interest in and readership of one of the most significant components of world literatures in English. Mahesh Dattani is perhaps one of India`s most daring, innovative and important paywrights in English today. He blends conventional themes with some startingly new ones in his work. His plays combine the intimate with the social, the personal and the public, often exploring the boundaries between these realms. In this volume, Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri, explores Dattani`s central themes - the family, alternate sexualities, other genders, morality and identity - while also examining the dramaturgical innovations in his work.