Had Shakespeare been able to visit Maharashtra, he would have been delighted to find himself among people who have one thing in common with his countrymen- the love for drama. The people of Maharashtra love drama as much as the Britons do. There is, therefore, no surprise that Shakespeare has been widely read, enacted, translated, adapted, adopted, criticized and written about in Marathi.
In this paper, I will discuss how Shakespeare has influenced Marathi literature and particularly about Shakespeare’s adaptations and translations in Marathi both in dramatic form as well as in the popular Marathi folklore.
The beginnings of Marathi drama dates back to 1860s when Vishnudas Bhave laid the foundation of modern Marathi theatre. This was also the time when the first generation of English educated youth from the newly established University of Mumbai had arrived on the scene. Though the early Marathi dramas were mostly the adaptations/translations of classical Sanskrit plays of Kalidas, Bhas and Bhavabhuti, there had come into existence, a branch of plays translated from English called ‘the bookish plays’. ‘Bookish’ was the term used for the Marathi plays translated from Shakespeare. However, translation of Shakespeare’s plays into Marathi had started even before 1860s. Nana Saheb Peshwa translated Hamlet in 1857. But it was after 1860, that Shakespeare was translated into Marathi more seriously and with more zeal. A number of translations started to appear. Prominent among them were- Othello (1867) by Mahadevshastri Kolhatkar, Vilakshan Nyaya Caturya (1868) by Sakharam Pandit and Stri Nyaya Caturya by A.V. Patkar [both translations of The Merchant of Venice], Vijaysingh (1872) [Julius Caesar] by K.G. Natu, Tempest (1875) by Nilkanth Janardan Kirtane, Bhranikrut Chmatkar [Comedy of Errors] (1878) by B.R. Pradhan and S. B. Jathar and Tara [Cymbeline] by Vishnu Moreshwar Mahajani (1877). These plays became popular immediately ‘particularly among the English educated people of Mumbai. These plays were seen as a welcome diversion from the very early Marathi plays that were weak in plot and rather crude. Praising the performance of Mahajani’s Tara [Cymbeline] in his journal Nibandhamala, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar called these ‘bookish’ plays as useful for the cultivation of the taste of Marathi people and also useful for the further progress of the Marathi theatre.
In the year 1880, Vishnudas Bhave, started a new era in the history of Marathi theatre with his musical plays or Sangeet Natakas. In the Diwali of 1880, he staged his first musical play Sangeet Shakuntala in Pune. From 1880 onwards, we see a significant improvement in the number and quality of the Marathi translations of Shakespeare’s plays. S.M. Ranade’s translation of King Lear – Atipid Charita appeared in 1880. Due to the demands of his audience, he had to change the ending of the play to a pleasant and happy one. Vikaravilasita, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s famous translation of Hamlet appeared in 1883 and remained popular for a long time. In fact, it is still read and studied. Vitthal Seetaram Gurjar (1905) and later Mohan Agashe brought Merchant of Venice as a musical play with the titles Sangeet Pranaymudra and Sangeet Saudagar respectively. Though Hamlet and the Merchant of Venice remain the most translated of Shakespeare’s plays in Marathi, translations of other plays of Shakespeare also appeared after 1880. Notable among them were- Tratika [Taming of the Shrew] and Veermani va Shringarsundari [Anthony and Cleopatra] by V.V. Kelkar as well as Mohavilasita [Winter’s Tale] and Vallabhanunaya [All’s Well that Ends Well] (1887) by V.M. Mahajani.
Among other notable translations and adaptation, there are plays like Bhural athava Ishawikrit Lapandaav [A Comedy of Errors] (1876) by A.V. Patkar, Prataprao ani Manjula [Antony and Cleopatra] by A.V. Musale (1882) and Zunjarrao [Othello] (1890) by G. B. Deval. G. S. More and L.N. Joshi translated King Lear as Kanyaparikshan and Vikaar-Vihaar respectively in 1881.
Shakespeare’s English history plays were also brought into Marathi but they did not enjoy as much success as his other plays. Among the English history plays, L.N. Joshi brought King John as Kapidhwaj into Marathi in 1904 while Hanmant Atre translated King Henry VIII as Raja Ragunathrao in the same year. King Henry V and King Henry IV were translated as Pancham Henry Charit (1911) and Bandache Praayashchitta (1915) by Khanderao Belsare and Narayan Limaye respectively. Then there were three adaptations of the Tragedy of King Richard III as Jayajirao (1891) by B. R. Nanal, Daiva Durvilasa (1904) by Vasudeo Sathe and Raja Rakshas (? Unkown) by K. H. Dikshit.
All these early Marathi translators of Shakespeare had to deal with more or less the same problems that the translators of Shakespeare in other Indian languages faced. They all faced the problem of adapting a foreign dramatic form to suit the Indian situation. Tragedy was something totally forbidden on Indian stage and many times we see the translators ending the play happily. They struggled to find a suitable equivalent of Shrew for example and we see Kelkar using the Tratika ‘ the female demon from Ramayana ‘ as an equivalent of Shrew. Sisir Kumar Das in his essay Shakespeare in Indian Languages in Trivedi and Bartholomeusz (2005) gives us a detailed account of the problems faced by Indian translators of Shakespeare- particularly in the 19th century when society was more orthodox and things like premarital love could not be discussed even privately- let alone in public. Das tells us how D. A. Kesakar’s Marathi translation of Romeo and Juliet Tara Vilas (1908) faced stiff resistance and could not be staged at all. But at the same time, another translation Mohan Tara by K. R. Chapkhane became extremely popular.
Another important adaptation of The Merchant of Venice is Ek Pound Maas [A Pound of Flesh] by S.B. Gondhalkar which appeared in 1944.
After 1950, we see in Marathi theatre, a considerable revival of interest in Shakespeare. Many stalwarts of Marathi literature/theatre came up with translations/ adaptations of Shakespeare with more skill and maturity than ever. The great Marathi poet and dramatist Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj, came up with Rajmukut [Macbeth] and Othello between 1954 to 1960. Shirwadkar’s engagement with Shakespeare does not stop here. In his famous Marathi drama Natsamrat [The Great Actor], we have an extremely wonderful and soul stirring translation of ‘to be or not to be’ as Jagawa ki Maraava haa ekach prashan aahe. This particular soliloquy in Natsamrat still holds a special place in the hearts of the lovers of Marathi literature and can very well be termed as an excellent example of transcreation. Shirwadkar has described his tryst with Shakespeare in Shodh Shakespearecha [In Search of Shakespeare] – a collection of articles written on Shakespeare.
Nana Jog, a doyenne of modern Marathi theatre translated Hamlet in 1959. This is considered to be a much acclaimed and famous translation and is often compared with Agarkar’s Vikaravilasita. Another great Marathi poet, G.V. or Vinda Karandikar, also a professor of English, translated King Lear as Raja Lear in 1974.
In this tradition, the most recent Marathi poet to translate Shakespeare is the legendary, Mangesh Padgaonkar who translated The Tempest [Waadal] in 2001, Julius Caesar in 2002 and Romeo and Juliet [Romeo ani Juliet] in 2003. Arun Naik is another famous contemporary translator and producer of Shakespeare’s plays. He has translated and produced Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. In addition to this, he has also translated Shirwadkar’s book Shodh Shakespearecha into English as ‘In Search of Shakespeare’.
It is important to add here, that almost all these modern translations of Shakespeare have detailed introduction, notes and appendices thereby making a significant contribution to Shakespeare criticism in Marathi which is a very rich in itself. Apart from V.V. Shirwadkar’s book, his cousin Prof. K.R. Shirwadkar has also written a biography cum criticism of Shakespeare entitled William Shakespeare: Jeevan Aani Sahitya [Life and Works of William Shakespeare].
Shakespeare has very deeply influenced Marathi poetry also. Many Marathi poets have written Sonnets in his fashion. Some even brought the Dark Lady into Marathi poetry. Madhaorao Patwardhan or Madhav Julian as he was popularly known, has addressed many sonnets to a certain Shyamala (literally- the Dark Lady) exciting intense speculation among literary and critical circle regarding the identity of the lady.
The contemporary Marathi theatre has gone a step forward in adapting Shakespeare in Tamasha- a popular Marathi folk art. Mumbai based Avishkar Theatre Group staged Jungle me Mangal- adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the form of Tamasha in February 2007.
Shakespeare has continued to beacon the Marathi scholars and the Marathi people till date. In 2013, three versions of Hamlet came on Marathi stage. Recently, Prabhakar Deshpande Sakharikar has published the stories all the 37 plays of Shakespeare in Marathi. They have been published in 5 volumes in 2015. Raja Lear, V. D. Karandikar’s translation of King Lear, was performed in Kolhapur recently on 23 April 2016 to mark the 400th death anniversary of the Bard.
To sum up, it is evident from the aforesaid discussion that there is a fairly long and interesting history of the translation, adaptation and performance of Shakespeare in Marathi literature and culture which dates back to 1857. Even with the growing rise of English speaking population, Shakespeare is still translated /adapted and performed in Marathi for the simple reason that Marathi theatre is extremely popular and accessible in Maharashtra as compared to the English theatre. Moreover, every generation of writers, poets, and theatre artists wants to deal with the artistic challenge posed by Shakespeare in their own innovative ways.
As I said earlier, it is the common bond of the love for the histrionic that makes the Marathis love, adore, admire and appreciate Shakespeare. This tradition, no doubt, will continue to be enriched in the years to come.