Tughlaq - a review

'Tughlaq' ( 1964) is the most popular and best loved play of the late legendary playright, actor and director Dr.Girish Karnad. This play established Karnad as one of the most promising playwrights in the country.

 Originally, 'Tughlaq' was written in Kannada and later on it was translated by the playwright himself upon request of Alyque Padmashree who directed the play first time in English. The play was first staged at the Bhulabhai Desai Auditorium, Bombay, in August 1970. The lead role was played by Kabir Bedi whom Karnad himself had described as' an incredible handsome hunk of a man'! 

While mentioning about the facts why Dr. Karnad was fascinated with sultan Muhammad Tughlaq, he wrote --  

 " Muhammad Tughlaq was one of the most brilliant sultans to ascend the throne in Delhi and one of its most spectaculars failures as well. .... Administrative measures which have been acknowledged by later thinkers as sound and even necessary, but which collapsed disastrously, landing his kingdom in chaos, because of the intemperate haste with which they were introduced and the extreme cruelty with which they were enforced."

And yes,Tughlaq was full of such paradoxes. On one hand he was a dreamer with the soul of a poet while at the other he was also a cruel Sultan. But perhaps the greatest quality of him was that he wanted to be an architect of a new secular and progressive India without distinction between Hindus and Muslims.

'Tughlaq', is a beautifully structed play. The scenes are so juxtaposed that you are not allowed to be either carried away by your hatred towards Tughlaq for his Machiavellian machinations or by your sympathy or admiration for his idealism.

The structure of the play was influenced by Parsi theatre. In the words of the playwright, " A Shakespearean expanse was what I had in mind, a throwback to the Parsee-style Company Nataks, with their emphasis on spectacle and melodrama, which I had seen in my childhood."

Use of various motifs like chess, prayer, disguise and resemblance have made 'Tughlaq' very interesting and readable. It tries to depict both sides of Muhammad Tughlaq. Hence 'Tughlaq' has been acclaimed both critically and in performance.