I'm not crazy about Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Kiran Nagarkar

“I'm not crazy about Sanjay Leela Bhansali and can't stand his kind of cinema but that doesn't mean anyone should have the right to stop him from making the films he wants,” said Sahitya Akademi awardee novelist, playwright, film and drama critic and screenwriter Kiran Nagarkar. He was speaking at the finale of a day-long national seminar on him – Worlds Within Words - organised by the English department of Mumbai's Sophia College. 

Lamenting what he called “the comatose state of the country,” in face of rising intolerance and bigotry, the septuagenarian exhorted India to wake up before it is too late. “If Americans opposed to Donald Trump can come together and mobilise what is stopping Indians from doing the same?” he asked and reminded, “We must not forget this is the land of Mahatma Gandhi who stood up to the British empire.” He further warned: “The current dispensation is out to erase memories and rewrite them. We need to guard against their post-truths by continuously highlighting the truth.”  

The seminar which saw several scholars present papers based on the Nagarkar's works had a huge turnout of book lovers, literature students, teachers and the writer's fans. Principal and Head of the English department Dr (Sr) Ananda Amritmahal kicked off the proceedings with an overview of Nagarkar's work which she said was marked by a rare kind of virtuosity and versatility. “From the first dark absurdity of Saat Sakkam Trechalis, through the vicissitudes of Ravan and Eddie traced through the trilogy revolving around their lives, the layered exploration of the shadowy husband lurking behind the haloed figure of Mirabai, the roots of religious fervour interwoven with the tangled psychology to create the mindset of a terrorist... there is no one theme, no single world in the work of Kiran Nagarkar,” she said and added, “Pulsating with life, effervescent and sombre, the works offer both an extravagant kaleidoscope of images and a dazzling flow of words that leave one spellbound. The imaginative scope of the various texts, the landscapes we encounter and the characters that impress themselves so indelibly upon our consciousness ensure Nagarkar a lasting place in the annals of contemporary Indian literature.”  

Seeking to explore his contribution to the present situation and the ongoing development of the Indian creative writer, Dr Amritmahal further underlined, “Nagarkar's investigation into the complexities of myriad realities combine a profoundly philosophical integrity with the virtuosity of an entertainer par excellence to make the reading of his work an unforgettable experience.”  

This was followed by vice principal of Matunga's Dr BMN College of Home Science college Dr Mala Pandurang's paper: 'Deconstructing the cult of domesticity: A feminist reading of Kiran Nagarkar's Ravan and Eddie.' While pointing out how the trilogy - Ravan and Eddie (1995), Extras (2012) and Rest In Peace (2015) – is widely acclaimed for its witty and realistic description of the lives of two young boys from a congested chawl, growing into adulthood in post-Independence Mumbai, she said: “Yet, the narratives simultaneously present the lives of a range of women characters in the low-income habitat, across religion, caste and age. According to the 'culture of domesticity,' women are defined by the virtues of piety, purity, domesticity and submissiveness.”

Dr Pandurang then went on to explore how Nagarkar critiques an inherent patriarchal value system used to define a woman's role in the dynamics of home and work. She also examined “if Nagarkar's narrative strategies are sufficiently employed to powerfully challenge patriarchal norms and thereby drive home a feminist perspective,” and highlighted the use of the trilogy to sensitise undergrad students to gender issues.    

This was followed by a paper on the re-reading of Cuckold (one of the most globally celebrated among contemporary Indian novels) by    Hartosh Singh Bal, the political editor of The Caravan who said the book needed to re-read in light of the current political climate in the country. “The Maharaj Kumar is completely unlike the archetypical Rajputs who do little apart from going to war. Here is a king who is worried about his people and invests in building sewers. Also, he is not a slave to masculine constructs and doesn't mind when his wife decides to dress him like a woman.” He contrasted this with lumpenism masquerading as Rajput honour out to defend the fictional Padmavati from Sanjay Leela Bhansali. 

Former head of the English department, at the St Xavier's College Dr Shefali Balsari Shah followed this with 'Neverland Redux: Reworking of Myth in Bedtime Story while  Dr Rajendra Dengle, of Centre for German studies and Dean Faculty of Arts Jawaharlal Nehru University, spoke of the 'Phenomenology of alterity in God's Little Soldier' 

This was followed by 'Performance in Fiction – Fiction as performance in the Ravan and Eddie trilogy' by deputy director of Indian Aesthetics, Jnanapravaha, Jaya Kanoria and senior VP Ogilvy & Mather Anoop Menon who spoke of 'Kiran Nagarkar's India.'