Dance Like a Man

Mahesh Dattani
Dance Like a Man – Mahesh Dattani
Introduction:

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Dattani makes a bold move when he chooses to address the issues concerning gender
discrimination. His writings then become important when you wish to explore how deeply
certain stereotypes are rooted in society.
Dance Like a Man" is a critically acclaimed play written by Indian playwright Mahesh
Dattani. Set in contemporary India, the play explores complex themes of love, passion,
sacrifice, and the clash between tradition and personal aspirations. Through its compelling
characters and poignant narrative, "Dance Like a Man" delves into the intricate dynamics

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of a family and the profound impact of societal expectations on individual lives.

Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani (born 7 August 1958) is an Indian director, actor, playwright and writer.
He wrote such plays as Final Solutions, Dance Like a Man, Bravely Fought the Queen, On a
Muggy Night in Mumbai, Tara, Thirty Days in September 2007 and The Big Fat City. He is
the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award. His plays have
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been directed by eminent directors like Arvind Gaur, Alyque Padamsee and Lillete Dubey.
Dattani makes a bold move when he chooses to address the issues concerning gender
discrimination. His writings then become important when you wish to explore how deeply
certain stereotypes are rooted in society.

Characters :
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Jairaj (husband)
Ratna (wife)
Amritlal (father)
Lata (daughter)
Vishwas (son-in-law)

Summary
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The story revolves around three generations. Jairaj and Ratna want to develop their career
as a dancer. Dance for them is not only their passion but also their life and soul. They want
to develop their careers in this field. The stereotypes of gender roles are set in the society
and in spite of that Jairaj goes on to pursue his career as a dancer. This is the twist that the
playwright gives to the stereotypes associated with ‘gender’ issues that view solely a
woman at the receiving end of the oppressive power structures of the society. The play
flips open in the opposite gender’s point of view and shows that even men can be a part or
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a victim to such circumstances by being oppressed, and suppressed by the opposite gender
and society.

Jairaj and and Ratna have to live within the domain of the ‘patriarch’ Amritlal, father of
Jairaj. Dance for Amritlal is a profession of a prostitute and which is why he cannot accept

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his daughter-in-law learning it and is unimaginable for his son to learn it and make career
out of it. Mostly this is also because he was a reformist and people would laugh at him for

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Jairaj’s actions and his reputation would be sacrificed.

He cannot tolerate the sound of dancing bells in his home and his son roaming around with
the tinkling of bells in his leg during the practise session. His father also hates the
effeminate guru that comes to their house and also the long hair that he and his son both
have kept. So Ratna goes onto learn the dance from a lady who lives in a brothel. Amritlal
thinks that the temples have slowly turned to brothels as they practise dance there. He

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forbids Ratna to visit the old devdasi who teaches her the old forms and techniques of
‘Bharatnatyam’ which were slowly extinguishing.

Here there are subtle signs that learning dance and having a guru like that would definitely
make his an effeminate man which suggests the idea of homosexuality though it is not
explicitly mentioned anywhere in the text. As he cannot accept his son pursuing his career
as a dancer, he tries all the possible means to stop him from seeking his ambition. He
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removes them/ disowns them from his house and his property, not giving them a single
penny to survive.

Jairaj, leaves and take Ratna along with him. But the results are disastrous. They stay at
Ratna’s uncle’s house and he tries to take advantage of her and so they leave the house
only to return.
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The quote said by Amritlal to Jairaj to restrict him from dancing,

“A woman is man’s world is considered progressive,

but a man is a woman’s world is considered pathetic.”

He then later makes a deal with Ratna. He says that he will allow her career to take off only
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if she helps him pull Jairaj out of his passion and make him a more ‘manly’ man. The
character of Ratna can be called as that of a selfish one because she agrees to her father-in-
law’s demands and also considers that there would be one less person to compete with.
She constantly misguides him and plays with his emotions in spite of being his partner.
Though Jairaj was a male member, he never forced his opinions on anybody and istead of
that Ratn would always dominate and take decisions for herself, for him and now their
daughter as well. She wanted her own career to proper and so she is willing to sacrifice her
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husband’s career in the process. She was blinded by her passion so much so that she joined
hands with Amritlal. This subtly displays the relationship she herself shared with Jairaj
which was more for her own personal motive than anything else. She married him because
Jairaj himself was a dancer and he would never stop her from dancing even after getting

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married. Had it been that she would have married another man, there was a possibility
that she would be deprived of her career and her passion and she would be helpless. When

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Jairaj possibly knew about her motives, the purpose was already achieved, that he was a
failed dancer and that he did not make much out of his life. He had become an alcoholic.
She constantly took advantage of Jairaj’s love for her and being his wife. She pushed him
into the world of dance and also knew that he was not a great dancer himself, to reach the
amongst the top dancers, that he was just a mediocre one. She was responsible for Jairaj’s
undoing as a character as well as a dancer. Ratna here did not stop but went on to make
her daughter Lata, also a Traditional dancer. She used her daughter too, to earn fame and

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money all over the world. She schemes and manipulates and uses all her contacts to put
her daughter’s career on the right track right from the start. She also uses the contacts to
get appreciative reviews for her daughter’s performance. Lata here is seen as the younger
Ratna who succeeds with the help of her mother. Later, in the play Jairaj blames his wife
for their son’s death as she wanted to be successful and she had left him home along with
a nanny. The nanny had given him a sleeping dose so that he would stop crying and that
she could also sleep peacefully but unfortunately, she gave it too much in quantity which
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ultimately led to his death. Jairaj blames her for his unsuccessful career. Dattani uses the
technique of Traditional Dance as a medium to portray the conflict of gender issues in the
play. Hence his plays are relevant and will be relevant even for years to come. Amritlal
would never accept his son becoming a dancer, Ratna misguided him, Jairaj was blamed to
be not being a man enough to earn and support his family. All these things led to the
circumstances that show how gender stereotype works in the Indian society.
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Themes
Gender discrimination
Ambition — for woman or man
Men dancing — inacceptable
Sufferings
Suppression
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Social construct
Stereotypical attitude
Misleading for one’s own benefits
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Conclusion-

The play “Dance Like a Man” poses serious questions on the reader’s mind. It makes
one think and rethink about how our actions are shaped according to the society
and how one accepts them without questioning. This conditioning which is done

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right from the childhood and it is nobody’s fault. The rules were made according to
the society then and it is impossible to stay put on them even now especially when

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the society is constantly evolving. Personally, I feel that the rules should be mended
according to the situations and time period. The characters are shaped in such a
manner that one cannot term them as a proper white or a proper black character. It
displays shades of gray.

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