Marathi play uniquely uses folk traditions to talk about censorship

Sawal Jawab uses folk art to make social and political concerns palatable to all

June 18, 2026. It is sweet serendipity that we meet Girish Datar and Apurva Kulkarni, writer-directors of Sawal Jawab on this day. It's the 75th anniversary of the First Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which introduced restrictions on citizens' fundamental right to freedom of speech. After all these years, their Marathi musical play drums up - to the beats of the dholki - the ever-relevant free speech debate.

The "tamasha" of freedom of expression, as the play's tongue-in-cheek tag line says, continues to rage around us. And as artistes, the conscience-keepers of society, they turn "debate into rhythm and resistance into music".

The play speaks out against censorship and speaks truth to power in the language of Maharashtra's rich folk tradition. It translates ideas otherwise confined to ivory towers to the theatre of the masses. Serious social and political concerns are brought alive through a sparkling exchange between its unapologetic heroine, tamasha artiste Kalawati Bai (Sukanya Gurav) and a host of characters including a politician's slimy aide (all played by Sanket Joshi). It will be staged at NMACC in BKC on June 27.

Apurva Kulkarni and Girish Datar

The writer-director duo agree their effort was to marry intellectual thought with emotion, making it accessible to a larger audience. "Plays that are cerebral often end up distancing the common man or woman. That is a gap we wanted to bridge. While Sawal Jawab takes up a complex topic, it uses folk art to make it palatable to the audience. Our attempt was to entertain, while also giving people something thought-provoking," Kulkarni says.

A lawyer by training, she feels the urgency of speaking up before it's too late in a world where fear replaces freedom of expression. "It is important to educate ourselves about free speech because of what's happening around us. People are intimidated by the subject because of its complexity. But we want to say that it's not that difficult if you really engage with it. Knowing our rights and duties will help us function better in this society."

Theatre's power lies in creating an experience where the audience ‘feels' their message deeply too, the Pune-based creators believe.

"Apurva's emotional quotient is higher than mine. She is the one who kept a check on the emotional pulse of the play. I am better at arguments and building on ideas," Datar, a former engineer, says about their creative partnership.

The idea of the play came to him when he was reading Gautam Bhatia's Shock, Offend or Disturb and Abhinav Chandrachud's Republic of Rhetoric. "When I was reading them, I knew they had the potential for something theatrically interesting. These books and the disturbing, current debates on free speech came together to inspire the play." What helped him make the journey from the erudite to the creative was an informal "Let's talk non-fiction" group that he's part of. "It has artists and people from different walks of life. We meet and try to creatively realise the insights from the non-fiction we read. It has been a good training ground for me."

Was the leap from heavy intellectual texts to the energetic stage of Tamasha difficult? "It was organic," Datar replies. "I think we are seeing a revival of folk art forms at this moment in time for a reason. Maybe our search for meaning has travelled back from Western art forms to now dig deeper into our own soil. Perhaps, it'll answer some artistic need, unfulfilled so far."

The success of their choice of folk art to voice contemporary issues rides heavily on the back of the heroine and hero. "Sukanya is a trained classical dancer, so initially, I had my doubts. But in a few rehearsals, she had nailed it. She has not only choreographed all 15 dances, but composed a few songs too," Datar says. Joshi, on the other hand, adds his trademark humour to the play. "Being a stand-up comedian, his opening lines in the play are always spontaneous. They're a surprise for us too."

The play has received a rousing response from the audience across cities. "We plan to take it to the hinterland too. Since folk art is our medium, performing it in rural areas will be a litmus test for us," Datar signs off.