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Jaishankar Bhudhardas Bhojak (Jaishankar Sundari)

ジャイシャンカル・ブドハルダス・ボージャク（ジャイシャンカル・スンダリ）

Jaishankar Bhudhardas Bhojak

Aliases: Jaishankar Sundari
Pen Names: Sundari（Stage sobriquet (used as his female-impersonation stage name)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1889-01-30 （Undhai near Visnagar, Gujarat, India）
Died
1975-01-22 （Visnagar, Gujarat, India） age 85
Nationality
Indian
Languages
Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu
Residence History
Calcutta (worked with a performing company, 1897) → Bombay/Mumbai (joined Mumbai Gujarati Natak Mandali, from 1901) → Visnagar (hometown and later residence) → Ahmedabad (direction and teaching, 1948–1964)

Career

Occupations
theatre actor, director, theatre teacher
Active Years
1897-1964
Affiliations
Mumbai Gujarati Natak Mandali, Gujarat Vidhya Sabha, Natmandal, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad
Memberships
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (elected chairman of Department of Arts: 1963)
Influenced By
Grandfather Tribhuvandas (trained him in performing arts), Ustad Fakhruddin (musical lineage), Pandit Vadilal Nayak (music teacher)
Influenced
Jaswant Thaker (actor), Dina Pathak (actor), Pransukh Nayak (actor), Kailash Pandya (director/teacher)

Education

—
Country: India
Formal higher education absent; studied up to around second standard. Trained in performing arts and music by his grandfather and local teachers.

Awards

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak
1951
Organization: Ranjitram award body
Result: 受賞
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (then President's Award)
1957
Work: drama direction
Category: 演劇演出
Organization: Sangeet Natak Akademi
Result: 受賞
Padma Bhushan
1971
Organization: Government of India
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Saubhagya Sundari

1901 play/drama

An adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello staged in Parsi theatre style; Jaishankar achieved fame playing the female role (Desdemona) and acquired the sobriquet 'Sundari'.

gender and performancelove and tragedytheatrical representation

Kamlata

1904 play/drama

A play performed by the Mumbai Gujarati Natak Mandali in which Jaishankar played the female lead.

romancestage performance

Vikrama Charitra

1902 play/drama

A play in which Jaishankar portrayed characters such as Rambha (a dairy-maid); the production ran for years and was performed many times.

folk dramalong-running productions

Mithyabhiman

1955 play (satire) incorporating revived Bhavai elements

A satirical play by Dalpatram that Jaishankar directed, reviving and incorporating the traditional Bhavai performance form.

revival of traditional artssocial satire

Mena Gurjari

1953 stage play (synthesized Bhavai and Beijing Opera elements)

A Natmandal production notable for blending Bhavai with elements of Beijing Opera.

fusion of tradition and cross-cultural elementstheatrical experimentation

Bibliography

  • Thoda Aansu, Thoda Ful (autobiography)
  • Performance records and numerous stage appearances (Saubhagya Sundari, Kamlata, Vikrama Charitra, Sneh Sarita, etc.)

Adaptations

  • Sundari: An Actor Prepares (play based on his autobiography, 1998)

Translations of Works

  • Autobiography translated into Hindi as 'Kuchh Aansu, Kuchh Phool' (2002)
  • Autobiography translated into English as 'Some Blossoms, Some Tears' (2011)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
performance rooted in traditional theatredelicate female-impersonation (uyakata) acting styleactorly emphasis on song and physical expressiveness
Recurring Motifs
gendered performancerevival of traditional artssocial and moral satire

Legacy

Jaishankar Sundari was a leading female-impersonator in early Gujarati theatre and, as a director and teacher, significantly contributed to the revival of Bhavai and the training of a new generation of actors. His autobiography has academic use and venues/exhibitions bear his name.

Museums

  • Bhavai Government Museum (Vadnagar exhibition) Vadnagar, North Gujarat, India
  • Jaishankar Sundari Natyagruh (drama theatre, Ahmedabad) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Academic Societies

  • Gujarati Sahitya Parishad

Archives

  • Gujarat University (autobiography adopted in MA syllabus)
  • Bhavai Government Museum (Vadnagar) exhibitions and holdings

In Popular Culture

  • Stage play 'Sundari: An Actor Prepares' (based on his autobiography, 1998)
  • Oil portrait unveiled by Kala Mandal of Morbi displayed in Kala Mandir halls

Trivia

  • Achieved fame as a female impersonator at a time when women were not allowed on stage, earning the sobriquet 'Sundari'.
  • Began career in 1897 in Calcutta in a chorus of girls for a salary of six rupees a month.
  • Autobiography was published posthumously and expanded in his birth centenary year (1989).