ASSESSING ALTERNATE SEXUALITIES: An analysis of Mahesh Dattani’s Play On a Muggy Night in Mumbai

Shubha Nigam; Dr. Indira Nityanandam

Volume : V, Issue : III, March - 2016

ASSESSING ALTERNATE SEXUALITIES: An analysis of Mahesh Dattani’s Play On a Muggy Night in Mumbai

Shubha Nigam, Dr. Indira Nityanandam

Abstract :

Mahesh Dattani, India�s leading English playwright has been forthright in dealing with taboo issues such as child sexual abuse, gender discrimination, incest and alternate sexuality, especially in the urban upper classes of India. The present paper attempts to analyse his play On a Muggy Night in Mumbai which deals with the taboo issue of homosexuality. It is a play about the fears and insecurity faced by six homosexuals in Mumbai; they are unable to adjust to the outside world. Moreover their own world is ripped apart by jealousy, separation, feelings of loneliness, and the imposed need to always hide their homosexual leanings. Troubled and unable to face the pressure, Dattani shows a world replete with a desire to be part of the mainstream; however, society is still not ready to accept alternate sexual preferences, pushing them into a world of loneliness and solitude.