The Mumbai-based director, actor, playwright, screen writer and filmmaker was best known for his play Andha Yug — a comment on the futility of war — by Dharamvir Bharti, which he staged in 1962.
It is said that Dubey, who was born in Bilaspur in present day Chhattisgarh in 1936, had moved to Mumbai to become a cricketer. But he ended up in theatre.
Director Bhanu Bharti, who produced Andha Yug, said: "He was a remarkable man because he had carved a space for himself on the Marathi stage despite not being a Maharashtrian. He single-handedly started a new theatre movement."
Critics say that Dubey courted controversy with his criticism of English theatre in India in the 1960s and 70s, saying it was a colonial legacy and only the elite took part in it.
Major plays
However, he later switched to English theatre himself when he felt that the medium had freed itself from the baggage of British and American influence and English had developed and Indian idiom on stage.
After coming to Mumbai, Dubey joined the legendary Ebrahim Al Kazi's troupe Theatre Unit. Later, when Al Kazi came to take over the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, Dubey took over the ‘Theatre Unit' — and produced several important plays.
He produced Girish Karnad's Yayati and Hayavadana, Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit and Pagla Ghoda, Chadrashekara Kambara's Aur Tota Bola, Mohan Rakesh's Adhe Adhure, Vijay Tendulkar's Khamosh! Adalat Jaari Hai, A Raincoat for All Occasions and Jean Anouilh's Antigone in 2007.
He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1971.
Dubey also dabbled in films.
He won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Shyam Benegal's Bhumika and the 1980 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award for Junoon. In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan.
Dubey made two short films, Aparichay ke Vindachal and Tongue in Cheek — and directed a Marathi feature film, Sahntata! Court Chalu Aahe in 1971 based on Vijay Tendulkar's play.
The man with the unruly hair was a regular at Prithvi Theatre.
‘Profound lesson'
According to actor Sonali Kulkarni, her greatest inspiration in theatre was Satyadev Dubey. "I started working with Dubey in the early 1990s and it had been a learning experience every single day..."
"Dubeyji has taught me that the scale for beauty is not merely how ‘fair' your complexion was, or the ‘tone' of your voice... they were elements that you were born with and something you have to live with for life... the only thing as an actor one could do, was to improve one's acting skills. This has been a very profound lesson for me," Kulkarni said.
Bollywood mourns
- Theatre stalwart Satyadev Dubey passed away. Its been a terrible year for artists. He was a giant of theatre. — Shabana Azmi
- Satyadev Dubey, the icon of the theatre world has passed away! Fond memories of our days of wandering invade me. Alvida Dubeyji! Love. — Mahesh Bhatt
- A brilliant theatre actor and extraordinary screenplay writer, Satydev Dubey's demise is a huge loss to the industry. RIP! — Madhur Bhandarkar
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