Surjit Singh Sethi

Surjit Singh Sethi was a Punjabi playwright, novelist, short story writer, lyricist, film maker and theatre personality.

Biography

Surjit Singh Sethi was born at Gujarkhan, Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1928. He did his M.A. in English and submitted his thesis on Ibsenism (Dramatics) for Ph.D. He worked at All India Radio for some time as a producer. He was the founder of Speech, Drama and Music Department at Punjabi University which was later turned into the Theatre and Television Department. He groomed a number of students into stage, TV and film celebrities, and was influenced by modern trends of Western theatre. Sethi died in 1995.

Dramas

Parde pichhon (Behind the Curtain), One Act Plays, 1946
Chalde Phirde But (The Loitering Figures), One Act Plays
Kandhi Ute Rukhda (A Tree on the Embankment), 1957
Coffee House, 1958
Kaccha Ghada (The Earthen Pitcher), 1960
Kadaryar, 1960
Bhareya Bhareya Sakhna Sakhna, 1964
King, Mirza Te Sapera, 1965
Gurbin Ghor Andhar (Pitch Dark without the Guru), 1969
Safar Baqi, Talash Baqi (The journey remains, the quest remains)
Nangi Sarak Raat Da Ohla (The naked road and the reflection of the night), 1971
Abara Kadabara , 1972
Mard Mard Nahi Tiwin Tiwin Nahi (Man is not a man and woman is not a woman)
Eh Zindagi Hai Dosto
Mera Murshid Mod Liao (Bring Back my Messiah), 1975
Pebble Beach Te Laung Guacha

Novels

Ret da pahad (Mound of sand), 1954
1k shahr di gal (The story of a city), 1955
Kandhi ute rukhda (A tree on the embankment), 1957
Ik Khali Pyala (An empty bowl), 1960
Kal vi suraj nahin chadhega (The sun shall not rise tomorrow again), 1967
Abra ki adabra, 1972
Dubde suraj nun salam, 1976

Short stories

Angrez Angrez san (So were the English)
Men kahani da Safar (Journey of My Stories), 1972

Other books

Kavi Chatrik (Chatrik, the poet) Criticism, 1955
Natak Kala , 1974
Langh gaye darya Biography (1976)
Shot in 12 days: the making of Mughlani Begum

Films

Mughalani Begum
Sandli

Awards and honours

Honoured with Prof. Piara Singh Gill & Karam Singh Sandhu Memorial Antar-Rashtari Shiromani Sahitkaar/Kalakaar Award, by the International Association of Punjabi Authors and Artists (IAPAA) in 1984.

Notes

Primarily a playwright, he wrote short stories and novels also.
His first full-length play, Coffee house is a portrayal of 'hollow men'.
Kaccha ghada and Kadaryar give new dimensions to the well-recognised figures of romances.
King, Mirza te sapera and Mard mard nahin, tivin tivin nahin are his experiments in absurd drama.
His anthologies of one-act plays, Parde pichhon and Chalde Phirde make a good reading.
His early novels are 1k shahr di gal, Ret da pahad and Kandhi ute rukhda, but he acquired his special place in this genre with 1k khali piala and Kal vi suraj nahin chadhega. In these works he employed the stream of consciousness and flashback techniques.

External links

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